A fresh Cranberry Sauce Recipe is one of those traditional dishes that goes on your Thanksgiving dinner table every year. It's tart and sweet all at once and there will be forever a debate on which is better, Cranberry Jelly or with Whole Berries!
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While you could open a can of jellied cranberry sauce, and place it in a bowl (as many people do) fresh cranberry sauce can be a real gamer changer this holiday season! Made with fresh or frozen cranberries, it's absolutely delicious as a side dish on your holiday table.
Making cranberry sauce is super easy to do, and once you realize how fast you can have it on the table you’ll wonder why you ever bothered with canned in the first place. With a cook time of 1 minute, you will be shocked how simple Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce truly is.
This recipe uses cinnamon and oranges to give it a additional flavor and bring in that fresh-factor you want at the table.
Another amazing benefit of creating the best recipe in your own home is that you can look forward to the leftovers or you can hear your dinner guests ask where did you get it because it's delicious!
Assuming that you even have any of this fresh cranberry sauce leftover after dinner, you can use it in my cranberry brie bites to create an amazing appetizer.
What's in Fresh Cranberry Sauce?
- Fresh Cranberries
- Water
- Orange Juice
- Honey
- Sugar
- Orange Zest
- Cinnamon Stick
How to make Fresh Cranberry Sauce?
- Wash the cranberries and place them in the pressure cooker.
- Add Sugar and stir.
- Pour Orange Juice, Water, Honey, and Orange Zest and give a quick stir
- Place Cinnamon Stick on top
- Set the pressure cooker to manual high pressure and cook for 1 minute with a 5 minute Natural Release.
- Release Pressure and Open lid. Remove cinnamon stick and throw it away.
- Stir Cranberries using a wooden spoon or spatula
- As you stir, break up the larger cranberries, leaving some whole.
- To thicken your cranberry sauce, set the pressure cooker to saute mode to reduce the liquid.
Can I freeze Cranberry Sauce?
Homemade cranberry sauce freezes really well! So take that leftover batch from Thanksgiving and freeze it for making appetizers on Christmas and reduce some of that hectic holiday stress.
How long is Cranberry Sauce good for?
If you store your cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge.
It can last even longer in the freezer, but either way, you have plenty of time for finding ways of incorporating this cranberry sauce in your meal plans.
Can I make Cranberry Sauce on the Stove?
Yes! If you don’t have a pressure cooker or don’t want to use it for this recipe, you can make this cranberry sauce in a pot on the stove.
Simply set the burner to medium-high heat and let it come up to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer until thickened.
How to serve Cranberry Sauce?
On a plate, in a bowl, hot or cold, the options are all yours to make. There is no wrong way to serve it up, but you may wish to garnish with a few orange peel curls if you’re looking for that fancy appearance.
Can I make Cranberry Sauce a day ahead?
Yes, you can make it a day in advance, it does really well for this and gives the flavors even more time to develop.
Just remember to either have it in your serving dish if you’re eating it cold or to warm it up if you plan on eating it that way.
How do you Thicken Cranberry Sauce?
It's easy to thicken cranberry sauce. If cooking in a Pressure Cooker press Saute and cook out the extra liquid.
If cooking on the stove top, simmer over a medium heat while stirring to reduce liquid and thicken.
What to Serve with Cranberry Sauce
There are so many options really, serve with Mashed Potatoes, on a Sandwich, as an appetizer with cheese and crackers. In a jello salad.
Fresh Cranberry Sauce will really give your recipes an amazing pop of flavor.
Holiday Recipes you might enjoy!
- Candied Carrots
- Cranberry Pecan Wild Rice Pilaf
- Bacon Green Beans and Potatoes
- Cranberry Pecan Stuffing Recipe
- Turkey Tetrazzini
- Stuffed Pork Loin
- Marsalla Grilled Tri Tip
- Cranberry Brie Bites
- Easy Cinnamon Roll ~ Cinnamon Ring
- Breakfast French Toast
Welcome to Cranberry Week!
