Cranberry sauce takes three things: a 12 oz bag of cranberries, about 1 cup of sugar and some water, simmered around 10 minutes until the berries burst. That’s the whole recipe on Ocean Spray’s page, and the other four we read are close. Below is a base version, how five popular recipes differ, and how to get the texture you want.
This is a home version built from those pages, and we haven’t cooked this exact batch. It’s cheap, it’s hard to ruin, and you can make it days ahead so the stove is free on Thanksgiving!
How do five popular cranberry sauce recipes compare?
All five use one 12 oz bag and cook for about 10 minutes. The differences are sugar, liquid and flavor. Serious Eats uses only ½ cup of water, while the other four use about a cup of liquid in total. Mom On Timeout uses the least sugar, at ¾ cup.
| Source | Sugar | Liquid | Extras | Cook time | Make ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean Spray | 1 cup | 1 cup water | None | 10 min gentle boil | Cool, then refrigerate until serving |
| Serious Eats | 1 cup | ½ cup water | Optional orange zest and 2 tbsp juice, cinnamon stick, salt | About 10 min | At least 1 week in the fridge, or frozen for months |
| Delish | 1 cup | 1 cup water | 2 tsp orange zest, pinch of salt | About 10 min | Up to 1 week |
| Sugar Spun Run | ⅔ cup white plus ⅓ cup brown | ⅓ cup water plus ⅔ cup orange juice | None | 10 to 15 min | Up to 1 week; chill at least 2 hours |
| Mom On Timeout | ¾ cup | ½ cup orange juice plus ½ cup water | Cinnamon stick, orange peel, salt | About 10 min | Up to 3 days |
None of these pages compares itself with the others, so the table is our own side-by-side. Sugar runs from ¾ to 1 cup and liquid from ½ to 1 cup, which is a narrow range. Any of them works, so pick the flavor you want.
Cranberry sauce ingredients
Our base follows Serious Eats’ amounts, since its short list is the easiest one to adjust.
- 12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries (one bag)
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup water, plus a splash if the sauce gets too thick
- 2 strips orange zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice (optional)
- 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
- A pinch of salt
You’ll also need a saucepan that isn’t aluminum, and Serious Eats uses a 3-quart one. Ocean Spray says its version makes 2¼ cups, so expect about that much.
How do you make cranberry sauce?
Simmer the berries with the sugar and water until they pop, mash a few against the pan, and let it cool. It thickens as it sits. The cooking is about 10 minutes, and the cooling is where the texture really comes together.
- Rinse the cranberries and pick out any bruised ones.
- Combine everything in the saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, then drop to a simmer.
- Cook, stirring now and then, until the berries start to pop. Keep a lid nearby, because hot sugar spits.
- Press the berries against the side with a wooden spoon. Keep going until they’ve broken down into a jam-like sauce, about 10 minutes in all.
- Take it off the heat and cool about 30 minutes. Stir in water a tablespoon at a time if it’s too thick.
- Serve it now, or cover and refrigerate.
Don’t worry if a few berries stay whole.
Delish says they’ll probably burst as the sauce cools anyway!
How do you get the texture you want?
Cook it less for chunky, more for jammy, and sieve it for smooth. Sugar Spun Run warns that the sauce looks runnier while hot and sets as it cools, so judge it after it has rested, not at the stove.
- Chunky: Mom On Timeout likes to leave a handful of berries whole.
- Jammy: mash the berries against the pan, as in the method above.
- Smooth, like canned: Delish says to press the finished sauce through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any solids. It says the natural pectin means it should set up as well as store-bought.
If yours turns out too stiff, that’s an easy fix! Stir in a tablespoon of water at a time, as Serious Eats suggests.
Should you use brown sugar, orange juice or just water?
It’s mostly taste. Four of the five recipes use white sugar only. Sugar Spun Run mixes in brown sugar and recommends using both juice and water, because the juice adds a bright flavor. Delish says you can swap orange juice in for some or all of the water, or skip the zest and use cinnamon instead.
Cranberries are very tart. Delish says that among fruit, only lemons and limes have more acid, which is why the sugar is there. If you want less sweet, start at ¾ cup like Mom On Timeout and taste it warm before you chill it.
What mistakes do people make with cranberry sauce?
The common ones are the pan, the splatter and judging it too early. Delish says to avoid aluminum, because it reacts with the acid in the berries and gives the sauce a metallic taste. Use stainless steel or enameled cast iron instead.
“Yup the hardest part of making cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries is not screaming when the first one explodes hot sugar all over you because you forgot to put the lid on AGAIN.”
– r/thanksgiving (26 upvotes)
That’s one cook’s experience, but Sugar Spun Run’s recipe also warns about splatter. The third mistake is chilling it too briefly. Sugar Spun Run wants at least 2 hours in the fridge, so don’t plan to serve it straight off the stove.
Can you use frozen cranberries?
Yes. Delish says frozen berries work and you don’t need to thaw them first. It says fresh berries show up in grocery stores about a month before Thanksgiving and stay through Christmas, while frozen are available all year and tend to cost less.
How far ahead can you make cranberry sauce?
The sources range from 3 days to a week, and Serious Eats goes further. It says cranberries are very acidic and naturally high in antimicrobial compounds, so the sauce keeps well. It makes its own a week ahead, and says you can freeze it for several months and defrost to serve.
For a holiday, that’s a real gift! Make it early in the week, then put your oven time into the bird. Our turkey calculator works out when the oven frees up, and the full Thanksgiving side dishes list shows what else you can cook ahead.
Is homemade really better than canned?
Plenty of people think so, though canned has its fans. Delish says the can has a nostalgic appeal and a smooth texture some people love, but it points out that many canned versions use a lot of corn syrup. One r/thanksgiving poster started the debate this way:
“There is so much debate around fresh cranberry sauce vs canned cranberry sauce. I love both but I made this fresh cranberry sauce, and I feel like it tastes way better than jellied canned. Which do you prefer?”
– r/thanksgiving (188 upvotes)
That’s one thread, not a poll. If your family wants the can’s smooth texture, use the sieve trick above and you’ll get close.
What do you serve it with?
Turkey is the obvious partner, and Delish also puts it next to green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and holiday breads. It suggests using leftovers in a salad dressing or a Thanksgiving crunchwrap. Planning the rest of the table? See our vegetable sides sorted by oven space and the Christmas side dishes matched to your main course.
Cranberry sauce questions people ask
What are the three ingredients in homemade cranberry sauce?
Per Ocean Spray’s fresh cranberry sauce recipe, they’re sugar, water and cranberries. The other recipes we read add orange juice or zest, cinnamon or salt for flavor.
How long does homemade cranberry sauce last?
Mom On Timeout says up to 3 days, and Sugar Spun Run and Delish say up to 1 week in an airtight container in the fridge. Serious Eats says at least a week, or frozen for several months.
Can you freeze cranberry sauce?
Serious Eats says yes, for several months. Defrost it to serve, and stir in a little water if it has thickened.