Easy Cranberry Orange Sauce

Easy Cranberry and Orange Sauce Recipe

Cranberry sauce can be a thing of wonder – bright, tart, pure fruit flavours, brilliant glowing colour… Unfortunately some of the versions that come in jars can be a real disappointment, so we set out to make the ultimate cranberry sauce. After all, who wants shop-bought on the festive table?

With glorious round cranberries that hold their shape and texture bursting with their sharp juice, cooked in a simple syrup, this cranberry orange sauce is just right. There’s no fussy spicing here and no ingredients with unintelligible names. Just clean fresh new world fruitiness and the perfect complement to a winter feast, whether it’s a turkey crown, a Stilton bake, topping baked camembert or a nut roast.

The wonderful thing about this sauce is that it cooks itself in the oven while you get on with the seasonal fun. Make it in advance and it will keep for weeks, so it doesn’t need to compete for space in the oven when you are under pressure. It’s vegan, it’s gluten free and it’s delicious. You can even freeze it. What more do you need?

Ingredients

This is a simple recipe with three basic ingredients.

• Cranberries – These can be fresh or frozen. Cranberries freeze really well and retain their shape and texture once defrosted. The season for fresh cranberries is short, so I tend to buy frozen, which will often be fresher and of better quality than the fresh ones, especially if you live in a country that doesn’t grow cranberries commercially, like the UK! Allow to defrost when making this, or increase the cooking time and give it an extra stir during cooking.
• Orange – Just a regular juicing or eating orange. You can also use a clementine, mandarin or tangerine for a more festive, seasonal twist.
• Sugar – Just plain old granulated white sugar. It looks a lot, but cranberries are very sour and tart so it is needed. It also gives body to the sauce. If you feel guilty about the sugar, just remember that the cranberries are good for you. (You should, however, avoid them if taking warfarin – like grapefruit, cranberries may interact with some drugs, so always read the leaflet.)

Optional 

•  Spices –  If you prefer a spiced cranberry sauce you can add your choice of a spice of two. Try a small piece of cinnamon stick, a few cloves, cardamon pods, or a small piece of star anise.

How to Make Cranberry Orange Sauce

Step one – Assemble your three ingredients. (Spices too, if you prefer!)

Step two – Check over the cranberries and remove any that are bruised. Put the berries and the sugar in an ovenproof dish with a lid. Grate in the orange zest. Juice the orange and add the juice to the dish.

Fuss Free Tip – It’s far easier to grate the zest first and then juice, rather than the other way round! Give the orange a good roll around on the work top with a gentle pressure to get more juice out.

Step three – Stir it all together. Don’t worry about the lack of liquid, as it will form the sauce as it cooks. Put the lid on the dish, or cover tightly with foil and bake at 170°C / Gas Mark 3 / 325°F for about 40 minutes.

Step four – Take the cranberry sauce out of the oven and give it a good stir several times at the start of cooking to help the sugar to dissolve. Make sure you give the bottom of the baking dish a good scrape to stir in the layer of sugar that forms and can stick there.

The cranberry sauce is ready when the sugar has fully dissolved and formed a syrup, and the cranberries are soft, but retain their shape. The syrup will seem very runny, but will thicken as the sauce cools.

Transfer to a lidded container and keep in the fridge until needed. Serve at room temperature, garnished with a slice of orange.

Hints and Tips

• This cranberry sauce can be made several weeks ahead. Just keep in a sealed container in the fridge. I have found a forgotten jar of this at the back of the fridge several months after Christmas and it was still good. There are plenty of uses for good cranberry sauce, so don’t abandon it after the holidays.
•  If you are short on fridge space, then you can freeze the sauce and keep it for several months (I’m fairly sure that we’ve had it a full year later). Remember that a very sugary liquid will not freeze solid, so use a watertight container, or make sure the tub remains upright. It is sticky, and will slowly seep from the top to bottom of the freezer leaving a sticky scarlet trail in its wake if you don’t store it correctly. Trust me when I tell you that you do not want the clean up job that I have experienced!
• Serving size is about a generous tablespoonful per person.
• Be aware that if you are taking warfarin, cranberries may increase the blood-thinning effect of your medicine. Check with your doctor.

