Name: Cranberry Orange Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries; 1/2 cup white granulated sugar; 1/4 cup of light brown sugar; 1/3 cup orange juice (can be freshly squeezed or store-bought); 1/2 cup of water; 1 tsp bourbon (can leave this out if desired!); 1/2 tsp cinnamon; 2 tsp orange zest (plus more for on top)

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overhead shot of hand stirring the bowl of cranberry sauce with green linen in background

This Cranberry Orange Sauce is incredibly easy, so tasty and super simple to whip up! Loaded with fresh cranberries, orange zest + juice and a few other secret ingredients, your tastebuds will be tingling with flavor and wanting another helping!

Alright so, full on truth time. I really didn’t ever eat cranberry sauce growing up. If (and that was a rare if) we did have it on our Thanksgiving table, it was the canned kind and y’all, that stuff is NOT my jam.

I know some people prefer it but…not I!

But a few years ago when I read Salt Fat Acid Heat and read about how Samin felt like she kept piling cranberry sauce on her Thanksgiving plate to get that acid/punch that the other incredibly rich foods at the table were missing, I knew I had to give it a try!

And y’all, I am so not disappointed.

Why This Isn’t Your Average Cranberry Sauce

First off, this cranberry sauce isn’t your typical overly sweet sauce. I think it has the perfect blend of sweet, tart, a hint of bitterness and the coziest spices in it! It has a slight bite and it’s the perfect acidic and flavorful addition to your Thanksgiving spread!

The cranberries are fresh and perfectly tart. I love when you make it how they pop and burst in the pan – it’s exciting and super cool to watch them go from being hard little berries to being a thick and delicious sauce.

freshly washed cranberries in colander

I love adding in the citrus burst of the oranges – I used both fresh orange juice AND orange zest. Please y’all, don’t skimp on the orange zest! It’s incredible how much flavor citrus zest adds to a dish!

While this cranberry sauce isn’t SUPER sweet, of course there has to be some sugar in it! I really particularly love this recipe because I used a blend of light brown sugar and white granulated sugar.

The brown sugar really helps add a molasses type sweetness which adds to the coziness of the dish while the granulated sugar is just, hello deliciously sweet! Using these two types of sugars results in the perfect blend of Fall inspired sweetness!

close up of half of the bowl of cranberry sauce.

Speaking of Fall inspired sweetness – I had to add a cozy Fall spice to this recipe, so I ended up using cinnamon! It’s not an overwhelming flavor but perfectly compliments the dish overall.

And speaking of cozy…

My favorite MVP ingredient in this Cranberry Orange Sauce is…

BOURBON! Yup, you read that right. Straight up bourbon. Adding a splash of alcohol in this just elevates the flavor, really melds together with the citrus notes of the orange and just adds a bite to the sauce that really takes it up a notch overall.

Ready to get into how to make it?! Let’s go!

Ingredients You Need:

Fresh cranberries
Fresh oranges
Water
Light brown sugar and granulated white sugar
Cinnamon
Bourbon

Best Tips for Making Sauce:

Alright, so, I know that making your own homemade sauce might seem daunting. But I promise it’s incredibly simple!

From the minimal ingredients to the hands off cooking approach, I promise you can whip this up in no time! Here are a few of my favorite tips for making this dish:

Start off by washing your fresh cranberries! There is most likely 1 (or mauve even 2) bad berries in the bunch, so make sure to wash and scan through them quickly before you throw them all in the pot.

Next, we start the recipe by making almost like a simple syrup type of concoction – basically combine your water, orange juice and sugars together and bring that to a rolling boil.

From there, add in those fresh and clean cranberries and the orange zest and stir in the pan. Turn the heat down to a medium boil and let it go! However…a big tip?

cranberries, water, orange juice, sugar and orange juice in a large pot.

Be prepared for the cranberries to pop/burst in the pan! You might not want to wear your Grandmother’s apron for this recipe, as sometimes the cranberries can pop/burst when they are boiling.

You can help combat this by mashing down the cranberries with a wooden spoon as it continues to cook.

finished thickened cranberry sauce in pot.

Stir the pot occasionally because you don’t want the sauce to stick to the bottom of the pan.

I added in the bourbon and the cinnamon about halfway through as I was making it – overall the sauce takes about 10-12 minutes to thicken. So, I added in the bourbon around 5 minutes in.

My biggest tip though, as always with my recipes, taste and adjust as you go!

You can add more sugar if you want it sweeter, more orange if you want it zestier or even more bourbon if you want a double kick of bite!

overhead shot of spoon full of cranberry sauce in the bowl.

Garnish with extra orange zest, maybe even a slice or two of orange to make it look extra fancy and serve!

Enjoy, my friends! XO – Haylie

Did you like this recipe? Here are a few other holiday recipes you might enjoy:

Butternut Squash Mashed Potatoes

Roasted Lemon Rosemary Potatoes

Honey Dijon Glazed Brussel Sprouts

Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie

5 from 1 vote