Homemade Cranberry Sauce with Orange Juice and Honey

There is no cranberry sauce like this Homemade Cranberry Sauce with Orange Juice and Honey. The delicious combination of fresh cranberries, bright citrus notes, and a hint of cinnamon make this fresh cranberry sauce recipe the perfect side dish to go with a Thanksgiving turkey at your family gatherings. And you’ll be surprised just how easy it is to make!

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I don’t really remember loving cranberry sauce growing up. It was either pretty underrated or just not that noteworthy.. probably a little bit of both haha. When I was a teenager, my mom started making homemade orange cranberry sauce and oh my gosh, you guys it was so good. And shockingly EASY. All you need is fresh cranberries, a little orange juice and something to sweeten it – that’s it! So if you’re looking for something easy to bring your Friendsgiving, sign up for cranberry sauce. And impress everyone by bringing your own cranberry sauce to the Thanksgiving table!

thanksgiving from scratch

This month, I have been posting homemade versions of Thanksgiving classics, and seriously, cranberry sauce is probably my favorite. I glanced over some canned cranberry sauce at the grocery store the other day to see what was in it, and it was just cranberries, high fructose corn syrup, and some other unpronounceable chemicals and preservatives. This holiday meal is a special occasion, so let’s ditch the canned stuff and I’ll show you how to make my favorite homemade cranberry sauce recipe using simple ingredients like tart cranberries, fresh orange juice and pure maple syrup or honey.

There are many recipes out there for homemade cranberry sauce, because it is SO easy to make from scratch! But most of them call for at least a cup of white sugar. Cranberries are tart. Like REALLY tart. So they do need a lot of sweetening before they can be enjoyed. We almost always use honey or maple syrup as our go to sweeteners instead of refined sugar, and this healthy cranberry sauce recipe is no exception. I like to skip the sugar in the dinner recipes and save it for the pies and dessert. Unless you make this Homemade Pumpkin Pie with a sourdough crust and NO refined sugar! You could have an entire Thanksgiving meal without all of the extra sugar. I think it’s worth the extra effort. 😊

what you’ll need to make homemade cranberry sauce with orange juice and honey –

• 16 oz fresh cranberries
• 2-4 fresh oranges – depending on the size. You’ll need however many it takes to get a cup of orange juice. If you would like to add orange zest, definitely use organic oranges.
• 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup – NOT pancake syrup like Log Cabin or Mrs. Butterworth’s or whatever else is out there.. go for the real stuff for sure!
• a cinnamon stick – optional, but it gives a nice little spice as you finish the sauce.

• a medium saucepan
• a citrus juicer
• a citrus zester

how to make this homemade cranberry sauce recipe

1. First, rinse the cranberries and pick out any squishy ones. Squeeze fresh oranges until you get 1 cup of orange juice. Zest about one tablespoon of orange zest from the orange peel and set aside.
2. Add the whole cranberries, orange juice and honey to a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high or medium heat. Then, reduce heat to medium-low, add a cinnamon stick and orange zest, and stir occasionally. You’ll start to see the cranberries pop. When they pop, they release a natural thickening agent.
3. After about 5-10 minutes, the sauce will start to thicken. Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
4. Store the finished sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

tips for making the best cranberry sauce recipe –

-If you are going to be busy making lots of delicious food on Thanksgiving day, make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the fridge!

-I like the flavor of fresh squeezed oranges for the orange juice in this recipe. This little citrus juicer makes it so easy! You could also substitute store-bought OJ.

-Another delicious way to make this cranberry sauce is to use cranberry juice instead of orange juice (or use half and half). This intensifies the delicious cranberry flavor even more! Make sure to use 100% cranberry juice and not a cocktail blend full of refined sugar. Because the cranberry juice is more tart than the orange juice, you may need to add a little more honey or maple syrup too.

-My favorite way to use up leftover cranberry sauce is to put it on a turkey sandwich the day after Thanksgiving! We live for Thanksgiving leftovers around here!!

-Cranberry sauce can be enjoyed with turkey or chicken all year long! Stock up on fresh cranberries while they’re in season, and make a few batches of sauce save in the freezer. Cranberry sauce can be frozen for up to 6 months!

try these other delicious Thanksgiving favorites from scratch –

Classic Green Bean Casserole From Scratch

Sourdough Stuffing with Sausage, Apples and Sage

The Best Pumpkin Pie From Scratch

Comment if you try this recipe and I would live if you would leave a review! 🤍 Happy Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for YOU!!

printable recipe card for homemade cranberry sauce –

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