This is our favorite recipe for the Thanksgiving staple: cranberry sauce. Made from 5 ingredients, this easy sauce is ready after 20 minutes on the stove. Flavored with fresh orange juice, brown sugar, and a dash of vanilla—my secret—it’s a cut above the rest.
I originally published this recipe in 2019 and have since added a few new photos and more helpful success tips.
I’ve been making this cranberry sauce for years. It’s our family’s favorite recipe and whenever I first taste it on Thanksgiving, I always wonder why I wait for the holiday season to make it?! Honestly, this stuff deserves to be a year-round habit.
I’ve never really thought to publish the recipe on my website because it’s not (1) a large side dish, (2) dessert, or (3) baking related. But I figured if something is this easy AND this delicious… why not?! And, luckily, this recipe is one of my very best. Readers agree:
One reader, Barb, commented: “I have never been a huge fan of cranberry sauce until I made this recipe. The vanilla, in my opinion, makes this. This will be my go-to from here on out. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Emily, commented: “OMG! Just made this ahead for Thanksgiving dinner. It tastes so wonderful, it may not make it until Thanksgiving! Back to the store for more cranberries. And so easy… who knew. ★★★★★”
Finally, another reader, Marsha, commented: “I made this for Christmas and it was fantastic. Reserving 1/2 cup of raw berries and adding them at the end is a flavor sensation. I also loved the balance of orange flavor, which was just right. ★★★★★“
Why This is My Best Cranberry Sauce
- Quick—only 20 minutes on the stove
- Easy—no boiling the water and sugar together first
- Convenient—just 5 simple ingredients, including water
- Flavorful—made with fresh orange juice & zest
- Texture—moderately thick with whole cranberries swirled in
- Make-ahead—make it a few days in advance so it’s ready!
- Unlike the rest—I use brown sugar & vanilla
I didn’t think there was a way to mess this recipe up, but when I was filming the video, I spaced out and over-boiled the cranberries on high heat. I was literally standing over the pot and before I knew it, the cranberries shriveled up and the sauce thinned out. So, make sure you cook on a lower heat and keep a watchful eye on it. 🙂
Also, don’t be like Chandler Bing and rinse your cranberries with dish soap.
Grab These Ingredients
No cornstarch or other thickeners needed!
- Cranberries: Use fresh or frozen cranberries. Do not use dried.
- Water: The cranberries cook in liquid, so we’re using a combination of water and orange juice. I find using all orange juice overpowers the cranberry flavor.
- Fresh Orange Juice: Squeeze 1/4 cup of juice from a fresh orange. You need the orange zest anyway, so why not use the juices inside? Orange and cranberry are a natural pairing. Have you tried my orange cranberry bread yet?
- Brown Sugar: Why use regular white granulated sugar when there’s brown sugar?! That’s my motto and it definitely applies to cranberry sauce. I usually use only 3/4 cup, but if you want a very sweet cranberry sauce, increase to 1 cup.
- Orange Zest: Before you juice the orange, grate some zest off. Add the zest after the sauce comes off heat. Why? When I cook the cranberry sauce with the zest, the end result tastes a little bitter.
- Vanilla Extract: I don’t see a lot of cranberry sauce recipes use this ingredient, but I swear by it. A dash of vanilla extract tastes unbelievable with the orange, brown sugar, and cranberry flavors. (And bonus! Smells great too.)
How to Make Quick Cranberry Sauce
It couldn’t be easier.
Set 1/2 cup of cranberries aside. We’ll stir those in at the very end, adding even more texture. Put most of the ingredients into a pot and cook for 20 minutes. Stir in orange zest and vanilla extract. That’s it, you’re done. Though I don’t recommend it, you could probably make this with your eyes closed.
If you need to bring a dish to Thanksgiving, bring this cranberry sauce (and bring cranberry cake for brunch or dessert!). It’s low maintenance and you can make it ahead of time. You can also freeze the cranberry sauce for up to 3 months. Easy!
Uses for Cranberry Sauce
- With a traditional Thanksgiving meal
- On biscuits, pancakes, or pound cake
- Swirl 3/4 cup into cheesecake batter before baking
- Serve with cornbread
- On buttermilk waffles
- Swirl 1/2 cup into cranberry orange muffins batter (you can skip the whole cranberries in that recipe)
- Swap BBQ sauce for cranberry sauce on BBQ chicken pizza (it really is good)
- Swirl into yogurt or cottage cheese
- Swap the fresh fruit for a spoonful of cranberry sauce on my goat cheese crostini
- Inside these cranberry brie puff pastry tarts
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes
- Candied Sweet Potatoes
- Green Bean Casserole (from scratch!)
- Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
- Sweet Potato Casserole (with crunchy pecan topping)
- Mushroom Puff Pastry Tarts
- Sausage & Herb Stuffing
And for even more inspiration see my complete list of 40+ Thanksgiving side dishes.
Print
Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made from 5 ingredients, this easy sauce is ready after 20 minutes on the stove. It thickens as it cools. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. See notes.
Ingredients
- 12 ounce bag cranberries, rinsed*
- 3/4 cup (150g) water
- 1/4 cup (60ml) fresh orange juice (about 1/2 large orange)
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar*
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Read before you begin: You need fresh orange juice and orange zest. I recommend zesting the orange first, setting the zest aside, then cutting the orange for the juice. (Harder to zest a cut orange!) You need about half of a large orange for 1/4 cup juice. Juice the other half of the orange if you need more to yield 1/4 cup.
- After rinsing the cranberries, set 1/2 cup cranberries aside. You will stir these in at the end for extra texture.
- Combine the remaining cranberries, water, orange juice, and brown sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally as the mixture comes to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce heat to low-medium. While stirring occasionally, continue to cook until liquid has reduced and cranberries have burst and thickened, about 15 more minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup reserved cranberries, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Sauce is excellent served warm or at room temperature. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can prepare the sauce 3 days ahead of time. Cool completely, cover tightly, then refrigerate until ready to use. Bring to room temperature or warm on the stove/in the microwave, if desired, before serving. To freeze, cool sauce completely. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or warm on the stove/in the microwave before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Zester | Citrus Juicer | Saucepan | Wooden Spoon
- Cranberries: One 12 ounce bag is usually between 3 and 4 cups. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. No need to fully thaw. Rinse the cranberries with water in a colander before using. No need to pat dry—some water droplets are fine.
- Brown Sugar: I usually use 3/4 cup brown sugar, which makes a moderately sweet cranberry sauce. You can increase to 1 cup (200g) if you prefer your cranberry sauce extra sweet.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Wonderful, best I ever made, great recipe!
I love this recipe for it’s simple ingredients. I did add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for an extra pop.
Hey, you guys, so I just recently retired and have a lot of time on my hands and I started to take a cooking. Use quite a few sites, but I always navigate back to yours if I want to look for something really good. Why do you ask?? Your detail, Sally you and your team are good at detail.
So keep up the good work. I’m getting ready to do your cranberries and have been making my own homemade cranberries for a long time but yours seem to be quite a bit more than I’ve done before.
So I’m kind of excited to see the results.
Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you.
Hi Ron, thank you so much for making and trusting our recipes – we hope you love this cranberry sauce!
Oops – I think I made a mistake in my previous email — you’re saying that the uncooked cranberries are about 3-cups, but the output is 2 cups. Sorry!
Hi Ginny! Yes, the final yield is about 2 cups. Enjoy!
Sounds wonderful and easy too. Ive always made my own but with a different spin every year.
Have you or any of your followers tried adding a few blueberries to the mix?
If I’m making this ahead of time and plan on reheating should I add the orange zest after that or will a little heat not have the bitter effect?
Hi Betty! Either way should be fine, waiting to add the zest certainly wouldn’t hurt.
May I use regular sugar instead of brown sugar?
You can! You’ll miss the flavor from the brown sugar, though.
This turned out fantastic! A perfect last minute addition to our Thanksgiving spread. I added a cinnamon stick and an allspice berry while it simmered. Will definitely be making this again!
Just made this for Friendsgiving. I was out of brown sugar so I had to use white. The flavor probably wasn’t as deep but still, absolutely delicious!
Just made it…not sure how it tastes…thought it could be made more than 3 days in advance…so I guess I need to freeze it. Otherwise it will be 5 days till Thanksgiving …I had googled how long fresh cranberry would keep said atleast 10 days
I also read 10 days. I made mine today & am hoping for the best. The good thing is that not many in our small family like cranberry sauce, so 10 days may not be an “issue” for them getting sick. Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce…then I get to make cranberry nut bread with the leftovers. : )
Will certainly give this a try, as I have never used vanilla before. I still think a stick of cinnamon while the berries are simmering helps a lot.
Easy, tastes good, and not too high cost.
I add orange pieces removed from membranes, along with toasted nuts.
This was not a winner for me…….bitter and way too much orange flavor. I will not be making this again .
Just made last night, and I agree the orange is overpowering. I wish I had tasted before I added the zest at the end. Also I was looking for a thicker result, as I’m planning on serving over Brie on a charcuterie board. Any suggestions?
Hi Cynthia, cooking the sauce for longer will give you a thicker sauce.
How far in advance do you think this could be made without compromising the flavor?
