Homemade Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
This Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce is the easiest recipe that tastes like you made it from scratch. It always has a place on our Thanksgiving table and is a perfect compliment to the turkey and all the sides.
In my opinion, it’s not Thanksgiving without the cranberry sauce. This Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce is a recipe I’ve been making for years and learned from a family friend. It uses the canned cranberry sauce as a shortcut and then I stir in apple, orange zest, and cinnamon to add gourmet flavors.
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Every year our family asks if I made the cranberries from scratch! Little do they know it’s the easiest recipe that takes 10 minutes to prepare with a single mixing bowl. Serve it with Slow Cooker Turkey Breast as well as Turkey and Stuffing Roll Ups.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- A sauce that tastes like it’s made from scratch using store-bought ingredients. Everyone will ask you if you made homemade cranberry sauce, it’s that delicious!
- 4-ingredient Thanksgiving side dish. It’s as simple as that, just 10 minutes is all you need to prep this dish.
- Easy to make in advance. We recommend chilling this sauce for at least an hour to let the flavors marinate, but you could also easily make it a day in advance.
Ingredients
Scroll Down to the Recipe Card for the Full Recipe and Ingredient Amounts
- Whole berry cranberry sauce: Buy the canned version from the store. This is the base of our cranberry sauce!
- Granny Smith apple: Adds nice crunch and fresh fruity flavor into the sauce.
- Orange zest: Brightens all of the flavors of the cranberry sauce.
- Cinnamon: Gives some warmth to every bite.
Tools You’ll Need
How to Make Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
- First prep the ingredients: zest the orange and finely chop the apple.
- In a medium bowl, empty the can of cranberry sauce. Add the chopped apple.
- Stir in orange zest and ground cinnamon until well combined.
- For best flavor, cover and refrigerate the cranberry sauce for at least 1 hour before serving. Stir before serving.
Expert Tips
- Be sure to buy whole berry cranberry sauce from the store. This is a special type that has more flavor and texture in our opinion as the base of your cranberry sauce.
- You can peel the apple if you desire. Up to you, we like the green color of the skin with the cranberry sauce as well.
- Add more or less cinnamon to taste. We’ve also added a pinch of nutmeg or cloves before if you want to customize the flavors.
- Additional Mixins: chopped Pecans or walnuts, diced fresh pear, orange segments, golden raisins or dried cranberries, finely chopped celery, minced jalapeño, grated fresh ginger, splash of orange juice, chopped candied ginger, and toasted coconut.
What to Serve with Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
There are too many delicious options. Here are some things that we love to serve for Thanksgiving:
- Slow Cooker Turkey Breast
- Gobbler Sandwich (perfect way to use up leftover cranberry sauce!)
- Crockpot Green Beans
- Crockpot Mashed Potatoes
- Whipped Mashed Potatoes
- Cornbread Dressing
Storage
Store any leftover homemade berry cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. We like to take it out about 30 minutes prior to serving to let the chill come off.
This cranberry sauce is not great for freezing. When it thaws, the texture will change.
Frequently Asked Questions
We love to serve it on turkey and with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole during the holidays.
Of course! You can make it up to a day in advance if you are entertaining a crowd.
Feel free to add raisins, lime zest, diced jalapeno for spice, even orange juice for a twist on flavors.
More Easy Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 14 ounce can whole berry cranberry sauce
- 1/2 small Granny Smith apple
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, empty the can of cranberry sauce. Add the chopped Granny Smith apple.
- Stir in orange zest and ground cinnamon until well combined.
- For best flavor, cover and refrigerate the cranberry sauce for at least 1 hour before serving. Stir before serving.
Video
Notes
Expert Tips
- Be sure to buy whole berry cranberry sauce from the store. This is a special type that has more flavor and texture in our opinion as the base of your cranberry sauce.
- You can peel the apple if you desire. Up to you, we like the green color of the skin with the cranberry sauce as well.
- Add more or less cinnamon to taste. We’ve also added a pinch of nutmeg or cloves before if you want to customize the flavors.
- Additional Mixins: chopped Pecans or walnuts, diced fresh pear, orange segments, golden raisins or dried cranberries, finely chopped celery, minced jalapeño, grated fresh ginger, splash of orange juice, chopped candied ginger, and toasted coconut.
Storage
Store any leftover homemade berry cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. We like to take it out about 30 minutes prior to serving to let the chill come off.Nutrition
About Laura
Taught by some of the best, cooking and entertaining has always been my favorite hobby. Food is my love language! The conception of Dinner in 321 came from my family talks that sharing our dinners would help others learn new skills, tasty recipes, and make cooking fun! Read more…
Oh my word!! Just made this for thanksgiving to set in fridge for couple days. Goodness. It’s delicious before setting in fridge. That’s a good sign of an excellent sauce. Yummy and thank you
This is FANTASTIC!! YAY!! I love that you made it and like it SO MUCH!! It’s on my to-do list to make today too 😉 I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!!