The Best Cranberry Sauce

By Maria Lichty

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Quick Summary

Fresh cranberry sauce sweetened with pure maple syrup, orange zest, orange juice, and a hint of cinnamon. This easy homemade Cranberry Sauce recipe is a holiday favorite for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

fresh cranberry sauce in bowl with spoon.

I always stock up on fresh cranberries when I see them at the store. I love making my Apple Cranberry Pie, Cranberry Orange Bread, and the BEST Cranberry Sauce.

Cranberry Sauce is a holiday tradition and I love this cranberry sauce recipe because it is sweetened with pure maple syrup. There are no refined sugars here, just fresh cranberries, pure maple syrup, orange zest, orange juice, and a little cinnamon. The flavors are FANTASTIC!

It is the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It only takes 25 minutes to make and you can make it in advance. And I promise it is MUCH better than canned cranberry sauce. Fresh is the ONLY way to go!

cranberry sauce in white bowl with fresh cranberries.

Simple Ingredients

  • Fresh or frozen cranberries– Fresh cranberries will start appearing in stores at the end of October or early November. I like to buy several bags so I can put a few in the freezer. They will keep for up to one year, so stock up!
  • Pure maple syrup– to sweeten the sauce. You want to balance out the tart in the cranberries.
  • Orange- you will need the juice and zest from a fresh orange.
  • Water– to make the sauce
  • Cinnamon– a love adding a little cinnamon!
Fresh cranberry sauce in pan.

How to Make Cranberry Sauce

  • Place the cranberries in a colander and rinse with cold water. Discard any shriveled or damaged cranberries.
  • In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, maple syrup, orange zest, orange juice, and water. You are going to bring to a boil and cook until the cranberries have broken down and thickened into a compote, about 20 minutes. The cranberries will pop, don’t be scared:) The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
  • Remove the cranberry sauce from the heat and stir in the cinnamon. Let cool completely at room temperature, then transfer to a bowl to chill in the refrigerator.

How to Serve

You can serve cranberry sauce at room temperature or chilled. It is the perfect condiment for holiday turkey. I like to spread it on my dinner roll or toast, SO good! You can also add it to leftover turkey sandwiches for a spread of sweetness.

Variations

  • Sweeten with honey instead of pure maple syrup. Of course, you can sweeten with regular granulated sugar too. Sweeten to taste!
  • Add a pinch of nutmeg or allspice.
  • If you don’t care for orange, you can leave out the orange juice and zest.
  • Add ½ cup diced fresh fruit like pineapple, pears, or apples.
  • You can also add dried fruit like currants, dried cranberries, or raisins.
  • Stir in pecans or walnuts at the end if you want a nutty crunch.

How to Store & Freeze

You can make cranberry sauce in advance, which is SO nice. Get it out of the way so you have one less thing to worry about on the big day!

Store it covered in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. You can also freeze cranberry sauce in a freezer container or freezer bag for up to 4 months.

More Holiday Side Dishes

Easy Cranberry Sauce

homemade cranberry sauce in bowl with spoon.
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Maple Cranberry Sauce

Fresh cranberry sauce sweetened with pure maple syrup, orange zest, orange juice, and a hint of cinnamon. This easy cranberry sauce is the perfect side dish to all of your holiday meals.
4.61 from 79 votes

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Place the cranberries in a colander and rinse with cold water. Discard any shriveled or damaged cranberries.
  • In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, maple syrup, orange zest, orange juice, and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have broken down and thickened into a compote, about 20 minutes. The cranberries will pop, don’t be scared:) The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
  • Remove the cranberry sauce from the heat and stir in the cinnamon. Let cool completely at room temperature, then transfer to a bowl to chill in the refrigerator.

Notes

This cranberry sauce can be made in advance. It will keep in a container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. You can also freeze the sauce for up to 4 months. 

Nutrition

Serving: 8g, Calories: 54kcal, Carbohydrates: 13g, Sodium: 2mg, Potassium: 45mg, Sugar: 12g, Calcium: 23mg
Keywords cranberry

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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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  1. 5 stars
    This is the best cranberry sauce ever and it’s been my go-to recipe for several years, now!! I add a diced unpeeled Granny Smith apple to the mix and when all cooked together, stir in grated fresh nutmeg and a handful of chopped toasted pecans at the end. I love that it’s sweetened with maple syrup instead of sugar. It’s a really wonderful recipe!!

    1. That sounds delicious! I just read through the variations, and think I’m going to try it with some pear cooked in, but maybe a granny smith too with your suggestion 🙂

  2. This is the first time I have made this recipe, was very good the only thing different I did was added 2 peeled and diced apples, pecans and marshmallows. It cooked long enough 20 pluses minutes then cooled down to put the marshmallows and pecans in. Very good will make again. My orange was a very big one, zested over pan.

  3. I’ve made this three times since Thanksgiving. The 2nd and 3rd batches were double batches. That’s how much we love this! We do prefer it without the cinnamon, but love that it’s not overly sweet. The orange really adds a lovely layer to the sauce!

  4. *Question – Hi! Hopefully you’ll see this (I see this is a tried and true recipe from several years ago!)
    Could I use part coconut sugar? I like honey and maple combo too, just wanted to cut down sugar content a bit. Thank you for your input! Sounds like a delicious recipe 🙂

    1. I made this today using cranberries that I was fermenting in honey. We are maple producers so also used maple syrup, but slightly less than called for because of the honey clinging to the cranberries. it was fantastic.

    1. The orange juice and syrup does add liquid. If you want a thinner sauce you can add more water.

  5. 5 stars
    I made this last Thanksgiving and it was delicious! Planning to make it again but am wondering if you think it could be made in an instant pot? Thanks!

  6. 5 stars
    Such an easy and delicious recipe. I’ve made this many times. I like to low simmer with a cinnamon stick. But it’s perfect as written!

  7. 5 stars
    Amazing recipe! Added 1 chopped honey crisp apple the last few minutes of cooking time. And fresh orange slices and toasted pecans before serving. Thank you!

  8. Tastes so amazing and very easy to make! Second year making ahead of time. Was drawn to this recipe because I like sweetening with maple syrup. Absolutely delicious!! Went so fast last year with doubling recipe. Made extra this year to portion and freeze 😀

  9. 5 stars
    Oh my, this cranberry sauce recipe is scrumptious!!! The only addition I made was to add an unpeeled, chopped Granny Smith apple. I also used a scant 1/2 cup maple syrup to mute the sweetness a tiny bit. I adore this recipe and make it every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thank you for posting it!!!

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