Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce goes hand-in-hand with turkey.  I can’t imagine Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce – it’s that vital.

If you’re looking for more recipes featuring cranberries, Easy Hot Cranberry Tea and Cranberry Rice with Caramelized Onions are the perfect recipes to start.

The simple homemade cranberry sauce recipe has four ingredients and only takes minutes to make.  What gives this recipe extra flavor is cooking the cranberries in orange juice versus just water.

This easy cranberry sauce recipe tastes much better than the canned version you find at the grocery store. You can turn your holiday dinner into something special with just a handful of ingredients.

I love cranberries. I have an extra freezer that one shelf is devoted to cranberries when they go on sale. That’s how much I obsess over them.

If you’re a cranberry lover, why not make your own cranberry sauce so you have some on hand all the time?

Plus, it’s just such a beautiful dish. Vibrant red jeweled cranberries make any table look more attractive.

Classic cranberry sauce is a Thanksgiving staple and the perfect side dish for your holiday meal.

Here’s some fun facts about cranberries:

1) The majority of cranberries grown in the United States come from Wisconsin.  In 2017, 62 percent of the cranberries came from there, according to Agricultural Marketing Resource Center.

2) There are only three fruits native to North America, and cranberries are one of them.  (I had no idea!  Talk about fun dinner conversation.) The other two are blueberries and Concord grapes.

3) Ninety-five percent of cranberries sold are processed foods, and only 5 percent of cranberries are sold fresh.

4) Cranberries are a perennial crop grown in man-made bogs or wetlands.

5) Americans consume early 400 million pounds of cranberries each year, with 80 million pounds consumed Thanksgiving week alone.

6) Wisconsin is home to the world’s largest cranberry festival.  The Warrens Cranberry Festival is a three-day festival celebrating Wisconsin’s state fruit.

The event features cranberry marsh tours, a recipe contest, and a gigantic parade.  It takes place the last full weekend of September each year.

7) Cranberries got their name because the pink flower of the plant looks like a crane. They were initially called craneberries.

Here’s the recipe for Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Simple Ingredients

12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup orange juice

1 cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

How to Make It

Note: This is a quick overview of the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the complete ingredient list, exact measurements, and step-by-step instructions.

1) Rinse and clean the whole cranberries. Make sure you go through them to pick out any leaves or stems.

2) Over medium heat in a medium saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the fresh orange juice.

3) Add the cranberries and cinnamon. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the cranberries start to pop.

4) Remove from heat and cool completely. This delicious cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools off to room temperature. Place in a serving bowl and garnish with fresh rosemary, orange zest, or lemon zest.

Tips

• I tried to do 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 white sugar in the recipe, but the brown sugar didn’t dissolve well. Using white sugar for the recipe worked better.
• Make sure you stir the sauce occasionally; you wouldn’t want it to burn and let your hard work go to waste.
• If you don’t like the flavor of the orange juice, substitute water.
• You can substitute pure maple syrup for sugar in this easy recipe.

How to use leftover Cranberry Sauce

• Turkey, cream cheese, and cranberry sauce sandwich. (I’m drooling right now just thinking about this!)
• You can add cranberry sauce to your morning yogurt. It will make mornings more bearable.
• One of my favorite ways to use homemade cranberry sauce is a glaze for chicken. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
• You can use cranberry sauce as a topping for ice cream. Any excuse for a bowl of ice cream, right?
• Nuts glazed with homemade cranberry sauce add a fun twist to them.
• You can mix it in with your favorite sweet potato casserole recipe.
• Top a bagel with cream cheese, and then top the cream cheese with homemade cranberry sauce.  
• You can use cranberry sauce as a meat glaze.
• Add to applesauce for a tangy twist.

How long does this simple recipe last in the refrigerator?

It lasts 10-14 days in the refrigerator.

How long does easy homemade cranberry sauce last in the freezer?

Store the cranberry sauce in an airtight container and use it within a couple of months for best results.

You might want to buy a few extras 12-ounce bags of cranberries during the holiday season. You never know when the desire to make this delicious recipe will strike next.

Let me know in the comments below how you liked this easy homemade cranberry sauce recipe.

Please pin this below on your board for holiday recipes on Pinterest, so that you can refer back to it again.

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More Cranberry Recipes to Try

• The Best Jalapeño Cranberry Sauce
• Cranberry Relish with Nut
• Homemade Whipped Cranberry Butter
• The Best Cranberry Recipes

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• How to Make Tazatziki Sauce
• Homemade Pesto Sauce
• Creamy Horseradish Sauce for Prime Rib 
• Homemade Cocktail Sauce Recipe
• Best Dill Sauce for Salmon
• How to Make Pizza Sauce in 5 Minutes 

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• Best Turkey Brine Recipe
• Salt-Encrusted Prime Rib 

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