Pucker up!
With this homemade cranberry sauce with orange and ginger help boost the flavor to something absolutely phenomenal: sweet, tart, and fragrant with spice and citrus. Get this essential Thanksgiving recipe.
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Why I Love This Cranberry Sauce With Orange Recipe
I am convinced that anyone who does not like cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving really just hasn’t had this recipe yet. This homemade ginger orange cranberry sauce recipe — ruby red, sweet but tart, and fragrant with orange, powdered or fresh ginger, and cinnamon — brightens even the heaviest Thanksgiving plate.
Best of all, this classic turkey day side dish is incredibly easy to make. The sweet-tart flavoring, chunky texture, and bright color from the berries makes the perfect condiment to Thanksgiving dinner this November.
You’ll also like: Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits and Mulled Cranberry Apple Cider
Ginger Orange Cranberry Sauce: Recipe Notes
This recipe is essentially a quick “dump and stir.” In other words, it is very easy.
To make the orange ginger cranberry sauce, pour all the ingredients — cranberries, sugars, orange juice and zest, fresh ginger (or powdered), cinnamon, and a pinch of salt — in a pot, stir, and cook. At first, the cranberries will foam and pop. This will eventually give way to a nice, thick, beautiful cranberry sauce.
This is a fairly tart cranberry sauce, to complement the heavy, savory side dishes and turkey. Taste the cranberry sauce after it finishes cooking. If you prefer a little more sweetness, add a tablespoon or two more of sugar.
How to Tell When Homemade Cranberry Sauce Is Cooked
Make sure not to over-reduce this bubbly mixture. The cranberry sauce will continue to thicken once cooled. Cook it over medium heat in a medium saucepot at a steady simmer.
The main way to test that it has cooked is to tip a spoon in the cranberry sauce, then run a knife through the center. The cranberry sauce left on the spoon should hold its shape, leaving a trail where the knife cut through.
Making the Cranberry Sauce in Advance and Leftovers
One of the other gifts of this classic Thanksgiving recipe — besides its deliciousness — is that it can be made up to a week in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Just pull the cranberry sauce from the fridge an hour or two before dinner, and serve at a cool room temperature. Garnish with a ribbon or two of fresh orange zest.
This orange ginger cranberry sauce can be stored in the freezer, but also makes wonderful leftovers, just ready to be smeared on some bread for a Thanksgiving turkey sandwich with all the trimmings. Personally, I prefer a leftovers Thanksgiving turkey melt with brie.
Did you enjoy this chunky, easy cranberry sauce recipe? You’ll also like these other cranberry recipes:
Cranberry Sauce With Orange and Ginger
Ingredients
- 1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries
- 1 medium orange, zested and juiced
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger, or 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- pinch kosher salt
- 3/4 cup water
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients (cranberries, orange juice, orange zest, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and water) into a medium pot. Stir, and bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat and let simmer, partly covered, for about 15 minutes. Stir often. The cranberry sauce is done when it is syrupy and jammy.PRO TIP: The ginger orange cranberry sauce will continue to thicken when it cools, so be sure not to over-reduce. The cranberry sauce is done when it coats the back of a spoon and a line drawn through it holds.
- Let cool to room temperature before serving. Garnish with a few grates or peels of fresh orange zest. TIP: This can be made up to 7 days in advance and kept in the refrigerator. Bring to cool room temperature before serving.
Notes
Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.
16 comments
Lisa
Such a hit at our Thanksgiving dinner. Thank you!
Lisa Ruland
Wonderful! I am so glad you enjoyed.
lillian
oh WOW!!! Fantastic recipe! Thank you
Unpeeled
Thanks so much, and I’m so happy you enjoyed. Simple and good.
Christina Campbell
Recipe is fabulous, hope it tastes as good as the recipe!
Micky
Good
NHMama
This is the best I have ever made! I used 2 small clementine because I didn’t have a medium orange in the house. Anyhow, household members who normally prefer the store bought jellied cranberry sauce really liked this recipe! My 17 year old son put all of the ingredients together with me.
Unpeeled
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it. My favorite part is how easy it is 🙂
Ángela
Hi, Lisa! Congrats on your blog. It is very interesting, full of great tips and delicious recipes. I would love to try this recipe for a family dinner but it is hard to find fresh cranberries in Spain out of Xmas season, Do you think that I could I use frozen cranberries or frozen will not work here?
Unpeeled
Hi, Angela! Thanks so much! I appreciate it. Frozen would work absolutely fine. No recipe adjustments needed or anything. I hope you love it as I do.
Ángela
Thank you very much for your reply, I’ll try it and keep you posted.
P.W.
Great. I added a squirt of lemon juice as well.
Raquel26
Absolutely wonderful tasting and easy to make. Tart, sweet, and had such a nice flavor to it from the cinnamon and orange zest, etc.
Unpeeled
Thanks, Raquel! This is one of my favorite recipes, so I’m glad you like it, too.
Joy R.
A+++ Fantastic. The best cranberry sauce I have ever had.
Unpeeled
🙂 Yea!!!