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This homemade lingonberry sauce is a 6 ingredient recipe that’s made with fresh lingonberries (can use frozen as well), sugar, and a hint of organic cinnamon spice. This sauce tastes so much better than store-bought, and it will literally take you only a few minutes to make. It’s a great alternative to traditional sauces and will taste delicious with chicken, duck, and pork!
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Lingonberry sauce aka Lingonberry jam is a great alternative to traditional cranberry sauce that is served mostly but not limited for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
It has a very similar taste to cranberry sauce and is perfect for poultry and meats.
This sauce has a very bright and rich color which makes it ideal for serving during the festive season, special events, and celebrations.
If you have tried cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving then you’ll sure love this Lingonberry sauce.
Where has this sauce originated from?
It’s very popular in Europe, particularly in Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway. Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce is one of the most popular dishes in Sweden.
How Do you use lingonberries?
Oh, plenty options! Use this beautiful sauce in your everyday recipes.
But here are our favorites:
- Make a flavorful sauce/jam
- For cheesecakes!
- On toasts
- Stir into oatmeal and other porridges
- Combine fresh lingonberries 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!
Easy Eggplant Recipes
If you like more easy eggplant recipes you must check these out!
Ingredients
Okay, let’s get down to the recipe, finally!
You’ll need 6 ingredients for this sauce:
- red wine (preferably dry)
- corn starch
- sugar
- water
- cinnamon, ground
- fresh lingonberries (can use frozen)
How To Make Lingonberry sauce
I prefer fresh lingonberries (also called cowberry) but of course, they are not widely available in every country and frozen berries will work just fine.
STEP 1
Wash lingonberries and transfer them to a large pot. Pour in cold water and take it to a boil. Then measure and add sugar and organic cinnamon. Cook for 3 minutes, constantly removing the foam.
Remove from the heat.
STEP 2
Then you’ll need to use an immersion blender to mash the berries.
PRO TIP: Don’t mash up all the berries, I like to leave a few whole berries or just halves in my sauce. This way it will look way more appetizing 🙂
STEP 3
Transfer the pot with mashed lingonberries back to the stove. Pour in the wine and take it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
STEP 4
Next, mix 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 2 tablespoons of water. Add it into your sauce constantly stirring until the mixture will start boiling.
Remove from heat.
STEP 5 – SERVE!
Serve warm with pork tenderloin or meatballs or any of your favorite recipe.
Store in a jar in the refrigerator or freeze up to 3-4 months.
With this recipe you should have around 2 cups of ready-made sauce. About 10-12 servings.
What does lingonberry sauce taste like?
These berries naturally taste quite sour but when cooking them into a sauce and adding sugar they make one flavorful sauce and meat gravy.
Are lingonberries healthy?
Lingonberries are super berries that have amazing benefits for your health and actually they are best consumed raw.
Few of Lingonberry benefits include:
- Great for stabilizing blood sugar concentration
- Reducing inflammations
- Can help to lower cholesterol levels
- Can help loose weight
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Tips to make the best Lingoberry sauce
- Best enjoyed with pork tenderloin or meatballs recipes.
- With this recipe, you should have around 2 cups of ready-made lingonberry sauce/jam. Approximately 10-12 servings.
- For sugar amount: depends on the berries. My suggestion is to add 4 tablespoons of sugar first, cook it for a few minutes, and then taste the sauce. If you like it sweeter, add few tablespoons more, if you like it more sour keep it as it is.
Lingonberry sauce substitute
If you don’t have lingonberries, then very close to similar taste would be cranberries. Simply use cranberries instead of lingonberries for this recipe. But, something to keep in mind: lingonberries naturally have a more sour taste than cranberries, so you might want to increase the sugar amount in the sauce. Personal preference, really.
Good to know! When your cooking lingonberry sauce you don’t need to use any preservative because these berries contain benzoic acid that is actually a natural preservative.
I hope you enjoy this sauce recipe for any festive celebrations or just simply in your favorite recipes!
Thank you for reading,
Julia
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OUR FAVORITE EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE
Homemade Lingonberry Sauce
Ingredients
- ⅙ cup red wine preferably dry
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 6 tbsp sugar
- ¾ cup of water plus few tablespoons more
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon ground
- 3 ¼ cup fresh lingonberries can use frozen
Instructions
- Wash lingonberries and transfer them to a large pot. Pour in cold water and take it to a boil. Then add sugar and cinnamon. Cook for 3 minutes, constantly removing the foam.
- Remove from the heat.
- Then you’ll need to use an immersion blender to mash all the lingonberries.
- PRO TIP: Don’t mash up all the berries, I like to leave a few whole berries in my sauce. This way it will look way more appetizing 🙂
- Transfer the mashed lingonberries back to the stove. Pour in the wine and take it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Mix 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 2 tablespoons of water. Add it into your sauce constantly stirring until the mixture will start boiling. Remove from heat.
- Serve warm with your favorite meat recipes, polutry, vegetables and many more!
Notes
- Best enjoyed with pork tenderloin or meatballs recipes.
- With this recipe, you should have around 2 cups of ready-made lingonberry sauce/jam. Approximately 10-12 servings.
- For sugar amount: depend on the berries. My suggestion is to add 4 tablespoons of sugar first, cook it for a few minutes, and then taste the sauce. If you like it sweeter, add few tablespoons more, if you like it more sour keep it as it is.
Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on the products used.
Full Nutrition Disclaimer can be found here.
this recipe is so good, I now use this sauce for all my meats! Never thought lingonberries can taste so good with meat. I’m now planning to do the same recipe but with cranberries. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much Hannah, I am so happy you loved it!
Delicious!
Thank you Margo!