This homemade cranberry sauce with mandarin oranges is a 5 ingredient recipe made with fresh cranberries, oranges, juice, honey, and a hint of cinnamon. Tangy tart, but semi-sweet, we love to serve it with anything! This Christmas, ditch the unhealthy jarred cranberry sauce from the store and make your own, an even better and healthier version of cranberry sauce.
This sauce will taste delicious with chicken, duck, and pork (and anything sweet really)!
Cranberries taste sour and tart just because compared to other berries they have a little less sugar in them. We will need to add some flavor and sweetness back to them. This cranberry relish has a very similar taste to my lingonberry sauce.
There is a skip-to-recipe button in the top left corner along with a clickable table of contents list (just below) that will quickly take you to the part you are more interested in. Enjoy!
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Ingredients
My few comments on the ingredients + don't forget to read the Tips section!
The full recipe and ingredients can be found in the recipe card below this post.
This cranberry relish is quite a simple sauce and made without preservatives unlike a slab of canned stuff you find in the stores. This is the real deal and my favorite thing to serve on our Thanksgiving table.
Some people like the Jell-O type cranberry sauce but I strongly stand on the belief that your hard work making a proper Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner meal deserves so much better!
- Mandarin oranges - what I like to do is to use wedges instead of whole mandarins. I leave only one whole peeled mandarin for decoration. This way you’ll be able to enjoy all the flavor, texture, and mandarin pieces without the sauce becoming too mushy as the oranges will break apart eventually.
- Honey - feel free to sub with white or brown sugar or maple syrup. The last two will give the sauce a different taste, just something to keep in mind. Also, cranberries don’t taste that sour like lingonberries, so if you count calories, you can start with a little amount of sweetener first, cook it up and taste if you need any more.
- Orange juice - we need it here for the sauce base. If you don’t have it just use any other juice, or go for darker sweeter juices such as pomegranate, or grape juice. Grand Marnier, Red wine and bourbon are also our favorites. They all add richness and sweeten up the sauce.
- Cranberries - fresh is the best here as they will hold their shape well after cooking and not get too watery. The flavor is also great when fresh. Pick whole firm cranberries, that are plump and free of blemishes. This being said, you can still use a bunch of frozen ones from last year and the sauce will taste great.
- Cinnamon - a good quality ground cinnamon makes a whole lot of difference.
Instructions
Making this mandarin orange cranberry sauce has never been so easy!
Super simple, just dump all the ingredients into a saucepot and simmer over medium heat until all the flavors come together.
Prep your oranges by peeling them and separating the wedges/segments. Leave 1 peeled orange whole a sit is, we are going to use it for the decoration later.
In a medium, saucepot add fresh cranberries, honey, and orange juice. Simmer on medium-high heat and take it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes.
Ideally, you should cook cranberries just until they ''pop’’ (split open) Make stir through a couple of times so berries don’t burn.
Stir in the cinnamon and mandarin oranges. Cook for another 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened but not very thick as it will continue to thicken once cooled.
Although it is totally personal preference. Once you’ll be reheating the sauce, you can always add more water or juice to thin it out. Remove from the stovetop. Let the sauce cool before transferring it into jars.
Recommended Equipment
Tips
- Cranberries should be cooked just until they split open. This is because cooking them longer will release more pectin which will thicken the sauce way too much and your berries will become more bitter.
- The texture. Thick versus thin cranberry sauce is really a matter of personal preference - there is no right or wrong here.
- If your cranberry sauce is too thick, it's most likely overcooked. The key to great texture is to cook the cranberries until SOME of them split open. Whatever you do, don’t leave your sauce unattended as this process will happen fast. We want the sauce thick but not too thick, still pourable, and not like jelly. And like with any sauce it will thicken even more once cooled.
- So what to do? To fix thick cranberry sauce - add a splash of water, juice, red wine, and bourbon. Simmer just for a couple of minutes to thin it out. And after a couple of errors, you’ll get there!
- When cranberries cook they release pectin which is a natural thickener, so the more you cook them the more the sauce thickens.
- To fix runny cranberry sauce - if you feel like you’ve been cooking the sauce forever and it is still not thick, you may have gone wrong with the ingredient measurements (a good kitchen scale is a must). Too much water, too little berries, or too little sweetener - all of these things can be the issue here. To fix this, try cooking the sauce even longer, it will thicken eventually. Also if you have more berries and oranges left, add these to the pot. For sweetener, here you’ll have to decide if you want the sauce even sweeter, then honey or sugar will help to thicken the sauce as well. But use this with caution.
- If you followed the instructions but the sauce is still tasting kinda bland then no panic. We can still fix this. If you haven’t added enough liquid you can add juices, sweet liqueur such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier (these are orange liqueurs, exactly what we need here!), pomegranate syrup, or grenadine, bourbon, or red wine to make it taste more complex. If this is not an option or you don’t want to end up with a cranberry soup then consider adding spices, herbs, and/or salt (yes! It intensifies all other flavors, especially sugar).
- If you don’t have orange juice, just use water.
- Mandarin oranges - what I like to do is to use wedges instead of whole mandarins. I leave only one whole for decoration. This way you’ll be able to enjoy all the flavor, texture, and mandarin pieces without the sauce becoming too mushy as the oranges will break apart eventually.
- More flavors - if you like to add a little zing to your sauce then use abot 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger. Yum!
Cloves, star anise, nutmeg, thyme, rosemary sprigs, raisins, orange, lemon, or lime zest - all work amazingly and will fix your cranberry sauce in seconds. You might need to simmer the sauce for longer for the spices to open up.
- For serving, rosemary or thyme sprigs are great as well as adding orange zest on top.
