Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe with Orange - Cherished Bliss (2024)

FAQs

Why won't my cranberry sauce set? ›

One possibility is that you may not have used enough sugar: Sugar helps the sauce firm up, so be sure to use the full amount called for in a recipe. Another possibility is that the cranberries need to boil for longer, releasing their pectin and ensuring a jelly consistency.

Mistake #2: Your Cranberry Sauce Is Too Runny

You may have added too much liquid to the cranberries. In addition to pectin, cranberries contain water, which means you only need to add a splash of liquid to get the cooking going. Add too much and you'll be stirring at the stove much longer than expected.

Adding a teaspoon or two of fresh lemon or orange zest, a tablespoon of chopped candied peel, or even a splash of juice to your canned sauce will brighten flavors and bring in some homemade flavor.

Nutritional Facts Face-Off

The homemade cranberry sauce has nearly half the calories, carbohydrates, and sugars compared to the store brand. It also has more fiber as well as potassium!

If you have followed these instructions, and for some reason the sauce still won't gel, add 1 envelope of unflavoured gelatin to the sauce and bring to a hard boil, stirring frequently.

"Instead, start by stirring in one tablespoon maple syrup and one teaspoon of a sweet drink like apple juice, orange juice, or fruity white or red wine. Add more to taste. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt (in small amounts, it intensifies sweetness)."

Reduce heat to a low boil and cook for 10 minutes, until the berries have all burst. Remove from heat. Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

But why? Ocean Spray says this is to get the cranberry sauce out in one intact piece. “The rounded part of the can that looks like the bottom has an air bubble in it,” Ocean Spray's representative explains. The bubble is there so you can “break the seal the sauce makes with the can.”

If the sauce is too thick when done, and it likely will be, add a little fresh water (see Cook's Notes below). Note that the sauce will thicken more while it cools. Once completely cooled, adjust the consistency further, only if needed. Keep tightly covered in the refrigerator if making it ahead of time.

Instead, the pectin polymers will bind to each other, giving the cranberry mixture more and more structure. The sweet sugar-water molecules get trapped in between the pectin chains, resulting in a tasty cranberry sauce!

Should cranberry sauce be served hot or cold? ›

Is cranberry sauce supposed to be hot or cold? Either! Some prefer to have it served fresh and warm, straight out of the pot, while others need it completely cooled down to enjoy the flavours. Personally, we prefer cooled sauce.

Cranberry sauce will last for two hours at room temperature. Homemade cranberry sauce will last in the fridge for 10 to 14 days. Canned cranberry sauce that has been opened will last up to a week in the fridge.

Packed with antioxidants

The anthocyanins found in cranberries may have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects. They may also: Protect against liver disease. Lower blood pressure.

But that's not the case for prepared cranberry sauces, where prices are up. Lochner pointed out that processors set those prices, not growers, and that there are higher input costs unrelated to berries — like “processing the fruit and getting it to market.” Ocean Spray isn't immune either.

The reason cranberry sauce goes so well with Thanksgiving dinner has everything to do with tannins. Located in the cranberry's skin, tannins bind with protein and fats—such as turkey, gravy, and buttery mashed potatoes—much the way a tannin-forward red wine, like Chianti, pairs with a fatty steak.

Reduce heat to a low boil and cook for 10 minutes, until the berries have all burst. Remove from heat. Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

The characteristic jellied-like texture changes and turns into a watery mush on thawing. It's why makers of the ever-popular canned cranberry sauce, Ocean Spray, recommend storing leftovers in the fridge for up to two weeks instead of the freezer.

Cranberry sauce is supposed to be a balance of sweet and tart. The sauce acts as a cleansing port in a tumultuous storm of fat and salt, but the effect is lost if the sauce is too sweet. Luckily, there is a very easy way to fix an over-sugared homemade sauce: You just need a little citric acid.