Homemade Cranberry Sauce made with fresh cranberries, orange juice and Grand Marnier is a sweet and incredibly flavorful Thanksgiving side dish.
Why this recipe works:
Homemade Cranberry sauce is so much better than anything you can find at the store, and this recipe is an absolute favorite in our house.
This is the best recipe out there, and if you read all the comments below, you'll see why so many readers come back every year to make it!
You can easily prepare your homemade cranberry sauce a day or two in advance so that you have one less pot to clean on the day of. And, yes, all you really need to make this recipe is a saucepan, measuring cups, and a spoon.
Even better, you can make extra and use it for other recipes like a cranberry martini, a festive cranberry fruit dip, or you can make a cranberry gelatin mold.
What makes this irresistible is this concoction of cranberries cooking in fresh orange juice, orange zest, and sugar and then finished off with a hefty splash of Grand Marnier. YUM!
Cooking tips:
- My preference is to use fresh cranberries, but you can also use frozen cranberries and it will turn out the same. I just have a preference for watching the fresh cranberries burst as they cook.
- I also recommend using freshly squeezed orange juice instead of OJ from a bottle. The recipe calls for the zest from an orange, so you might as well squeeze the juice out of it. The flavors of orange and cranberry go hand in hand.
- To make your homemade cranberry sauce, all you need to do is combine the cranberries, orange juice and zest, sugars, and pumpkin pie spice over medium low heat until the berries pop. As the fresh cranberries explode and the mixture cools, it will thicken.
- I prefer to add the Grand Marnier, which is a lovely orange liqueur, at the end of the cooking process and only allow a little of the alcohol to burn off.
- You can then serve your homemade cranberry sauce slightly warm, at room temperature, or even chilled. The taste will blow your mind!
But wait! We always think of cranberry sauce as something we can enjoy at Thanksgiving, but once you make your own from fresh ingredients, you'll want to make double, triple, or even quadruple the amount the recipe calls for just so that you'll have leftovers.
Get a quick glimpse at how easy it is to make this sauce. You'll never go back to store bought again.
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
CLICK TO PLAY RECIPE VIDEO
Ingredients
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- zest from one orange
- juice from 2 large valencia oranges (about ¾ cup)
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries (rinsed)
- ⅛ cup Grand Marnier
Instructions
- In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice with the orange zest and pumpkin pie spice. This has to be what heaven smells like.
- Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Turn heat to low and add Grand Marnier, stir, and cook for another minute or so.
- Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.
Notes
Cooking tips:
- My preference is to use fresh cranberries, but you can also use frozen cranberries and it will turn out the same. I just have a preference for watching the fresh cranberries burst as they cook.
- I also recommend using freshly squeezed orange juice instead of OJ from a bottle. The recipe calls for the zest from an orange, so you might as well squeeze the juice out of it. The flavors of orange and cranberry go hand in hand.
- To make your homemade cranberry sauce, all you need to do is combine the cranberries, orange juice and zest, sugars, and pumpkin pie spice over medium low heat until the berries pop. As the fresh cranberries explode and the mixture cools, it will thicken.
- I prefer to add the Grand Marnier, which is a lovely orange liqueur, at the end of the cooking process and only allow a little of the alcohol to burn off.
- You can then serve your homemade cranberry sauce slightly warm, at room temperature, or even chilled. The taste will blow your mind!
Svetlana
Made the sauce today, tastes good. Will make it again with little less zest(just because of my preference) and extra orange juice. Didn’t expect to like so much. Thanks for the recipe.
Kate
Delicious! I don’t love orange flavoring, so I omitted the Grand Marnier. My husband never eats cranberry sauce, but he enjoyed this recipe and ate all the leftovers.
Brooke
Is the grand marnier necessary for this recipe?
Krissy
Nope! I really like what it adds, but it's not necessary.
Stefania
I use this recipe every year! Everyone loves it and I never have any leftover!
Jamie
How long in the fridge is this good for?
Krissy
I'd probably use within a week or so, but I think it will probably last even longer than that. It's similar to homemade preserves in that way.
Ann
Can I make this a day ahead?
Krissy
Absolutely!
Lori
Hi, do I use light or dark brown sugar?
Krissy
I always use light or golden brown, but either would work
Kerry foster
I wonder if N.Z cranberries are different, as mine didn't pop. But when they mushed up a bit all the seeds came out and made it a bit grainy. Still tasted delicious but not the best texture.
Krissy
They must be different!
Karen
Made this tonight. Hope it turned out okay. Not all the cranberries popped so I kinda smashed them. Had to use navel oranges since I could not find Valencia oranges anywhere. Did not add the GM
CJ
I've been making this for a few years now. I make extra because the family loves it & want to take some home. GR8 recipe, thanks for sharing!
Vickie
This cranberry sauce was a huge hit for our Thanksgiving dinner. I am so glad I doubled the recipe. Very delicious. I highly recommend and will be making it every year.