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Home » Recipes » Side Dish Recipes

Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce

Published: Nov 7, 2022 by Jan Nunes

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Cranberry Sauce in a clear bowl with text overlay.

Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce is sweet, tangy, and loaded with whole berries. With just whole fresh cranberries, sugar, and water this sauce makes in minutes and is delicious with both savory dishes and sweet desserts.

Cranberry Sauce in a glass bowl.

There is nothing like making your own cranberry sauce from fresh whole cranberries. While canned cranberry sauce has a scant number of whole berries, this sauce is packed with them.

Jump to:
  • What are Cranberries?
  • What is Cranberry Sauce?
  • Ingredients
  • Instructions
  • My Top Tips
  • Cranberry Sauce Variations
  • Make-Ahead & Storage
  • Related Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe

What are Cranberries?

Whole fresh cranberries in a white dish.

Cranberries are highly acidic, small, red berries that grow on small creeping shrubs. The shrubs grow in bogs in the cooler areas of the northern hemisphere.

Because of their high acidity, hard texture, and tart flavor, cranberries require sugar to be palatable. Highly sweetened juices and sauces are the most common use of cranberries. However, they are also used in baking.

What is Cranberry Sauce?

Essentially cranberry sauce is made by simmering cranberries in a simple syrup of water and sugar. Most recipes call for 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar, which yields a sweet but thinner sauce. If you cook the cranberries longer in this syrup the sauce will thicken. But all of the berries will have burst. This is not a bad thing, but if you want some of the berries to remain whole you need to shorten the simmering time.

However, I have a secret method to make fruit sauces like this and I use the same secret in this sauce as in my Red Wine Sauce with Berries, which is to add additional whole berries to the sauce after it has cooked.

For this whole-berry cranberry sauce, additional whole cranberries are added after the sauce has simmered. The residual heat of the cooked sauce is enough to cook the whole berries until they are tender but still whole.

I also have experimented with the proportions of water and sugar and found that a heavier simple syrup will give me a thicker sauce, which I think is perfect.

So for this recipe, I use ¾ cup of water to 1 cup of sugar. With this proportion of water to sugar, the sauce does not run on a plate. The cranberries are sweetened and the sauce is chunky with burst berries and whole berries.

Although cranberry sauce is the definitive must-have condiment for a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving and Christmas, this sauce is so good you might want to make it year-round! And you can! Just freeze whole cranberries while they are in season and you can make this brilliantly colored, delicious sauce anytime.

So, let's cook!

Ingredients

The ingredients from top to bottom: fresh whole cranberries, white granulated sugar, and water.

Here's what you need for this whole-berry cranberry sauce:

  • Fresh Cranberries - Fresh cranberries can be found in the produce department from October through December.
  • White Granulated Sugar - To keep the cranberry flavor bright, only use white granulated sugar. Sugar tames the acidity of the cranberry and, in general, is essential in making fruit sauces, preserves, and jams.
  • Water - You must add water to the cranberries and sugar to make a sauce and not a jam.

Please see the recipe card for the exact quantities.

Instructions

Cranberries are washed and sorted in a colander.
Dividing the cranberries into two portions in glass bowls.

Wash the cranberries well and remove any discolored, soft, or shriveled berries. Set aside 1 cup of cranberries for later.

The cranberries, water and sugar in a large sauce pan.
The sauce simmering in a covered saucepan.

Put the remaining cranberries, sugar, and water in a 2-quart pan. Cover the pan and bring the cranberries to a boil over medium heat. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes until the cranberries burst.

Skimming foam from the top of the sauce with a spoon.

Remove the pan from the heat and skim any foam from the top of the sauce.

Adding more fresh cranberries to the hot sauce.
Cooling the sauce and softening the whole cranberries in a covered saucepan.

Stir in the reserved cranberries. Cover the pan again and let it cool for 10 minutes. The residual heat of the sauce will soften the added whole berries without bursting them.

The sauce transferred to a glass bowl.

When cool, transfer the cranberry sauce to a covered container and store it in the refrigerator.

My Top Tips

Choose cranberries that are deep red in color for the best flavor.

Although many recipes do not state to remove the foam, skimming the foam from the sauce makes it more beautiful.

Cranberry Sauce Variations

Fruit Flavored Variations

  • Cranberry Orange Sauce - Add a 1-inch x 3-inch strip of orange zest to the sauce as it cooks. Remove the zest before storing and serving.
  • Cranberry Sauce with Pineapple - Add ½ cup canned crushed pineapple.