- For even more complex flavors, instead of water or orange juice, you can use bourbon, sweet-flavored liquor, or whiskey. All of these add richness as well as give it a sweeter taste.
- Best enjoyed with pork tenderloin or meatballs in white sauce or gravy.
Serving Suggestions
Oh, plenty of options! Use this beautiful sauce in not only your Thanksgiving, and Christmas recipes but also in your everyday cooking.
This cranberry orange sauce is the perfect semi-sweet and tart sauce that balanced off the juicy and savory Thanksgiving Turkey, Chicken, sweet potatoes, and Brussel sprouts. During this time of the year there can't be too many cranberry recipes, and in addition, we like to serve this Millionaire Cranberry Salad during holidays.
Try something different. Here are our favorite ways to serve cranberry orange sauce:
- For cheesecake instead of jam layer
- On french toasts or drizzled over warm and spiced Pumpkin Pancakes.
- Stir into oatmeal and other porridges.
- Combine fresh cranberries with other berries and make a fruit salad.
- Add lingonberries to your hot tea or drink for a proper vitamin boost!
- Serve with pork, beef poultry, or meatballs which is very common in Sweden hence why the name of the popular recipe is Swedish Meatballs. In fact, you can find this dish in almost every IKEA restaurant.
- Drizzle over your roasted veggies, YUM!
Freezing And Storing Instructions
For leftover cranberry sauce recipe. Let the cranberry orange relish cool completely before transferring it into jars. Or any airtight container. It should keep in the fridge well for 7-9 days. Assuming that you won’t open the lid every other minute.
For freezing, the same way, let the fresh cranberry sauce cool and transfer it to containers, or freezer-friendly bags. Make sure to squeeze out the excess air before sealing the bag. It freezes well for 6 or even more months.
Thaw before use and reheat on the stovetop by adding juice, and water.
FAQ
It is the best make-ahead sauce! Like with any jam or sweet sauce, the best flavor and texture will be on the next day. This sauce needs it’s time to thicken and I highly recommend making it a day or two in advance of the big day.
You may have cooked your berries for too long and they released more bitterness into the sauce. To fix this, well it is not an easy task and you may have to start all over again. But we can still try to troubleshoot. Don’t reach out for the sugar just yet. What to add? Add a pinch of salt. This will intensify the sweetener int he sauce and may mask the bitterness slightly. If this won’t fix the bittery sour aftertaste, consider adding sweet liqueur such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier, pomegranate syrup or grenadine, bourbon or red wine. If this is not an option or you don’t want to end up with a cranberry soup then consider adding spices, herbs and/or salt (yes! It intensifies all other flavors, especially sugar). Cloves, star anise, nutmeg, thyme, rosemary sprigs, raisins, orange, lemon or lime zest - all work amazing and will fix your cranberry sauce in seconds. You might need to simmer the sauce for longer for the spices to open up.
Eventually, it all comes down to personal preference. Same with the overall texture. But in my opinion, the best cranberry sauce tastes a little tart and semi-sweet.
If your cranberry sauce is too thick, it's most likely overcooked. The key to great texture is to cook the cranberries until SOME of them split open. Whatever you do, don’t leave your sauce unattended as this process will happen fast. We want the sauce thick but not too thick, still pourable, and not like jelly. And after cooking and cooling, the sauce will thicken even more. After a couple of errors, you’ll get there! When cranberries cook they release pectin which is a natural thickener, so the more you cook them the more the sauce thickens.
Gluten Free Side Dishes
For more festive recipes be sure to take a look at our Christmas recipes.
ALL SIDE DISH recipes.
I hope you'll enjoy this cranberry orange sauce recipe, please leave a rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo of your food and tag me on Instagram @theyummy_bowl. I love seeing your creations!
Thank you for reading,
Love,
Julia
Cranberry Sauce With Mandarin Oranges
INGREDIENTS
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries
- 1 cup mandarin oranges + 1 whole peeled and wedges separated, see notes
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 cup honey or maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prep your oranges by peeling them and separating the wedges/segments. Leave 1 peeled orange whole as it is, we are going to use it for the decoration later.
- In a medium saucepot add in cranberries, honey, and orange juice. Simmer on medium high heat and take it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes. Ideally you should cook cranberries just until they ''pop''.
- Make sure to stir through a couple of times so berries don’t burn.
- Stir in the cinnamon and mandarin oranges. Cook for another 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened but not very thick as it will continue to thicken once cooled. Although it is totally personal preference. Once you’ll be reheating the sauce, you can always addmore water or juice to thin it out. Remove from the stovetop. Let the sauce cool before transferring it into jars.
Video
NOTES
- This recipe makes about 3 cups of sauce.
- Can you make cranberry sauce ahead of time? It is the best make-ahead sauce! Like with any jam or sweet sauce, the best flavor and texture will be on the next day. This sauce needs it’s time to thicken and I highly recommend making it a day or two in advance of the big day.
- For even more complex flavors, instead of water or orange juice, you can use bourbon, sweet-flavored liquor, or whiskey. All of these add richness as well as give it a sweeter taste.
- Cloves, star anise, nutmeg, thyme, rosemary sprigs, raisins, orange, lemon, or lime zest - all these aromatics and herbs work amazingly and will fix your cranberry sauce in seconds. You might need to simmer the sauce for longer for the spices to open up.
- Mandarin oranges - what I like to do is to use wedges instead of whole mandarins. I leave only one whole for decoration. This way you’ll be able to enjoy all the flavor, texture, and mandarin pieces without the sauce becoming too mushy as the oranges will break apart eventually.
PRIVATE NOTES
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Tangy, sweet and tart cranberry sauce for any occasion!