I Make This 3-Ingredient Cranberry Sauce Every Thanksgiving

3 weeks ago

This 3-ingredient cranberry condiment will beryllium nan crown jewel of your vacation table.

Makes2 cups

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Cranberry condiment is nan jewel of nan Thanksgiving array and often nan only spot of brightness connected a array afloat of brown, orange, and tan dishes. While canned cranberry sauce is disposable year-round, you person to hold until October for caller cranberries to travel to market. Once nan ruby-red fruits arrive, it’s your cue to make this saccharine and tangy condiment for your Thanksgiving celebration.

How to Make Cranberry Sauce

Making homemade cranberry condiment is an easy four-step process.

Zest and juice oranges: Use Valencia aliases navel oranges for their caller citrus flavor.
Simmer pinch sugar: Add nan orangish zest, juice, and sweetener to a pot. Cook connected medium-high heat, until nan sweetener dissolves.
Cook nan cranberries until they burst: Add nan cranberries, past simmer for astatine slightest 10 minutes aliases until they burst to merchandise their afloat gelling power.
Let cool and serve: For a looser cranberry sauce, nan condiment tin beryllium served warm. If you for illustration a thicker (canned-like) consistency, screen and refrigerate overnight.

Credit: Photo: Vicky Wasik ; Food Stylist: Brett Regot

How to Thicken Cranberry Sauce

Calling this crockery a “sauce” is simply a spot of a misnomer, arsenic cranberry condiment is really a elemental consequence jam. Cranberries are people precocious in pectin (a people occuring gel). When cranberries are cooked pinch sweetener and acerb (such arsenic orangish aliases citrus juice), nan pectin is released and gels nan fruit. The sweetener and citrus thief toggle shape caller cranberries into a condiment pinch assemblage and texture.

How to Serve Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry condiment is simply a favourite astatine Thanksgiving, arsenic it’s a sweet-tart foil to a array filled pinch buttery and rich | dishes. Making this elemental three-ingredient condiment besides gives you power complete nan sweetness, tartness, and consistency.

Serve warm: Cranberry condiment tin beryllium served warm, consecutive from nan stovetop pinch a looser, much pourable consistency.
Serve cold: Chilled cranberry condiment has a much spoonable and jam-like consistency. When fixed clip to cool successful nan refrigerator, nan earthy gel from nan cranberries thickens and nan flavors person clip to mellow and sweeten.

Can You Make Cranberry Sauce successful Advance?

Cranberry condiment is 1 of nan first things I dress up for vacation celebrations. Cranberry condiment tin beryllium made up to 2 weeks successful advance and refrigerated, aliases you tin freeze nan sauce for up to 1 month.

What to Make pinch Leftover Cranberry Sauce

Ways to Jazz Up Cranberry Sauce

Once you cognize really to make cranberry sauce, nan possibilities to customize are endless.

Replace immoderate of nan sweetener pinch brown aliases maple sugar.
Add a vanilla bean while boiling aliases a spoon of vanilla extract astatine nan end.
Boil full spices, for illustration cinnamon, anise, aliases cardamom, pinch nan sweetener and orangish juice. Remember to region earlier serving.
Finely chop a jalapeño and adhd astatine nan extremity of cooking for a savory finish.
Add a tablespoonful of freshly grated ginger pinch nan cranberries.
Stir successful a tablespoonful of rum, brandy, aliases whiskey to nan vanished cranberry sauce.

This 3-ingredient cranberry condiment will beryllium nan crown jewel of your vacation table.

Ingredients

2
large Valencia aliases navel oranges
1/2 cup
granulated sugar
12 ounces
fresh aliases stiff cranberries

Equipment

Vegetable peeler
Measuring cups and spoons
Juicer aliases reamer
Small saucepan

Zest and juice nan oranges. Use a rootlike peeler to region a 1-inch-thick portion of orangish peel from 1 ample Valencia aliases navel orange. Juice 2 oranges into a measuring cup. Remove immoderate seeds from nan juice. There should beryllium astir 1 cup of juice. If you do not person capable juice, adhd capable h2o to get to 1 cup.
Simmer nan juice and sugar. Place nan orangish juice, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and orangish peel successful a mini saucepan. Bring to a simmer complete medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve nan sugar.
Simmer nan cranberries. Add 12 ounces cranberries and bring to a boil. Reduce nan power and simmer uncovered until nan cranberries are tender and popular unfastened and look glossy, 11 to 15 minutes. Remove and discard nan orangish peel. Transfer nan condiment into a bowl.
Cool and serve. For a looser cranberry sauce, nan condiment tin beryllium served warm. If you for illustration a thicker consistency, screen and refrigerate overnight.

Recipe Notes

Make ahead: Cranberry condiment tin beryllium refrigerated successful an airtight instrumentality for up to 2 weeks aliases stiff for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight successful nan refrigerator earlier serving.