Hello, friends. Fall seems to be marching through at an astounding pace this year. Halloween is over and we’re on to Thanksgiving in just three weeks! It’s time to start planning that Thanksgiving menu, and one of the staples of Thanksgiving dinner is . . . cranberry sauce.
Yes, you can easily buy cranberry sauce at your local grocery store, open the can, slurp it into a bowl, cut it into even slices, and serve. It’s quick and easy. But I’d like to introduce you to homemade cranberry sauce. It’s simple to make and can consist of as few as three ingredients: cranberries, your preferred sweetener, and water.
Homemade cranberry sauce tastes better than canned; the cranberries stand out rather than the sugar. You control the ingredients when you make your own cranberry sauce. That means you can add different things to deepen or round out the flavor, add more interest, increase/reduce the sweetness of the cranberry sauce, or avoid ingredients you don’t want to consume.
For this recipe, I used dry red wine and ginger to deepen the flavor, maple syrup and honey for sweetness, and orange juice – because oranges and cranberries always complement one another. We like this cranberry sauce by itself or as a condiment on top of sweet potatoes, turkey, or pork, or even in Greek yogurt for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Prep it the day before to save time on the day of the dinner and to give the flavors more time to meld together.
Go ahead and add homemade cranberry sauce to your Thanksgiving menu right now. You won’t be disappointed!
Cranberry Sauce with Red Wine and Ginger
Ingredients
- 3 c. fresh cranberries
- 1/3 c. dry red wine I used Shiraz
- 1/3 c. orange juice
- 1/3 c. water
- 1/2 c. pure maple syrup
- 1/4 c. honey
- 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
- 1 cinnamon stick 3-4 in.
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a medium sauce pan, stir together, and bring to a boil over med-high heat, stirring frequently.
- Reduce heat to med-low and simmer for about 10 minutes until cranberries soften and start to "pop", stirring frequently. Cranberries will burst open and the sauce will thicken as it cooks.
- Remove from heat and chill in the refrigerator overnight. Remove cinnamon stick before serving.
- Makes about 2 1/3 c. cranberry sauce.
Looking for more Holiday menu ideas?
Maple Balsamic Roasted Winter Vegetables
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Quinoa Dressing with Mushrooms and Almonds
Jessica Levinson (@jlevinsonrd) says
I love cranberry sauce – can eat it by itself! Your version sounds and looks delish!
Marie says
Thanks, Jessica! My daughter likes to eat cranberry sauce all by itself too. So good…
Robyn @ Simply Fresh Dinners says
Oh, I LOVE all the flavors you’ve added to this dish, Marie! Maple syrup is such a great substitute for sweetness and I never would have thought of red wine or ginger – fabulous! I love introducing a new dish every year to the holiday table and this year it will be your cranberry sauce. People get in a rut and they need changing up – although now the common saying is ‘What kind of weird dish is Robyn bringing this year?”, lol. They’ll be very happy with this one 🙂
PS. I laughed when I read ‘you can even slice it’…I can’t believe we ate that stuff when we were kids, lol.
Marie says
I’m glad I’m not alone, Robyn, in bringing new dishes to the table with my family. They’re used to it and like and eat quite a variety of foods, but always ask what’s in it before trying. You never know when you live with a food blogger. Hope you have a great week! 🙂
Sara -The Organic Dietitian says
Booz in cranberry sauce. Yum yeah!
Marie says
Just a little. 😉
bbq says
MMmm… This cranberry sauce reminds me at Christmass when I was younger. We ate it with poached pears! They were always the star of the evening for me 🙂
I’ll need to make this again soon!
Thank you!
Marie says
Serving it with poached pears sounds wonderful! I’ll have to try that. 🙂
Jessica {Swanky Recipes} says
Wow, so glad I found your blog. This recipe is incredible and I’ve been looking for a new cranberry sauce for the holidays. I have all the ingredients and i’ll have to give this a try. Pinned!
Marie says
Thanks, Jessica! Hope you like it. 🙂
Sarah says
Oh yum! I was never a fan of the canned cranberry sauce/brick that was always a thanksgiving staple at our table. This looks much much much more palatable! 🙂
Marie says
I think it is! Thanks for stopping by, Sarah.
Rachel @ Simple Seasonal says
Cranberry sauce is one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving, and this one looks incredible. I love the medly of flavors you chose!
Marie says
Thanks, Rachel! Cranberry sauce is one of my favorites as well. 🙂
Vicky & Ruth- May I Have That Recipe says
This cranberry sauce looks amazing! I love your pictures 🙂
Marie says
Thanks!
Brian Jones says
How delightful, I love the flavour of ginger, never tried it in cranberry sauce though… Definitely an oversight that needs fixing 🙂
Crazy Cat Girl says
Just in time for Thanksgiving – looking forward to serving this.
michelle says
This sounds like the perfect side with turkey 🙂
Amy says
This recipe looks so delish!!
Marie says
Thanks, Amy!
Bethany @ KansasCity Dietitian says
This sounds amazing. I’m curious, how much “wine” taste comes through? Saving this for my upcoming holidays.
Marie says
It’s not heavy on the “wine” flavor. I think it mostly enhances and adds to the flavor of the sauce in general. Hope you like it!
Mandy Enright says
You had me at wine!
Marie says
🙂
Meri @Real Living Nutrition says
I keep thinking there’s got to be a way to liven up cranberry sauce. This is a great idea! Can’t wait to try it!
Marie says
Thanks, Meri! We’ve sure enjoyed it. 🙂
Shahzadi Devje says
Great for Thanksgiving! Looks and am sure tastes beautiful!!
Kara @ Byte Sized Nutrition says
Mmm I made a red wine cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving a few years ago and it was a huge hit! I love the addition of ginger in this one.. may need to try this version this year!
Marie says
I really liked the ginger in it too!
Kelsey says
This is my second year making this cranberry sauce. It was such a hit at Christmas last year that I decided to make it again! Be warned that it does make a lot! We had so much leftover last year (for a dinner of 6). We have 12 this year, so we hopefully will go through more.
So easy to make and so yummy, I would highly recommend!
Marie says
Thanks for the feedback, Kelsey. So glad you enjoyed it!