For Day 2 of Thanksgiving Week we’re making thick, tangy, naturally sweetened whole berry cranberry sauce with just four basic ingredients in under 10 minutes.
I know cranberry sauce is a fiercely polarizing thanksgiving dish: you either love it or really, really hate it.
Or, maybe you’re like me and think it’s a critical tart-sweet condiment that balances all of the savory, rich, buttery elements of the thanksgiving meal…but that it’s much more enjoyable when made fresh than when plopped unceremoniously from a can onto a plate.
No hate on the canned cranberry sauce lovers out there- my family usually has both on the table and I even bought a can of it last week just in case anyone at our friendsgiving party wanted some- but I like to think of this recipe as the grown-up version of canned cranberry sauce.
In a word, it just tastes FRESH.
The tart flavor of cranberries is balanced by the natural sweetness in orange juice and maple syrup; the natural sweetness is balanced with a pinch of salt, and the entire dish gets a boost of flavor from orange zest.
Yes, you’re reading this correctly. The only ingredients you need to make this recipe are cranberries, an orange, maple syrup, and salt.
In the past I’ve experimented with all sorts of fun add-ins like a vanilla beans, fresh ginger, apple cider, dried chiles, bourbon, etc, and while those all make for fun twists on cranberry sauce, all you really need is the four base ingredients to make thanksgiving magic. Then, if you taste it an go “hmm, a little vanilla would be nice here”, or “this tastes good but would be BETTER if it had bourbon in it”, go right ahead and tweak the recipe to make your tastebuds happy.
Whatever you do, this easy, 4-ingredient homemade cranberry sauce needs a special place on your thanksgiving table this year! It can be made up to a week in advance, makes for a fun yogurt or oatmeal topper as leftovers, and is just everything when swooped up with mashed potatoes, gravy, and alll the fall veggies.
Stay tuned this week for five more brand new Thanksgiving recipes, as well as the Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup full of all of my favorite thanksgiving starters, sides, mains, drinks, and desserts on Monday, November 25th!
As always, if you make this recipe, let me know how it turns out! Leave a comment below, or take a picture and tag me on Instagram so I can see all your Thanksgiving recipes in action!
4 Ingredient Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients:
- 12oz fresh cranberries
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- zest from 1 large orange
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from 1 large orange)
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions:
- Place all ingredients into a small saucepan and turn heat to high. Once boiling, cover, reduce heat to medium, and let cook for 5 minutes.
- Let sauce cool slightly before serving at room temperature, or cool completely and store in the fridge for up to a week.