Canned Cranberries are okay, but this holiday season take a little extra time and spruce up the canned stuff. It only takes a couple extra ingredients and a couple minutes to add layers of flavor. It can even be made a few days ahead for easier holiday dinner prep!
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We are taking a can of Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberries and making them SO much better! And it is super simple to do.
And if you still really want to make them homemade from fresh cranberries grab this recipe, and you have an Instant Pot you can pop over to this recipe for Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce.
Cranberry Sauce
If you are not familiar with cranberry sauce, sometimes called cranberry relish (although relish is more of a raw cranberry dish), it is a condiment or side dish that is made from whole cranberries and sugar. It is a popular holiday side dish served in the United States with Thanksgiving or Christmas Dinner.
It is the perfect complement to any rich and butter heavy dinner. It goes great with Roasted Turkey, Pot Roast, Braised Tri Tip, Pork Roast, or Rosemary Pork Loin.
Canned Cranberries
There are two options when you go to the store to buy canned cranberries.
- Jellied Cranberry Sauce
- Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
You want to make sure you buy the whole berry cranberry sauce, we like Ocean Spray brand. It is consistent and has a lot of berries.
Jellied Cranberry Sauce is the one that gives canned cranberry sauce a bad reputation! It is the one that comes out of the can whole, still showing the ribs of the can, and then gets cut into slices. NO THANK YOU… Although we love the idea of using cranberry sauce in a cocktail.
Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce actually has whole cranberries in it and is surrounded by a cranberry sauce. It is good, but lacks depth of flavor and additional texture. It is a great starting point for your “homemade cranberry sauce”.
Ingredients
You only need a few ingredients to dress up your canned cranberries:
Orange Zest – the zest of an orange is literally just the orange peel portion, you want to avoid going to deep or you will also get the white pith under the peel, which can be bitter. A Microplane does a great job of zesting fresh oranges!
Crushed Pineapple – a little pineapple goes a long way in this recipe, you only need an 8 oz can. Make sure you get the crushed pineapple in 100% juice. It adds the perfect texture and sweetness.
Cinnamon & Clove – These two spices are the perfect addition here. The cinnamon is traditional and the clove adds perfect depth of flavor and warmth.
Step by Step Instructions
Start by opening the cans of whole cranberry sauce and pop them into a medium saucepan. You may need to run a knife or spoon between the cranberries and the can to get them to release.
Place the pot over low heat .
Now add the orange zest from a medium or large orange, canned crushed pineapple with juices, ground cinnamon and clove.
Stir it around the pot and let warm through for about 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let it cool.
Serving
You can serve your cranberries warm, cold or at room temperature, it is completely personal preference.
To serve them warm, you can cook them right before dinner and then let them cool for a while and serve. Or make ahead and then warm on the stove or in the microwave for a minute.
To serve cold (my favorite way to serve them!) make the cranberries ahead and then pop in the refrigerator for a couple hours or a couple days. Give them a stir and place them on the dinner table.
Making Cranberries Sweeter
Give the cranberries a taste. There is already quite a bit of sugar in the canned cranberries, but if you still like it a little sweeter, try using some of these options, adding just a little at a time:
- brown sugar
- white sugar
- maple syrup
Making Cranberries More Tart
If you like tart cranberries then you want more acid. Achieve this by adding a little lemon juice, taste, and add more as you like.
Using Leftover Cranberry Sauce
Store any leftover cranberry sauce in the fridge, covered, for up to a week.
It is excellent added to leftover turkey sandwiches, over ice cream, or served with other proteins like pork chops, roasted pork loin. Or use it to mix up a cocktail!
More Delicious Holiday Side Dishes
Thanksgiving Dinner Menu
Check out this full guide including the full menu and recipes for Thanksgiving Dinner for 10.
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Did you make this recipe?
I would love to hear your review, especially if you have tips and tricks to add! Pop down to the comment section and connect with me
Canned Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 (14 oz.) canned whole berry cranberry sauce
- 8 oz crushed pineapple in juice - – do not drain!
- orange zest of 1 orange - – medium or large size
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- healthy pinch of ground clove
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a sauce pan over low heat. Stir to combine2 (14 oz.) canned whole berry cranberry sauce, 8 oz crushed pineapple in juice, orange zest of 1 orange, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, healthy pinch of ground clove
- Warm together for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste for sweet/tart preference!To make sweeter add a little brown sugar, maple syrup or white sugar.To make more tart squeeze in a little lemon juice.
- Remove from the heat and cool for 15-20 minutes.
Serving/Storing
- Canned Cranberries can be served warm or cold.(Cold is my preferred way! It adds a nice temperature contrast to the warm/hot meal)
- You can make these up to a week ahead and store in the fridge, covered. Give them a stir before serving cold. Or heat them over low for a few minutes to serve warm.
- Leftovers are great on turkey sandwiches or over ice cream!
Dan
Any problem adding chopped apples, celery and pecans to it? would I need to make any adjustments to the liquids?
Susie Weinrich
You should be 100% fine adding all those yummy mix-ins. I don’t think you will need to change the liquid amounts. Happy Holidays!
Also, that is how my family made cranberries growing up! I should add a recipe like that to the site.
Mikki
Thank you! first time cranberry sauce maker! This is delicious and was EASY!!
Lauren
Getting ahead on some prep for Thanksgiving and made this today. Such a GREAT way to elevate canned cranberry sauce. I had to put this in the fridge to keep myself from dipping pretzels in it!! Thanks!
Laura
This recipe is EASY and DELICIOUS 😋. Made it today and was pleasantly surprised. I can’t wait to serve it on Thanksgiving and I’m sure it will be a hit!!
Lori
I never thought of making cranberry sauce this way! So much easier than making from scratch and the flavor!! So good!!