Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce (Thanksgiving Side Dish)

Name: Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 cup water; 1 cup sugar; 3 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen (1 bag))

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This easy homemade cranberry sauce is a sweet and tangy side dish made with just fresh cranberries, sugar, and water. It’s ready in about 20 minutes, and you can make it a few days ahead, so it’s the perfect side for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

A Quick Look At The Recipe

Recipe Name: Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Cook Time: About 10 minutes
Servings: About 2 cups (8 servings)
Main Ingredients: Fresh or frozen cranberries, sugar, and water
Dietary Info: Gluten free and dairy free
Difficulty Level: Easy

Homemade cranberry sauce with whole and burst cranberries is served in a white bowl on a red and green plaid cloth. The sauce has a thick glossy texture and deep ruby red color.

Cranberry sauce was always one of my favorite parts of the holiday meal. When I was growing up, it came from a can. Once I started making my own, I never looked back. It tastes so much fresher, and it’s so easy.

This is my single batch, made with one bag of cranberries. It’s just the right amount for a family holiday dinner. If you’d like to put up jars for the pantry, I also have a cranberry sauce canning recipe.

Why You’ll Love This Cranberry Sauce

Just 3 Ingredients: Cranberries, sugar, and water are all you need.
Ready In About 20 Minutes: It’s one of the quickest sides on the holiday table.
Make It Ahead: Keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days, so it’s one less thing to do on the big day.
Better Than Canned: The whole berries give it so much more flavor than the store-bought kind.

Ingredients

3 cups of cranberries (1 bag of fresh cranberries, frozen cranberries work just fine too)
1 cup of white sugar sweetens the tart berries
1 cup of water makes the syrup the cranberries cook in

How To Make Cranberry Sauce

Step 1: Sort And Rinse The Cranberries

Pour your cranberries into a bowl and pick out any soft, bruised, or shriveled ones. Then rinse them and let them drain.

Step 2: Make The Syrup

Water and granulated sugar sit in a stainless steel saucepan, ready to be heated. A red and green plaid cloth rests beside the pan.

Add the water and sugar to a medium pot and bring it to a boil. Stir it now, and then stir until the sugar dissolves.

Step 3: Simmer The Cranberries

Fresh cranberries added to boiling syrup in a stainless steel saucepan, with a red and green plaid cloth beside it.

Homemade cranberry sauce boils in a stainless steel saucepan as whole berries burst and the deep red mixture thickens. A red and green plaid cloth rests beside the pan.

Add the cranberries and bring it back to a boil. Then turn the heat down and let it simmer for 10 minutes. You’ll hear the berries start to pop as they cook.

Step 3: Cool And Chill

Homemade cranberry sauce with whole and burst cranberries fills a white bowl set on a red and green plaid cloth. The sauce is thick and glossy with a deep ruby red color.

Take the pot off the heat and let the sauce cool to room temperature. Then spoon it into a container and chill it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Recipe Notes & Tips

It thickens as it cools. Don’t worry if the sauce looks thin when it comes off the heat. Cranberries have lots of natural pectin, so it sets up as it cools.
Make it ahead. Cranberry sauce is the perfect make-ahead side. Make it up to 4 days before your holiday dinner.
Use a medium pot. The sauce foams up as it boils, so give it a little room.
Need more? This recipe doubles easily for a big crowd.

Substitutions

Frozen cranberries: Use them in place of fresh. They work just fine.
Brown sugar: Swap some of the white sugar for brown sugar for a deeper flavor.

Variations

Orange cranberry sauce: Stir in a little orange zest at the end.
Spiced cranberry sauce: Add a cinnamon stick while it simmers, then take it out before serving.

How To Serve Cranberry Sauce

Serve it alongside roast turkey, stuffing, and gravy for a classic holiday dinner.
It’s just as good with ham or roast chicken.
Spread it on leftover turkey sandwiches, or serve it next to a scoop of turkey salad.
Bake leftover cranberry sauce into these cranberry squares.

How To Store Cranberry Sauce

In the fridge: Keep it in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

In the freezer: Cranberry sauce freezes just fine. Let it cool, then store it in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge before serving.

FAQ’s

You can make it up to 4 days ahead and keep it in the fridge, or freeze it for up to 3 months.

Yes, frozen cranberries work just fine in this recipe.

It’s probably still warm. Cranberry sauce thickens a lot as it cools, so give it time in the fridge.

Just cranberries, sugar, and water.

Yes. Check out my cranberry sauce canning recipe for the canning steps and processing times.

More Thanksgiving Recipes

Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce

This easy homemade cranberry sauce is sweet, tangy, and made with just fresh cranberries, sugar, and water. A simple make-ahead side dish that's perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner!

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Total Time 15

Serving Size servings

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 cups cranberries fresh or frozen (1 bag)

Instructions

Sort the cranberries, removing any bad ones. Rinse and drain.
Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a medium pot.
Add the cranberries and return to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge until serving.

Notes

The sauce thickens as it cools.
Keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

These values are from a nutritional database and automatically calculated, and should only be used as an approximation.

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Kim

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.