17 Best Cranberry Sauce Recipes [Easy Homemade Ideas]

Delicious cranberry sauce recipes to complete your holiday dinner. Sauce ideas including roasted cranberries, applesauce infusions, and orange flavoring.

With the holidays coming up just around the corner, you might be thinking of spicing up your traditional holiday dinner with a little twist. An often-overlooked side in need of a fresh taste may be your cranberry sauce. It’s the perfect accompaniment for your Thanksgiving or Christmas stuffing, turkey, or green bean casserole.

Don’t put a can of sauce on your shopping list, buy fresh berries. Tart and astringent raw, these jewel-toned berries cook up into a wonderful addition to your holiday table. With the right combination of ingredients, this sauce may take center stage. As an added bonus, cranberries are in season and at the peak of freshness in the Fall. Perfect for trying something new!

Here are 17 of the best cranberry sauce recipes gathered from around the internet to tempt your taste buds and inspire you.

Apple, Cinnamon & Nutmeg

This recipe is very straightforward, with a no-frills writing style that can have you whipping up a batch in no time. Which can be a huge timesaver, especially with small children around. Besides, if you tell them it is applesauce, you may not have much for leftovers! Don’t worry about the wine, the alcohol content will cook out.

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Fuji Apple Jelly

With only four ingredients to worry about, you’ll have time to focus on the steps to getting a perfect mold on this cranberry sauce. The best part of needing to chill it is that you can either make it first thing in the morning, or even up to two weeks ahead of time!

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Bourbon & Vanilla

The alcohol cooks out of this recipe, but the combination of bourbon and vanilla add a luxurious flavor to this easy to make cranberry sauce. With the ingredients on hand, this recipe takes fifteen minutes. Like the author, you may be eating it by the spoonful so it won’t hurt to make a double batch.

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Pineapple & Mango

Whether you are celebrating in the tropics or snow-bound in the North dreaming of warmer weather, this recipe will be a hit on your table! Warm cinnamon and ginger balance out the sweet mango and tart berries. You can have this ready in half an hour, or make ahead of time and either can or refrigerate it.

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Lime & Jalapeño

If your holiday table is already less than traditional in its array of dishes, this cranberry salsa might fit right in. With spicy lime and jalapeno, this south-of-the-border flavor profile will liven up your Turkey Day meal. And with the health benefits of cranberries, you don’t even need Thanksgiving as an excuse to enjoy this salsa.

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Slow Cooker Orange & Ginger

The easiest part of this recipe is that it is set and forget! Because it cooks on low, there’s not a chance of it burning and you don’t have to babysit a pot on the stove. Three hours is the perfect amount of time to make something warm to drink and enjoy a game or movie while your house fills up with the smell of cranberries, ginger, and orange.

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Red Bell Pepper, Chili & Lemon Jelly

For those of you that like a kick, this is the cranberry sauce for you! With red peppers, jalapenos, and red pepper flakes, this jelly turns the heat up. This would be amazing served on a cracker spread with cream cheese and a dollop of this jelly. Maybe your next Thanksgiving Day appetizer?

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Orange Relish with Mint

Mint, orange, and ginger are a powerful flavor grouping and add a holiday punch to this cranberry sauce. The best part about this relish? No cooking required. Simply mix together the ingredients according to the recipe and let sit so that these strong flavors can meld together and create a harmonious masterpiece.

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Maple Cinnamon

These recipes, great for Thanksgiving dinners, include: Cabernet Cranberry-Kumquat Sauce; Cranberry, Fig, and Rosemary Chutney; Jellied Cranberry Sauce with Fuji Apple; and Cranberry Pepper Jelly. Cranberries are high in fiber and antioxidants.

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Piloncillo, Orange & Guajillo Chile

The recipe includes cranberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, Manischewitz Concord Grape wine, and Granny Smith apples. The steps are simple: combine all the ingredients (except the apples) in a saucepan, bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes, add the apples to the cranberry mixture, and continue to simmer for 20 minutes.

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Port and Cinnamon

The ruby Port, cinnamon sticks, dried cranberries, and fresh cranberries create a delicious mixture. Cinnamon is packed with antioxidants, it can help reduce inflammation in the body, it promotes heart health, and it helps people maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

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Jellied Orange & Apple

The sauce takes only 15 minutes to make, and it includes orange zest, cranberries, apple, sugar, and salt. The apple helps the sauce hold its shape. Serve it with Citrus-Rubbed Turkey with Cider Gravy, a dish flavored with fresh thyme leaves, lemon zest, lemon juice, orange zest, orange juice, and paprika.

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Cranberry Grape Compote

For this simple recipe, combine cranberries, seedless red grapes, sugar, and water in a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes, remove from the heat, add salt, and stir to combine. The compote thickens as it cools. Serve this compote with Maple-Glazed Turkey for a great Thanksgiving dish.

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Mixed Berries, Port & Dried Figs

Cranberry sauce can be made in many delicious ways. Three of them are included here: Homemade Whole Cranberry Sauce (includes granulated sugar, julienned strips of orange peel, and orange juice), Alex Mother’s Cranberry Sauce (includes mixed berries and walnuts), and Cranberry Sauce with Port and Dried Figs (includes ruby Port, balsamic vinegar, and black Mission figs).

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10-Minute Tart Jam

This quick and easy recipe is sweet and tart. It’s made with cranberries, sugar, butter, liquid fruit pectin, and orange zest. This jam can be used in many ways. Use it as a filling in cookies or cranberry hand pies, spread it between layers of a cake, or spread it on English muffins.

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Roasted Orange Peel & Jalapeño Peppers

To draw out the sweetness and juices of the cranberries, they are roasted with orange peel, jalapeño, and spices. Then they are tossed with orange juice and port to make a flavorful sauce. You only need a vegetable peel, bowls, parchment paper, and a baking sheet for this recipe.

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