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–+ servings
A close-up of a bowl filled with cranberry sauce, surrounded by slices of orange.
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4.63 from 16 votes

Cranberry Orange Sauce

Cranberry orange sauce is easy, inexpensive, and delicious. You only need 4 ingredients to make it! What’s not to like?
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Sauces & Marinades, Sides & Vegetables, Thanksgiving
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Author: Rachel Gurk

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained (about 3 heaping cups)
  • ¾ cup brown sugar, tightly packed
  • 1 large orange
  • water, if needed

Instructions

  • Add cranberries and sugar to a large saucepan.
    12 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained , ¾ cup brown sugar, tightly packed
  • Zest the orange with a microplane or fine zester (see note 2). You should have about 1 teaspoon of zest. Add the zest to saucepan with the cranberries.
    1 large orange
  • Cut the orange in half and juice it. Pour juice into a measuring cup. Add enough water to make ½ cup total; pour the juice/water into the saucepan (see note 3).
  • Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, and then reduce heat to medium-low heat.
  • Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until cranberries are soft and sauce has thickened.
  • Cool before serving. Garnish with additional orange zest, if desired.

Video

Notes

  1. Cranberries: You can use frozen cranberries for this recipe; you don't need to thaw them first. Do not use dried cranberries.
  2. Oranges: A juice orange or navel orange is fine. You'll be using the zest of the orange and the juice. When you zest the orange, be sure to remove only the very outer layer (the dark orange part). The white pith can be bitter.
  3. Adjust consistency: Sauce is very thick, similar to a canned sauce. If you’d like a softer consistency, increase the amount of liquids (water + orange juice) to a total of 1 cup. You'd probably want to use the juice from 2 oranges instead of a lot of extra water.
  4. Optional flavor variations (add one of the following ingredients):
    ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
    ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
    ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
    ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  5. Storage: Allow the cranberry sauce to cool before storing in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months. Serve chilled or at room temperature. 
Recipe updated 11/2023.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 109kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 0.4g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 103mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 77IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 0.3mg

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