A simple twist on classic cranberry sauce with orange and honey is absolutely perfect with any holiday dinner. This cranberry sauce is deliciously tart and sweet with an added orange honey flavor that creates a unique compliment to your holiday table.
There are so many ways to make cranberry sauce and it is easily customizable based on your flavor preference. Cranberry sauce is perfect for Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner.
What makes this orange cranberry sauce different?
- It's super easy and perfect for holidays.
- It takes only 15 minutes to make.
- It's tart, sweet, and zesty all in one.
- It's easily customizable meaning you can adjust the sweetness.
- If you prefer a more traditional cranberry sauce, simply use water instead of orange juice and replace the honey with sugar.
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Ingredients for Cranberry Sauce
This cranberry sauce is made with simple ingredients with a bit of a twist!
- Cranberries - I prefer fresh cranberries for this recipe but you can use frozen. Frozen cranberries may produce more water so you may need to cook the sauce for a bit longer. If the cranberries are fresh, be sure to wash and dry them before using.
- Orange Juice
- Orange Zest
- Sugar
- Honey
- Cinnamon Sticks
How to Make Orange Cranberry Sauce
This cranberry sauce is super easy to make. All you need to do is throw everything in a pot, let it simmer, stir occasionally, and then let cool until ready to serve!
Combine all ingredients in a tall pot. I use a 3 quart sauce pot.
Bring to a gentle boil, reduce the heat and let simmer.
The liquid will bubble up and the cranberries will begin to pop. Stir the sauce every minute or so.
Once the mixture has reduced to about half and is thick like in the above picture, you know you are done.
The liquid will reduce and thicken up into a sauce. Continue stirring and simmering for a few more minutes.
The sauce should be bright red, with tiny bits of crushed cranberries. Remove the cinnamon sticks, stir in the orange zest, and pour into a heat proof bowl.
Now, let the sauce cool completely before then transferring to the refrigerator for two hours minimum. You can also make this sauce up to 5 days in advance and keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve. You can also freeze this cranberry sauce and store in the refrigerator for three months.
Variations
This recipe is super unique and delicious. I love the orange cranberry flavor but you can really make cranberry sauce anyway you want. Here are some additional variations:
- Traditional without orange flavor - If you prefer more traditional flavor, omit the orange juice and orange zest. User water in place of the orange juice.
- Omit the cinnamon sticks - I think the warmth of cinnamon is a really nice compliment to the sweet tart flavors but if you're not into warm spices, simply omit it.
- Alter the sweetness - You can really swap the sweetness out with any sugar you would like. You can use brown sugar or even a sugar substitute. If you would like to make it refined sugar free, use all honey or all maple syrup. You can also use coconut sugar. Keep in mind that if you swap the sweetener out, you are going to alter the flavor also. You may have to experiment a little to get the flavor you are going for.
- Additionally, you can reduce the amount of sugar by ¼ cup for less sweetness.
Equipment Needed for Cranberry Sauce
As far as equipment goes, all you really need is a sauce pot with taller sides because your mixture will bubble up and you don't want it to overboil. You'll want a heat proof spatula or spoon to stir the sauce and then a heat proof bowl to store it in.
How To Store Cranberry Sauce
You can also make this sauce up to 5 days in advance and keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve. You can also freeze this cranberry sauce and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Serve it at room temp, chilled, or warm!
Top Tip
Save some orange zest or zest an additional orange to add to the top of the cranberry sauce before serving. Orange zest is super flavorful and it tastes delicious with the cranberry.
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Orange Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh cranberries ((washed and dried))
- 1 cup orange juice ((or you can use ½ cup orange juice and ½ cup water if you want less orange flavor))
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- zest from 1 orange
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients (except for the orange zest) in a 3 quart sauce pan or deep pot. Give everything a mix and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. Be sure to stir every couple of minutes. The cranberries will pop and the orange juice will bubble up until eventually the liquid will reduce. Once the liquid reduces and the sauce thickens, you can remove from the heat and transfer to a heat proof bowl. Remove the cinnamon sticks and stir in the orange zest. I like to reserve a little bit of orange zest for the top of the sauce when I serve it as well. Let if cool completely in the refrigerator before serving (about 2 hours).
Let us know if you made this recipe!