Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce

Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce – tart cranberries simmered with freshly squeezed orange juice and whole cinnamon sticks. The best Thanksgiving cranberry sauce that is easily made ahead!  

Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce

Homemade cranberry sauce is super easy to make and really elevates the Thanksgiving meal! This cranberry sauce is made with fresh cranberries, orange juice, sugar, orange zest, and whole cinnamon sticks. The cinnamon sticks are simmered along with the cranberries to flavor the cranberry sauce through out. This recipe uses two bags of cranberries, so there are plenty of leftovers for after Thanksgiving sandwiches. If you have never made homemade cranberry sauce, try it this year! It’s so easy and delicious and you won’t go back to canned cranberry sauce. Try this sauce in my Cranberry Brie Phyllo Bites!

Cranberry Orange Sauce Ingredients

• Fresh Cranberries – Two 12 oz packages
• 3 Large Oranges – For juice and zest.
• Sugar – Fresh cranberries are extremely tart and need plenty of sugar to offset the tartness.
• Cinnamon Sticks – Whole Cinnamon Sticks can be expensive, so I always shop the Hispanic Foods section at our grocery store for whole cinnamon sticks in a package. These usually cost much less than the cinnamon sticks in the jars from the spice aisle.

How To Make Cranberry Orange Sauce

Make sure to scroll to the recipe card and for full directions and ingredient list.

1. Start with fresh cranberries and rinse them really well in a colander.
2. Zest one of the oranges, then squeeze all three for a total of 1 cup of orange juice. Use additional oranges or bottled orange juice if the juice measures less than a cup. I recommend zesting the orange before cutting and juicing. It’s easier to zest an uncut orange.
3. In a large saucepan or small pot, combine cranberries, orange juice, sugar, and cinnamon sticks.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until cranberries start to burst. I prefer to leave a few cranberries that have not burst yet.
5. This is always the first Thanksgiving dish I make. I make it on Monday and refrigerate it tightly covered until Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.

My Best Thanksgiving Recipes

• Thanksgiving Charcuterie Boards
• Garlic Herb Butter Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe 
• Creamy Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
• Sausage Apple Cranberry Stuffing 
• Pumpkin Pie 
• Easy Pecan Pie Recipe
• Pumpkin Cheese Ball 
• Instant Pot Mac and Cheese 
• Corn Casserole

5 from 3 votes

Print

Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

 

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cranberry Orange Sauce, Cranberry Sauce

Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 24 oz fresh cranberries rinsed
• 3 oranges
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 1/2 cups sugar

Instructions

1. Zest one orange and set zest aside. Juice all three oranges for a total of 1 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice.

2. In a large sauce pan, combine cranberries, orange juice, sugar, and cinnamon sticks. Bring cranberries to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries burst and the sauce starts to thicken. Stir in orange zest and let cool.

Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce – tart cranberries simmered with freshly squeezed orange juice and whole cinnamon sticks. The best Thanksgiving cranberry sauce that is easily made ahead!