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Easy homemade cranberry pear sauce with a touch of cinnamon is a great addition to your holiday table. It’s so quick to make and uses simple ingredients it’s sure to become your favorite recipe this holiday season.
Cranberry sauce is often thought of as a small part of Thanksgiving dinner. But homemade cranberry sauce is one of my favorite treats at Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you’ve tried the fresh sauce, there’s no going back to the canned stuff. Fresh cranberry sauce just has so much more flavor and you can tweak the taste to be just how you like it.
I’ve been playing with flavors and added pears to my cranberry sauce. Let me say this pear version is amazing! Pears are sweet, juicy, and the perfect combination to those tart cranberries. And the best part? They are both in season just in time for your Thanksgiving dinner prep.
But you don’t have to wait for the holiday season to roll around to enjoy this. Spoon it over some vanilla ice cream, swirl it into your oatmeal, or spread it over toast.
I’m telling you, once you give this sauce a try, you’ll be looking for excuses to whip up a batch. It’s that good. So, let’s get those cranberries and pears bubbling on the stove. You’re in for a treat.
Ingredient Notes
Cranberries – You can use fresh cranberries or frozen. In the fall you can usually find fresh cranberries sold by the bag in the produce section in the grocery store. For the rest of the year check the freezer section.
Pears – Ripe pears are naturally sweet and adding them contrasts lovely with the tart cranberries. It also helps to reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe compared to my regular cranberry sauce recipe. You can use any type of pears that you like, I’ve used Bartlett pears and they worked well. The most important thing is you want sweet pears or you might need to add more sugar.
Ground cinnamon – Adds a touch of warmth to the flavor of the sauce.
White sugar – Cranberries are very tart so I like to add a little bit of white sugar to sweeten the sauce. If you prefer sauce that’s a little tart you can leave out the sugar since the pears add a natural sweetness.
Water – Adding a little water helps to keep the pears and cranberries from sticking.
How To Make Cranberry Pear Sauce
Open your bag of cranberries sort through them, and remove any mushy or damaged berries. Rinse the cranberries under cool water and drain.
Wash your pears, then cut them in half and remove the seeds, core, and stem. I prefer to leave the skin on the pears but you can peel them if you like. Dice the pears into small pieces.
In a medium saucepan add the water, pears, sugar, and cinnamon. Bring them to a boil over medium-high heat, while stirring.
Add the cranberries and return the mixture to a boil. Then turn down and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes or until the pears are soft and the cranberries pop open.
Remove the sauce from the heat and let it cool before refrigerating.
If you prefer a smoother sauce you can mash the fruit mixture with a potato masher or puree it with an immersion blender.
How To Store
Once cool store in an airtight container and refrigerate. Cranberry sauce can be stored in the fridge for 4 to 7 days. This makes it easy to make ahead of time and take a little stress out of your holiday dinner prep. Serve cold or at room temperature.
For longer-term storage, you’ll want to freeze or can the sauce.
How To Freeze
Cranberry sauce freezes well. After it’s fully cooled pour into freezer-safe containers or freezer bags. When needed thaw it in the fridge.
How To Can
Canning is a wonderful way to preserve your cranberry sauce to enjoy all year. Then you don’t have to wait for it to thaw, just open a jar and enjoy.
To can ladle the sauce into prepared hot mason jars. Remove any air bubbles with a canning debubbler, plastic knife, or chopstick.
Wipe the rims clean, then place the lids and rings on finger tight.
Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes for pint jars. Make sure you adjust the processing time to your altitude.
When processing is complete turn off the canner, remove the lid and wait 5 minutes. Then using your jar lifters, remove the jars and place them on a towel. Let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours.
Then check the seals, any jars that didn’t seal will need to be reprocessed or placed into your fridge to use up soon.
Remove the screw bands, wash the jars, and label them before storing in a cool, dark place.
Why Is My Homemade Cranberry Sauce Not Thickening?
While the sauce is boiling it will look runny, not thick. Once the cranberry sauce starts to cool down it should thicken up. If it’s still runny after it’s fully cooked they were likely cooked for too long and the natural pectin in the fruit broke down.
What To Serve With Cranberry-Pear Sauce
- Easy Roasted Turkey
- Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Turkey Gravy
- Thanksgiving Stuffing
- Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Easy Cranberry Pear Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 4 pears cored and diced
- 1 package cranberries about 3 cups
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Sort your cranberries and remove any mushy or damaged ones. Then rinse the remaining berries under cool water.
- Wash the pears, cut them in half, and remove the seeds, core, and stem. Then dice them into small pieces.
- In a medium saucepan bring the pears, sugar, cinnamon, and water to a boil while stirring over medium-high heat.
- Add the cranberries and return to a boil, turn down and simmer for 15 minutes or until the pears are soft and the cranberries have popped.
- Remove the sauce from the heat, if you want a smoother sauce mash or puree the berries. Let it cool before refrigerating.
Notes
- The sauce will thicken as it cools.
- Store in the fridge for up to 7 days or freeze or can for long-term storage.
- You can use fresh. or frozen cranberries.
Nutrition
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate, this information is for informational purposes only please consult a nutritionist for more information and guidance.
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Kim Mills is a homeschooling mom of 6 and lives on an urban homestead in Ontario, Canada. Blogging at Homestead Acres she enjoys sharing tips to help you save money, grow and preserve your own food.