This week we are celebrating all things cranberry! We have delicious recipes from across the country to celebrate all things cranberry!
#CranberryWeek is an annual blogging event that is hosted by Ashley from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Cranberry Moscow Mule from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Vegan Cranberry Biriyanifrom Magical Ingredients
- Cranberry Jalapeno Dip with Cream Cheese from Our Good Life
- Cranberry Christmas Cake from The Fresh Cooky
- Cranberry Sauce Recipe from Devour Dinner
- Christmas Morning Punch from Jen Around the World
- Cranberry Chutney from The Freshman Cook
- Chocolate Brownie Cranberry Muffins from Daily Dish Recipes
- Cranberry Fluff from Life Love and Good Food
- Slow Cooker Cranberry Pork Roast from Kate's Recipe Box
Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 12oz Fresh Cranberries
- 1 Cup Sugar
- ½ Cup Water
- ¼ Cup Orange Juice
- 1 stick Cinnamon Stick
- 1 Tbs Orange Zest
- 1 Tbs Honey
Instructions
- Wash cranberries and place them in the pressure cooker
- Add sugar and stir to coat cranberries
- Add water, orange juice and honey and orange zest. Stir to combine
- Place Cinnamon Stick on top
- Close lid and set to Manual / Pressure Cook for 1 minute with a 5 minute Natural Release
- Open Lid, remove cinnamon stick
- Stir cranberries. As you stir break up larger cranberries
- The more you stir the more the cranberries will break down
- To thicken sauce, press Saute button feature and reduce excess liquid
- Serve
Nutrition Disclaimer
All nutrition values are approximate and calculated by a plugin and are provided as a courtesy. Adding or subtracting ingredients will change the nutritional value.
Nutrition
Michele Hitch
Made this! Love it!
Devour Dinner
I love hearing this! It's a favorite recipe!
Mary Disterhoft
How much ground cinnamon do I use to substitute for the cinnamon stick?
Devour Dinner
I've never tested with ground cinnamon in this recipe. I would start with 1/4 teaspoon and season to taste.
Jackie Baker
I've made fresh cranberry sauce before but decided to try this fresh cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving (2022) since it used the Instant Pot. I ended up making two versions: I did the one with the cinnamon stick first (I was skeptical about using a cinnamon stick as cinnamon has a strong taste) and one without the cinnamon stick. My preference is without the cinnamon stick and, it was delicious. I will be making this recipe again using the instant pot. So quick and easy!
Karrie
Yummy! Day before Thanksgiving, Second time ever using my insta pot! Made this wonderful cranberry sauce! It turned out so good, fresh, sweet, and tart! Will definitely make this recioe again. Tomorrow I will make a batch of Brie Bites!
susan
I made this for Thanksgiving to take to my brother's house. My sister in law had the cranberries out, but I said I made some from a live video I watched. She said, well I dont have to open mine then. No everyone likes cranberry sauce in my family, but even those that had some for the first time really liked. Even put it on left over turkey sandwiches the next day. I I thought it was great too, and I dont usually eat it.
Devour Dinner
I love this review and hearing how everyone tried it. I never liked cranberry sauce but I only ever tried it from a can. It's so much different when made fresh and now I love it too! Thanks for trying my recipe and sharing it too.
Radha
Love this recipe! It is easy and the result is delicious! YUM!
Devour Dinner
Homemade Cranberry Sauce is wonderful so happy to hear you enjoyed it.
Kim Nilsen
Just made this recipe. So easy and delicious. I’ve never minded the can stuff before but this I think will be my new go to.
Devour Dinner
I love hearing this! We love this simple recipe.
katherine Jordahl
tasted great! My family enjoyed. My only issue was that I made it in the 3 qt instapot...the exhaust was red tinged but easily wiped up and I'll know better next time!
Jennifer
We make homemade cranberry sauce! Never thought about using my pressure cooker
Emily
Wow this cranberry sauce is amazing! It’s fresh and sweet and tart! Can’t wait to make more for thanksgiving!
