Cranberry Sauce with Orange Juice

Cranberry orange sauce is a mouthwatering holiday cranberry sauce with subtle citrus flavor from orange juice and orange zest. Quick and easy!

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Christmas, Dinner, Thanksgiving

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: cups

Calories: 99kcal

Author: Traci

Equipment

chef's knife to cut oranges
Microplane zester / grater to zest oranges
citrus squeezer to juice oranges
2 quart saucepan or 6-quart pressure cooker
stirring utensil
vegetable masher optional

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce bag) Cranberries (fresh or frozen) same as 3 cups
1 cup Sugar or ¾ cup for less sweet, more tart flavor
1 cup Orange Juice or ½ cup water + ½ cup orange juice

Optional

1-2 teaspoons Zest from 1 orange *see recipe footnote

Instructions

Visit recipe footnotes for pressure cooker instructions

Place CRANBERRIES, SUGAR, ORANGE JUICE, and (optional) ORANGE ZEST in the saucepan pot over medium-high heat.
Bring everything to a boil until the cranberries pop, stirring as needed.
Remove from heat, mash a few cranberries for a saucy texture, and rest 10 minutes at room temperature to set up.
To store, cool the cranberry sauce to room temperature. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 7 days. Serve chilled.

Video

Notes

If using frozen cranberries, there's no need to thaw them before making this cranberry sauce.

The main advantage of using freshly squeezed orange juice is that you can zest the orange before juicing and add it to the recipe. Otherwise, bottled orange juice will make your cranberry sauce just as delicious.

You can make cranberry sauce without orange juice by simply substituting water for the orange juice. In this case, you would be making a classic cranberry sauce.

You can freeze cranberry sauce for up to three months in freezer-safe storage containers or even longer if it's vacuum-sealed. Transfer it to the refrigerator 12-24 hours before serving to thaw.

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Pressure cooker instructions - Place all ingredients in the cooker. Lock the lid and pressure cook on HIGH for 2 minutes, followed by a 10-minute natural pressure release. Proceed with step 3 above.

Nutrition