Uses for Leftover Cranberry Sauce

• Leftovers are delicious served with cold cuts, in a leftover turkey biryani, or with other curries.
• Make cranberry ice cream by allowing vanilla ice cream to soften (but not melt). Then swirl though a generous amount of sauce and refreeze.
• Make a quick cranberry gin or vodka liqueur by filling an empty bottle or jar about a fifth full of sauce, topping up with spirit, and give a good shake to mix.
• Try my festive brunch muffins!

Cranberry Orange Sauce Recipe Variations

• Spiced cranberry sauce – If you prefer a spiced cranberry sauce you can add your choice of a spice of two. Try a small piece of cinnamon stick, a few cloves, cardamom pods, or a small piece of star anise.
• Port and cranberry sauce – Port is a popular addition to cranberry sauce. Simply leave out the orange juice and add three tablespoons of port in its place.
• Sloe gin cranberry sauce – Replace half the orange juice with sloe gin!

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5 from 10 votes

Easy Cranberry and Orange Sauce

Let the oven do the work with this easy cranberry orange sauce recipe. It's just bursting with fresh fruity flavours and takes no effort at all. With just three ingredients and no need to watch a pan, you'll never go back to buying ready-made. 

Servings: 10

Author: Helen Best-Shaw

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time25 mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 200 g cranberries (one cup plus a heaped half cup)
• 200 g granulated sugar
• ½ orange (zest and juice)

Instructions

• Heat oven to 170°C / Gas Mark 3 / 325°F.
• Add all the ingredients to a medium sized ovenproof dish with a lid. Stir together. Don't worry about the lack of liquid. The sugar will draw out the juice from the cranberries.
• Cover with the lid or tightly cover with foil. Cook in the oven for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally during the early part of cooking, giving the bottom of the dish a good scrap to ensure the sugar dissolves properly.
• The cranberry sauce is ready when the sugar has fully dissolved and formed a syrup, and the cranberries are soft, but retain their shape. The syrup will seem very runny, but will thicken as the sauce cools.  
• Allow to cool, and keep in the fridge in a lidded container until needed. Serve at room temperature.

Notes

Recipe Notes

• This cranberry sauce can be made several weeks ahead. Just keep in a sealed container in the fridge. I have found a forgotten jar of this at the back of the fridge several months after Christmas and it was still good. There are plenty of uses for good cranberry sauce, so don’t abandon it after the holidays. 
•  If you are short on fridge space, then you can freeze the sauce and keep it for several months (I’m fairly sure that we’ve had it a full year later). Remember that a very sugary liquid will not freeze solid, so use a watertight container, or make sure the tub remains upright. 
• Serving size is about a generous tablespoonful per person.
• Be aware that if you are taking warfarin, cranberries may increase the blood-thinning effect of your medicine. Check with your doctor. 

Cranberry Sauce Variations

• Spiced cranberry sauce – If you prefer a spiced cranberry sauce you can add your choice of a spice of two. Try a small piece of cinnamon stick, a few cloves, cardamon pods, or a small piece of star anise.  
• Port and cranberry sauce – Port is a popular addition to cranberry sauce. Simply leave out the orange juice and add three tablespoons of port in its place. 

Nutritional Information

• This recipe is 5 Weight Watchers points per portion 

• Please note that the nutrition information provided below is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

• Unless stated otherwise cup conversions have been made with an online tool. For accuracy please check with your favoured conversion tool. We recommend buying inexpensive digital kitchen scales.

Nutrition Facts

Easy Cranberry and Orange Sauce

Amount Per Serving

Calories 90 Calories from Fat 9

% Daily Value*

Fat 1g2%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Sodium 1mg0%

Potassium 29mg1%

Carbohydrates 23g8%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 21g23%

Protein 1g2%

Vitamin A 27IU1%

Vitamin C 6mg7%

Calcium 4mg0%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: American, Traditional British

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