The Freshman Cook
Your cranberry sauce looks soooo amazing! So fresh and tasty looking!
Meredith M Hartzog
This is amazing and now I use it for every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner!!! So delicious and I was never a cranberry sauce kinda girl! This recipe made me a believer
Devour Dinner
So happy to hear that you loved this recipe. I'm a fan too! It's just so good.
Terri Steffes
I so agree with you. Until I made homemade, I didn't know how good cranberry sauce was!
Kathleen
I love how you made this recipe even easier, by making it in the InstantPot! We adore homemade cranberry sauce in our house!
Sheila Thigpen
This cranberry sauce is perfection!!!
Tammy Wright
This is THE BEST cranberry sauce ever! I made this for thanksgiving and it was amazingly delicious that I made it again for Christmas and gave it as gift to some friends and family! Thank you for a delicious and easy recipe!
Devour Dinner
Tammy, You are very welcome! I'm so thrilled to hear you loved this recipe. It's so easy to make and we love it too.
Mara Robin Gabriel
I love this recipe Rebecca. I've made it about 4 times now. It is always so good.
Mara
IP101 Family
Devour Dinner
Hi Mara! We love it too! It's so easy to make Homemade Cranberry Sauce. Love it!
Mara Robin Gabriel
I made your recipe today. OMIGOSH the smell was amazing! Took a little taste and quite delicious.
Devour Dinner
Cranberry Sauce smells wonderful and tastes great too! Thanks for the 5star review!
Marilyn
I made for first time today, for Thanksgiving tomorrow. So easy and I didn’t have to mash berries. It was perfect ratio of smashed and whole. I used monk fruit sugar instead of regular. Great flavor. Home made is so much better than canned. We will use to make turkey sandwiches with leftover turkey.
Devour Dinner
Hi Marilyn! Thanks for the 5 Star Review. We love this recipe and it's so good on leftovers too!
Robin Aleszczyk
I was making the cranberry sauce, when my daughter walked in the house. She said it smelled like Christmas. I told her the cranberry sauce was for Thanksgiving.
This recipe was so easy and fast and delicious.
Thank you!
Devour Dinner
Hi Robin, Homemade Cranberry Sauce does smell like Christmas for sure! So glad you loved it!
Bob Parsons
I'm wondering if this can be canned (hot water bath or pressure cooker) for longer storage.
Devour Dinner
Hi Bob, I would imagine you can. You would need to use a Water Bath for longer storage. You can also Freeze for later use as well which is what I prefer.
Francine
First time for me for homemade cranberry sauce. Super easy recipe. A little tart but we’ll see how it tastes on Thursday. I was busy so NPR was about 18 minutes. I stirred until most berries were broken up and it thickened beautifully.
Devour Dinner
Hi Francine! I LOVE reviews like this! If you still feel it's tart on Thursday, add a little sugar to sweeten it up. So glad you liked it!
Rosamarie
Is this sweet enough to use as a fruit topping on a dessert or should I add more sugar?
Devour Dinner
Hi Rosemarie! I love to spread this on a toasted bagel with cream cheese. I don't think you will need to any additional sugar unless you want something even more sweet!
Jazmine
I’ve never had cranberry sauce until today. My dad is usually the only one to eat it and when I saw this recipe I knew I wanted to try it out for him. Everyone approved, even my 6 year old went for seconds!
Devour Dinner
I'm so glad you liked the Cranberry Sauce. Making it fresh is so good!
Cheryl Sypniewski
I am going to try the cranberries in the pressure this time like you said. Can I use regular ground cinnamon if I can't find sticks?
Devour Dinner
Hi Cheryl, This is a great question. Yes you can use Cinnamon if you don't have cinnamon sticks. I would use 1/4 tsp or a smidge less in place of a cinnamon stick. You can always add a little extra at the end if you feel you need more! Hope this helps.