Hi Christin, You can prepare the sauce 3 days ahead of time.
I see you have Cranberry recipes galore, but I was wondering if you have one for Jellied Cranberry Sauce? My family prefers the jellied over whole berry. Normally I resort to the tried and true Ocean Spray brand, but I would rather prepare and eat ingredients I know and can pronounce. And all of your recipes I have tried have been easy to understand and delicious.
Hi Kathy, We haven’t tested it but after this sauce has been prepared as written, we don’t see why you couldn’t use a blender to smooth it out even more for a more jellied consistency. Let us know what you try.
Thank you for this and all of your wonderful recipes. I just wanted to add, you can put the cooked sauce through a strainer to remove peel and pulp. I have to do this for my adult child, haha, I put the extra skin and pulp back into the original once I take enough out to be the smooth version, then just put it into a glass jar.
I was in a rush and didn’t see to put the orange zest and vanilla in after it simmers. Will this change the taste?
I did the same thing. Mine turned out really bitter…
How much water?
Hi Katie! 3/4 cup (150g) water.
Hello! Love this recipe! Making it for a FriendsGiving party this Saturday the 16th. How woild i adjust the recipe to make it make it for 40 to 50 people? Thanks in advance! Craig
Hi Craig! This recipe multiplies well. We’re unsure how much cranberry sauce you would need for 40 to 50 people. The recipe, as written, makes about 2 cups of cranberry sauce. We would make at least a double batch!
hi..looks really good. what can be used to substitute brown sugar to decrease some of the calories? coconut sugar?
Hi Perla, we haven’t tried this with coconut sugar. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes.
Swerve has a monkfruit brown sugar replacement, but I’m not sure how it would work in this recipe. In other recipes it works as well as regular brown sugar, occasionally I find I need a touch more to keep the same sweetness level. 🙂
Monk fruit (golden) or maple syrup should work well. I would use less then add more after tasting as needed.
Can you use regular orange juice instead of an orange
Hi Joanna, you can use orange juice, but you’ll miss some flavor from the zest.
Cranberry sauce … yum! However we cannot get fresh or frozen cranberries in my part of Oz (Australia). How can I adjust the recipe to allow me to use dried crannies please? Certainly don’t like the ‘sauce’ in a jar!
Hi Faith, you’ll really need fresh or frozen cranberries here – sorry we can’t help more!
Love your cranberry sauce.
At first when I wasn’t so sure about the vanilla, but it add a nice touch to the sauce.
Great recipes!
I am making this recipe. Sounds like a keeper.
Won’t the 1/2 cup of cranberries added at the end be too tart?
Blown away with this flavor combination. Very elegant mix with orange and vanilla. My family raved about the cranberry sauce. I did not see to add orange peel and vanilla after cooking but unlike another commentator mine was not bitter at all. Thank you for a wonderful new addition to our holiday table. Never again with canned cranberry sauce.
Although I love so many of the recipes here, this cranberry sauce was a miss for me. Tasted way too much like orange. I prefer just a simple cranberry sauce to let that flavour shine. The orange didn’t match with the Turkey for me and overall just wasn’t what I had hoped.
Can you can this as you would jam?
Hi Dinna, we haven’t tested it, but let us know if you do.
Wonderful! Made as directed with frozen cranberries to go with my turkey at Thanksgiving here in Canada. Am now very much enjoying all the leftovers as a topping for plain greek yogurt, such a tasty snack!
This may be our new go to recipe. Why anyone would ever do canned again amazes me …. Never knew how easy it was! Thanks!
This was unbelievable! I doubled the recipe but cut the orange juice and zest in half as the last time I made this, it was too orangey for our taste and hid too much of the cranberry flavour. This time it was perfect! I also cut out 1/4 cup of sugar out of the dbl batch and added a cinnamon stick while boiling. Left out 1 cup of cranberries, cooked everything for 10 mins, then added the cup of cranberries and cooked for 5 more mins. Consistency was perfect, flavour was out of this world! I may just make this as a jam. Hubby doesn’t like cranberries at all; he had a heaping spoonful for thanksgiving. Thank you for a winning recipe!
I added 1/2 cup cranberries at the very end. They softened perfectly. Recipe is a keeper.
Can you use regular sugar
Yes, same amount.
Would I be able to use this to top a cheese cake?
Hi Gale, it’s quite thick, but you can certainly give it a go. Or, mash up all the cranberries and even use a blender to make it completely smooth. Let us know if you try it!
Thank you! I’ll figure something out to thin it. I will let you know if I try it.
I follow this recipe every year for the holidays, but it’s so good that I use the cranberry sauce as a marmalade the rest of the year. I use frozen cranberries when fresh one are out of the season and is still delicious!!