Mom's Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Cooking and Preserving
Written By Steven Biggs

By Steven Biggs

How to Make Cranberry Sauce

Mom and Dad loved entertaining for Thanksgiving.

They’d cook a turkey on the BBQ, and Mom always had homemade cranberry sauce ready.

Find out how to cook a turkey on a charcoal BBQ.

Secret Ingredient for Cranberry Sauce

Mom’s cranberry sauce always included orange:

  • orange juice

  • and orange zest

She’d explain to our Thanksgiving guests how well orange pairs with cranberry—and how easy is is to make your own cranberry sauce.

I recommend that you make your cranberry sauce in the morning (or a day ahead) so that there is time for it to set.

Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of cranberries (the bags of cranberries available at supermarkets here contain 4 cups)

  • 1 1/2 cups of sugar (or less, if, like me, you prefer a tangy sauce)

  • Juice and zest of an orange

  • Water

Directions

  • Zest the orange

  • Juice the orange

  • Add enough water to the orange juice so that you have 1 1/2 cups of liquid

  • Put cranberries, liquid, zest, and sugar into a pot

  • Bring to a boil (the berries should start to pop after about 5 minutes)

  • Once the berries have popped, keep simmering for a few minutes until the sauce thickens

  • Allow to cool, pour into whatever dish you’ll be serving it in, and then refrigerate

  • As the sauce cools, it will set

Cranberry Sauce Recipe Variations

Because I grow my own citrus plants, I sometimes change the recipe to use whatever citrus I have on hand.

  • Ponderosa lemon zest, which has a unique flavour, is a nice addition to cranberry sauce

  • Yuzu zest and juice make a wonderful cranberry sauce (I like it sweetened with honey)

Find out how to grow your own lemon tree in a pot!

Add the floral taste of yuzu fruit to your cranberry sauce! I like to make a cranberry sauce using yuzu and honey.

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About the Author – Steven Biggs

Bored of rows? Try a patchwork of lettuce. A focal point of edible flowers. A perennial bed edged with edible plants. When it comes to irresistible food gardens, horticulturist Steven Biggs sees the whole yard as a canvas—with a palette of veg, fruit, herbs, and edible flowers. With over 25 years in the horticulture sector, he’s worked as a college instructor, in greenhouse and nursery production, plant propagation, biological controls, and horticultural supplies. But his passion is to help people get creative with their home gardens. To think outside the box. To tailor the garden to what they love. That might be intrigue, form, texture, unusual ingredients, or a long harvest window. Maybe it’s as a creative outlet. If he’s not in his garden, you’ll catch him recording his award-winning Food Garden Life podcast, writing gardening books and articles, and helping home gardeners think outside the box in one of his online classes.


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