This homemade cranberry sauce recipe is so easy to make with just a few simple and fresh ingredients. It’s naturally sweetened with honey and fresh oranges for a fresh and vibrant tasting cranberry sauce.

Homemade cranberry sauce tastes so much better than the canned version and can be made in less than one hour. It’s naturally sweet, and a little bit tart. If you prefer your cranberry sauce sweet, you can always add a little more honey to your taste.

A close up view of homemade cranberry sauce topped with orange zest

This recipe was originally posted in November 2016. Pictures and recipes have been updated.

Here is What You Will Need

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cranberry sauce ingredients left to right Cranberries, honey, orange juice, grated orange zest, grated ginger.

Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
Fresh Orange Juice & Orange Zest
Honey or Maple Syrup
Freshly Grated Ginger
Small Saucepan
Hand Grater for zesting the orange
Hand Juicer to extract the juice from the orange

How to Make Homemade Cranberry Sauce from Scratch

Place all of the ingredients into a small saucepan.

cranberries, orange juice, honey, in a sacue pan

Cook the mixture over low medium heat stirring occasionally. After about 10 minutes they will start to make a popping sound, continue to stir, occasionally smashing the berries with the back of your spoon.

Once most of the cranberries have been smashed, the sauce will become thick and chunky. If you prefer a smooth texture, allow the cranberry sauce to cool off and blend it in a food processor or use an immersion blender.

Tips for Making Homemade Cranberry Sauce

The Cranberries. Fresh is the best. If they aren’t available frozen cranberries will work too. If you use fresh cranberries, look for berries that are bright red and not wrinkled. Frozen cranberries should be thawed out before making the sauce.
The Sweetener. Cranberries are very tart, the natural sweetener is a must, skip refined sugar or artificial sweeteners. A combination of honey and fresh orange juice sweeten up this sauce nicely.
The Orange. You can use any type of orange that you like. Make sure you wash the skin well before you zest it.

A veiw of homemade cranberry sauce in a bowl with a spoon

Serve it with

Aside from the traditional turkey dinner, we love homemade cranberry sauce spread on a turkey sandwich, on the side with chicken or Swedish meatballs or smeared on top of grilled chicken breasts just before taking them off of the grill.

How to Store It

Store homemade cranberry sauce in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight food storage container.

Freeze leftover cranberry sauce in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight or place the container in a bowl of cold water for several hours.

Recipe Variations

Add a diced apple or pear to the pan with the cranberries, honey and water, and leave out the orange juice
Replace the orange juice with water or a light white or red wine and add some cinnamon and nutmeg.
Add a diced jalapeno pepper for a spicy sauce.
Add any combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, mint, lemon zest, orange zest.