Tipsy Variations

  • Red Wine Cranberry Sauce – Substitute red wine for the water. Choose a red wine that you enjoy drinking and don't use "cooking wine". Good choices are merlot, malbec, and fruity zinfandels.
  • Cranberry Sauce with Grand Marnier - Substitute 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier for part of the water.
  • Bourbon Cranberry Sauce - Substitute 2 tablespoons of your favorite bourbon for part of the water.
  • Cranberry Sauce with Port Wine - Substitute 2 tablespoons of port wine for part of the water.
Various ingredients to vary the flavor of cranberry sauce: red wine, Grand Marnier, port wine, bourbon, orange, whole cloves, whole allspice, and cinnamon sticks.
Ingredients like wine, spirits, orange zest, and sweet baking spices can vary the flavor of cranberry sauce.

Spiced Variations

  • Winter Spiced Cranberry Sauce – Add 1 Cinnamon Stick and a spice sachet of 4 allspice berries, and 2 whole cloves.
  • Gingered Cranberry Sauce – Add 1 inch of fresh ginger root that is peeled and finely chopped.
  • Cranberry Sauce with Horseradish - Stir in 2 teaspoons of prepared horseradish, not cream-style horseradish, to the prepared sauce.
  • Spicy Chipotle Cranberry Sauce - Stir in ½ teaspoon of adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers to the cooked sauce.

Make-Ahead & Storage

This sauce keeps up to 3 weeks in a covered container in the refrigerator. So, cranberry sauce can easily be made several days ahead of when you want to serve it.

Cranberry Sauce in a glass bowl.

Related Recipes

  • Red Wine Sauce with Berries
  • Simple Syrup Recipes Chart
  • Sauces, Gravies, and Thickening Agents Chart

📖 Recipe

Cranberry Sauce in a glass bowl.

Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce

5 from 1 vote
Encharted Cook | Jan Nunes
Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce is sweet, tangy, and loaded with whole berries. It is delicious with both savory dishes and sweet desserts.
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Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Cooling Time 20 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Course Sauces
Cuisine American
Servings 8 Servings
Calories 116 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 12 Ounces Fresh Cranberries
  • 1 Cup White Granulated Sugar
  • ¾ Cup Water

Instructions
 

  • Wash the cranberries well and remove any discolored, soft, or shriveled berries. Set aside 1 cup of cranberries for later.
    12 Ounces Fresh Cranberries
  • Put the remaining cranberries, sugar, and water in a 2-quart pan. Cover the pan and bring the cranberries to a boil over medium heat. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes until the cranberries burst.
    1 Cup White Granulated Sugar, ¾ Cup Water
  • Remove the pan from the heat and skim any foam from the top of the sauce.
  • Stir in the reserved cranberries. Cover the pan again and let it cool for 10 minutes. The residual heat of the sauce will soften the added whole berries without bursting them.
  • When cool, transfer the cranberry sauce to a covered container and store it in the refrigerator.

Notes

My Top Tips
Choose cranberries that are deep red in color for the best flavor.
Although many recipes do not state to remove the foam, skimming the foam from the sauce makes it more beautiful.
Cranberry Sauce Variations
Fruit Flavored Variations
  • Cranberry Orange Sauce - Add a 1-inch x 3-inch strip of orange zest to the sauce as it cooks. Remove the zest before storing and serving.
  • Cranberry Sauce with Pineapple - Add ½ cup canned crushed pineapple.
Tipsy Variations
  • Red Wine Cranberry Sauce – Substitute red wine for the water. Choose a red wine that you enjoy drinking and don't use "cooking wine". Good choices are merlot, malbec, and fruity zinfandels.
  • Cranberry Sauce with Grand Marnier - Substitute 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier for part of the water.
  • Bourbon Cranberry Sauce - Substitute 2 tablespoons of your favorite bourbon for part of the water.
  • Cranberry Sauce with Port Wine - Substitute 2 tablespoons of port wine for part of the water.
Spiced Variations
  • Winter Spiced Cranberry Sauce – Add 1 Cinnamon Stick and a spice sachet of 4 allspice berries, and 2 whole cloves.
  • Gingered Cranberry Sauce – Add 1 inch of fresh ginger root that is peeled and finely chopped.
  • Cranberry Sauce with Horseradish - Stir in 2 teaspoons of prepared horseradish, not cream-style horseradish, to the prepared sauce.
  • Spicy Chipotle Cranberry Sauce - Stir in ½ teaspoon of adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers to the cooked sauce.
Make-Ahead & Storage
This sauce keeps up to 3 weeks in a covered container in the refrigerator. So, cranberry sauce can easily be made several days ahead of when you want to serve it.

Nutrition Per Serving

Calories: 116kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.004g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.02g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 35mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 26IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.1mg

All nutritional information on this site is an estimate. Your results may vary.

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