The Best Cranberry Sauce Ever! Quick, Easy and Make Ahead!

Make Ahead Cranberry Sauce is effortless and will WOW your guests! The  BEST homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe handsdown! You’ll never buy canned sauce again!

MAKE AHEAD CRANBERRY SAUCE

Have you ever wondered how to make homemade cranberry sauce? Are you a no longer a fan of the can-berry sauce and looking for an easy alternative? Or maybe your just trying to mix it up from your regular Thanksgiving cranberry sauce recipe. Well have I got a recipe for you! This effortless recipe is a bit on the tart side, as most cranberry sauces should be, but the flavors—oh my! And the leftovers—did I mention how to use this with your turkey leftovers? You will love smearing make ahead cranberry sauce on a bagel with cream cheese and the turkey the very next day. And good news – it’s just as good all year long!

I’ve updated some photos to give this popular recipe some justice! (We’ve come a long way baby!).

I can’t believe how sad this photo looks to me now. The good news is even though I wasn’t a fantastic photographer, y’all were forgiving and tried my cranberry sauce anyways!

I make cranberry sauce through out the year because I adore turkey, cream cheese and cranberry jelly sandwiches.  Loaded on a bagel, smothered in cream cheese, with big chunks of yesterday’s Thanksgiving turkey center stage. Mmmmm. And did I mention it’s easy? Want to make it even better? Ditch the bagel and use yesterday’s rolls!

Nice whole berry cranberry sauce. Cooked to perfection. Another twist I love to do is to add pickled jalapenos and to make a sweet & spicy jelly for sandwiches and roasts. We eat spicy cranberry pork tenderloin sandwiches all year long (easiest weeknight meal ever!)

I love to serve the cranberry sauce in white dishes. The pop of red is just so fantastic. I love that my new dish from TJ Maxx goes with my antique ladle I picke dup at Round Top (yep, Joanna Gaines favorite place is mine too!).

The color in the jellied cranberry sauce plays off the napkins from World Market as well!

It always amazes me how quickly these cute little guys will burst and turn into the jellied friend we eat every November.

I guess if you aren’t a whole berry fan you could smooth this out in a blender or food processor, but our family goes for the chunky.

I do tend to make this more than just in November. I make it during the winter. I love it with pork in the crockpot, in a cranberry cream cheese coffee cake, or on sandwiches like we showed above. I love it on toast alone.

By whipping up your make ahead cranberry sauce, you’ll have one less thing to worry about on Thanksgiving day!

Love my recipe? Chances are you found me on Pinterest. You can find more yummy goodness by following me on Pinterest!

I love the comments that I get from people every year. This recipe has been pinned over 60K times! WOW! It’s been featured on major websites like MSN.com. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate each and every share!

Some comments on my make ahead cranberry sauce recipe:

Thank you so much for sharing! This really is the best cranberry sauce ever and it was so easy to make. Thank you, thank you , thank you!!

Just made your recipe, will never eat canned cranberry sauce again.

Suggestions for Homemade Cranberry Sauce (based on FAQ’s I get!)

• If you don’t have orange marmalade, use apricot preserves.
• Add a little bourbon for a bit of a fun boozy addition
• If you are out of orange marmalade, a bit more OJ will be okay.
• One facebook fan raves about making this in the crockpot.
• asking yourself, “How far ahead can I make cranberry sauce?” According to Oceanspray, “We do suggest making sauce ahead of time and storing it in an air-tight container in your refrigerator. It will keep for up to one week.”
• Can I use frozen cranberries? Absolutely! I love them because I can use them year round! It will take just a bit longer for the berries to come to a boil.
• Can I substitute lemon juice for the orange juice? I wouldn’t. This is less about the acidity and more about the flavor the orange brings.
• Can you make cranberry sauce ahead— YES! Save yourself the struggle on the big day!
• Do people in the UK eat cranberry sauce? Yes, my British cousins love it just as much. It’s very popular at Christmas time, so it’s not just an American dish!
• Can you freeze cranberry sauce? Yes! Use within 2 months of freezing.
• How long can I let cranberry sauce sit out before chilling – food safety my friends! I let mine cool about 2o minutes. Be sure to put it in the fridge within 2 hours.
• How do I store fresh cranberries? Pop those in your veggie bin in the fridge! Or place in your freezer for up to 10 months.
• Do I need to defrost cranberries? Nope! I love using frozen year round!
• Can I put cranberries in an instant pot? Yes my friend – in fact, find my recipe for jalapeno cranberry jelly HERE!
• What meats do cranberries go with? Although turkey seems to be a favorite, cranberries work well with pork, chicken, cornish hens and beef.
• How long can I keep cranberry sauce in the fridge? Mine doesn’t last long, but 10-14 days seems to be the common answer.

Doing lots of holiday cooking? I have more recipes to help you out on this!

Learn how easy it is to make sturdy whipped cream frosting! No more melting whipped cream all over that dessert you worked so hard on!

My Maple Snickerdoodle Cupcakes are a huge hit every fall! And they even use a box mix!

How about a side dish for your Thanksgiving Feast?

Scalloped potatoes with bacon, cream cheese and jalapeños!

Can you tell I’m a HUGE fan of cranberries?  I even have a whole tab of my recipe index for all things cranberries! See what I’ve done with any cranberry sauce that is leftover! Find all my cranberry love recipes HERE.

Cranberry Crush : A recipe collection from Major Hoff Takes A Wife

Another popular Thanksgiving dish you might like:

Gluten Free Stuffing Balls (PS: Just as easy & tasty to make with regular bread!)

Pressure Cooker Maple Mustard Glazed Carrots

Cranberry Tea Punch

Happy cooking my friends! Be sure to follow me on Pinterest so you can see all the fun things I am cooking up!

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Homemade Make Ahead Cranberry Sauce Recipe:

5 from 5 votes

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EFFORTLESS MAKE AHEAD CRANBERRY SAUCE

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

2 hrs 15 mins

 

This EFFORTLESS homemade Make Ahead Cranberry Sauce will WOW your guests! The BEST Cranberry Sauce Recipe! You'll never buy canned sauce again!

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 large servings

Calories: 108 kcal

Author: Mrs Major Hoff

Ingredients

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar if you like it sweeter, you can double
• 1/4 cup regular sugar
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 12 oz fresh cranberries, 1 bag in the produce or frozen section

Instructions

1. Combine the orange juice, both sugars, marmalade, cinnamon, ginger, all spice and the whole cranberries in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. 

   

2. Reduce to a gentle boil and stir for 10 minutes.

3. The berries will burst (the kiddos love this part) and will eventually break down to the sauce we love.

   

4. Let cool and then refrigerate. You can serve warm if you want to, but I like to chill for at least 2 hours. 

5. ENJOY!

Recipe Notes

In case it’s not all gone on Thanksgiving, give it a whirl on the turkey sandwich—you’ll thank me I’m sure!

Nutrition Facts

EFFORTLESS MAKE AHEAD CRANBERRY SAUCE

Amount Per Serving

Calories 108

% Daily Value*

Sodium 8mg 0%

Potassium 107mg 3%

Total Carbohydrates 28g 9%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Sugars 23g

Vitamin A 1.8%

Vitamin C 26.2%

Calcium 1.6%

Iron 1.2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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