3 Ingredient Fresh Cranberry Sauce Recipe + Video (2024)

FAQs

3 Ingredient Fresh Cranberry Sauce Recipe + Video? ›

Bobby Deen's recipe

Cooking is as simple as combining the sugar, orange juice, ½ cup of water, the cinnamon, salt and cranberries in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes - and then let cool before serving.

Bobby Deen's recipe

Cooking is as simple as combining the sugar, orange juice, ½ cup of water, the cinnamon, salt and cranberries in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes - and then let cool before serving.

"Instead, start by stirring in one tablespoon maple syrup and one teaspoon of a sweet drink like apple juice, orange juice, or fruity white or red wine. Add more to taste. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt (in small amounts, it intensifies sweetness)."

Instead, the pectin polymers will bind to each other, giving the cranberry mixture more and more structure. The sweet sugar-water molecules get trapped in between the pectin chains, resulting in a tasty cranberry sauce!

Try reducing the sauce down even further so more of the liquid cooks off and the mixture thickens. If that doesn't work, add a thickener like gelatin, pectin or a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch whisked into juice or water). Let the sauce cool before refrigerating to completely set.

Mistake #2: Your Cranberry Sauce Is Too Runny

You may have added too much liquid to the cranberries. In addition to pectin, cranberries contain water, which means you only need to add a splash of liquid to get the cooking going. Add too much and you'll be stirring at the stove much longer than expected.

Cranberry sauce can be served either as a gooey liquid or as a solid jelly. The jellied version is solid enough to retain the shape of the container in which it's placed whereas the sauce version is much more fluid. The difference between the fluid sauce and the jelly versions comes down to pectin.

My cranberry sauce is too tart. How do I fix? I like to add some honey or even a splash of agave so that I am not stirring undissolved sugar into the sauce, making it grainy.

But why? Ocean Spray says this is to get the cranberry sauce out in one intact piece. “The rounded part of the can that looks like the bottom has an air bubble in it,” Ocean Spray's representative explains. The bubble is there so you can “break the seal the sauce makes with the can.”

Adding a teaspoon or two of fresh lemon or orange zest, a tablespoon of chopped candied peel, or even a splash of juice to your canned sauce will brighten flavors and bring in some homemade flavor.

What is the difference between cranberry sauce and jellied cranberry sauce? ›

The major variation you're likely to come across is "whole berry" versus "jellied." The only difference between them is that the jellied sauce is cooked until the berries have completely broken down. They both slide out of the can as a wobbly red cylinder.

I love the texture, shape, ridges, and dependability of the cranberry sauce that comes from a can. Each year, no matter what happens or may go wrong, I know the cranberry sauce will taste exactly as it has for as long as I can remember.

Cranberries may reduce insulin resistance

Eating them with a meal, even if they're sweetened as in cranberry sauce, causes a smaller increase in blood sugar levels than eating the same meal without cranberries.

Why is my cranberry sauce so seedy? Cranberries do have seeds inside them. Sometimes, when using frozen cranberries, if it does not cook long enough, the seeds may not break down. This can cause the sauce to taste seedy.

What to do if the cranberry sauce is too thin or loose. If you inadvertently added too much water, simply bring the cranberry sauce back to the stove top and bring it to a low boil, cooking it down just a bit to help thicken it up.

To refrigerate, transfer to a covered glass or plastic container, and it'll keep for 10 to 14 days. To freeze, transfer to a covered, airtight container or freezer-safe bag, and it'll stay fresh-tasting in your freezer for about 1 month. Beyond that, it's still safe to eat (though less fresh-tasting) for up to a year.

The major variation you're likely to come across is "whole berry" versus "jellied." The only difference between them is that the jellied sauce is cooked until the berries have completely broken down. They both slide out of the can as a wobbly red cylinder.

When to Toss Cranberry Sauce. Cranberry sauce will last for two hours at room temperature. Homemade cranberry sauce will last in the fridge for 10 to 14 days. Canned cranberry sauce that has been opened will last up to a week in the fridge.

While there are some editors who prefer homemade cranberry sauce, the canned variety also has quite a following. "There's something so beautifully perfect about the texture of canned cranberry sauce, and none of those homemade mess will ever compete," says Senior Digital Food Editor Kimberly Holland.

Adding a teaspoon or two of fresh lemon or orange zest, a tablespoon of chopped candied peel, or even a splash of juice to your canned sauce will brighten flavors and bring in some homemade flavor.