Cranberry Sauce

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 15

Serves 8

I love to make this easy homemade cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. It's deliciously tart, not too sweet, and packed with fresh, bursty cranberries. It keeps well in the fridge for up to a week, so it's a great holiday side dish to make ahead.

Ingredients

½ cup water
¼ cup fresh orange juice, or more water
¾ cup sugar
12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
Zest of 1 orange, optional

Instructions

Combine the water, orange juice, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil.
Add the cranberries and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the sauce is a deep red and the cranberries have popped but still mostly retain their shape. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
Remove from the heat and stir in the orange zest, if using. Allow to cool to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Find it online at https://strong-nights.today/cranberry-sauce/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-52753":{"type":"food","name":"Cranberry Sauce","slug":"wprm-cranberry-sauce-2","image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.loveandlemons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cranberry-sauce-recipe.jpg","rating":{"count":24,"total":120,"average":5,"type":{"comment":6,"no_comment":0,"user":18},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","name":"water","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4675,"id":1022,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":1,"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","name":"fresh orange juice","notes":"or more water","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4675,"id":1304,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"\u00be","unit":"cup","name":"sugar","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4675,"id":1026,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00be","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"12","unit":"ounces","name":"fresh or frozen cranberries","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4673,"id":6556,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"12","unit":"ounces","unitParsed":"ounces"}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"","unit":"","name":"Zest of 1 orange","notes":"optional","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"id":6557,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}}],"originalServings":"8","originalServingsParsed":8,"currentServings":"8","currentServingsParsed":8,"currentServingsFormatted":"8","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0}}}