I’ve been making this 3 Ways With Cranberries Sauce for years. The original recipe came from Bon Appetit, I believe but I’m not swearing to that y’all. There must be a gazillion variations on this idea bouncing around the internet cranberry bogs, but this is the one I go back to time and time again.
This probably should be called 4 Ways with Cranberries Sauce since it really includes four different cranberry ingredients: cranberry juice (not cocktail), dried cranberries, fresh cranberries and cranberry balsamic vinegar. However, since you may not be able to locate the cranberry balsamic, I’ll leave the title at 3 Ways.A good substitute for the cranberry balsamic would be a DeNigris balsamic which is more readily available.
Do you know why I really make this cranberry sauce? Honest confession. I really want it on a grilled turkey and provolone on sourdough sandwich. I usually mix in a little mustard with a spoonful of the sauce and spread it on the inside the bread before grilling. I probably wait all year on that sandwich. It’s a thing of my dreams.
Am I pitiful or what? Whatever.
This cranberries sauce is not very sweet which is another reason I enjoy it so much. It gets an extra tartness from the orange zest as well as the vinegar. We prefer it on the chunky side, but you could certainly chop the fresh cranberries if you prefer a sauce that is less so.
Make this up ahead of time and save yourself a little less stress on Thanksgiving. Or Christmas. Oh heck…whenever you want this. It’s that good. Trust me. You can kiss that canned stuff goodbye forever.
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Ingredients
- 1 12-ounce package fresh cranberries
- 1 12-ounce container frozen cranberry juice concentrate
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries (not cranraisins)
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoons cranberry balsamic vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons orange juice (about 1/2 a navel orange)
- 1/2 cup orange marmalade (to taste)
- 1/2 navel orange finely zested
- 1/4 cup orange citron, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine the fresh cranberries, cranberry juice, dried cranberries, sugar and vinegar.
- Cook over medium heat until the cranberries pop, about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Stir in the orange juice, orange marmalade, orange zest, and citron. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the ground allspice.
- Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. This can be made several days ahead of serving.
