This Fresh Cranberry Sauce is simple to make, ready in 15 minutes and tastes great on everything from turkey to oatmeal! Make a batch and enjoy on your favorite breakfast, lunch, dinner and holiday recipes!
*Originally published 12/2013. Updated Oct 2023*
Hi Friends!
It has officially been almost 10 years since I first shared my family’s homemade fresh cranberry sauce recipe on the blog. It seems there are two camps of people when it comes to cranberry sauce – canned or fresh.
If you like the combination of tart and sweet, you’ll definitely want to try this version.
What Do I Need To Make Cranberry Sauce?
All you need to make this recipe is a few simple ingredients:
- Fresh cranberries
- Sugar
- White wine vinegar
- Water
- For optional flavoring you can add orange peel and/or a cinnamon stick
How To Make Quick Cranberry Sauce
To make this recipe, just follow a few simple steps:
- Combine sugar, water and white wine vinegar in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
- Stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Add a bag of fresh cranberries and an orange peel and/or cinnamon stick if you want.
- Cover the pot, reduce heat and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- You can use the back of your spatula to smash any cranberries that haven’t burst open on their own.
- Then remove the flavoring agents, let cool and serve!
Gah! Don’t you just want to dive right into that jar?!!
The Best Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe
This recipe has been in my family for years and I’m so happy I get to share it with you! It tastes great on turkey or stuffing but I also use it like jelly on toast or waffles, as a topping to my oatmeal or add it sandwiches!
PrintFresh Cranberry Sauce Recipe
This fresh homemade cranberry sauce is an easy and delicious way to add some fresh fall flavor to your meals! Make it for Thanksgiving and use the leftovers as a topping for waffles, oatmeal and sandwiches.
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 2/3 – 3/4 c sugar
- 1 bag fresh cranberries
- 1/2 c white wine vinegar
- 1/4 c water
- 1 Tbsp orange peel
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
- Combine the sugar, vinegar and water in a saucepan. Heat to a boil, then reduce to simmer and stir until sugar dissolves.
- Add cranberries, cinnamon stick and orange peel.
- Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until cranberries burst.
- Remove from heat and fish out the cinnamon stick and orange peel.
- Cool and eat!
Notes
The amount of sugar you use depends on whether you want it more sweet or tart. I like tart so I typically use 2/3 cup.
I’m pretty much incapable of eating my Thanksgiving turkey without it being smothered with this sauce.
Fresh Cranberry Sauce FAQs
How long does fresh cranberry sauce last homemade?
This sauce should stay good in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Does homemade cranberry sauce need to be refrigerated?
Yes. This sauce can be kept at room temperature up to 2 hours but after that it needs to be refrigerated and kept in the fridge when you’re not using it.
Can I use frozen cranberries?
Yes! This is one of my best tricks for enjoying this fresh cranberry sauce all year long. Stock up on cranberries when they go on sale around Thanksgiving and throw them in your freezer.
When you’re ready to make this sauce, you can thaw them before using or just throw them in frozen. If you use them straight from frozen it just may add a few more minutes to your cooking time.
Recipe For Cranberry Sauce
Need more recipes using fresh cranberries? Try these:
Cranberry Corn Muffins
These Cranberry Corn Muffins are lightly sweetened and bursting with tart fresh cranberries. They make the perfect dinner side dish. Serve them with a hearty chili or make a batch for your holiday dinner.
Cranberry Meatballs
These easy Cranberry Meatballs are a great way to use up leftover cranberry sauce and make the perfect appetizer for a holiday party.
Sweet Potato Apple Cranberry Crumble
This Sweet Potato Apple Cranberry Crumble is the perfect addition to your holiday dinner. Make it for a quick and easy Thanksgiving side dish or pop it in the oven while eating and serve it with ice cream for dessert!
Cranberry Sweet Potato Muffins
This recipe for Cranberry Sweet Potato Muffins makes a great breakfast or grab-and-go snack. Use fresh or dried cranberries or swap chocolate chips
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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I do love cranberry sauce, but have never attempted my own! Maybe I’ll give it a shot!
definitely give it a try!
i do like cranberry sauce, but definitely don’t eat it nearly enough! i love ordering it on turkey sandwiches when places provide that option! and honestly i’ve always been intimidated to buy fresh cranberries, but your recipe seems so simple!
you could def handle it!
Yum! Nothing like fresh cranberry sauce. Love the tartness of it.
That sounds like my mom’s recipe. I love it! I bought some plain yogurt just so I can have some with cranberry sauce. It’s also fantastic on peanut butter toast!
oooh yum!
I made my own cranberry sauce this year! I LOVED it! So easy, so tasty. I didn’t use a ton of sugar, either, so it was very tart. Definitely good 🙂
love it!!
I don’t think I’ve ever made fresh cranberry sauce, to be honest…it’s more of an afterthought at my family holidays, so we always go for the canned variety. It might be fun to make a homemade version though!
yes! you should try sometime for sure!
Never made it but I keep seeing delicious recipes – yours included!!! 🙂
Yumm!! I ended up buying mine for Thanksgiving because the husband is not a fan BUT this looks like a great recipe to try sometime! It probably tastes a lot better than what I bought too!
yay! hope you get to try it!
Yum. I do basically that, but no water or vinegar. Sometimes less sugar and a bit of orange juice. My mom does it this way now also instead of buying the can, thank heavens!
woohoo! love the from the can converts!
Love this! I’ve never made homemade cranberry sauce, but it looks super easy so I definitely pinned this for later. Thanks for sharing!
yay! let me know if you try it!
i like cranberry sauce a lot; I made a compote last year.
ooh that sounds good!
I love cranberry sauce but I’ve never seen fresh cranberries or even frozen ones here in Australia, we only seem to have the dried ones. This looks yum though.
such a bummmer!
I LOVE homemade Cranberry sauce! I made a huge batch for Thanksgiving and have been eating it on everything. I’ve never put vinegar in though! I’ll have to try that and see how it alters the taste.
yes! try it for sure. Would love to know what you think!
Yum! I love cranberry sauce! I didn’t get any for Thanksgiving this year and I’ve been craving it ever since. I’ll have to save this recipe for sure.
yes! hope you get a chance to make it!
Mmmmm I am all about homemade cranberry sauce! Just made some this afternoon during a frenzy of food prep. 🙂 I’ll have to try this recipe next time!
yay! hope you like it!
Looks good! My mom always serves the nasty canned stuff.
haha nooooo stay away from that 🙂
YUM! This looks delicious.
Thanks Christine!
we need to start making our own cranberry sauce for the family. Since we don’t eat it, we never really think to make one.
This year I made it to go with pork tenderloin and served it warm. It was delicious! Love it!
Thinking of making this for Christmas. Curious how many or what weight of cranberries are in “one bag”?
i think it’s 8 oz.
I love this simple and delicious cranberry sauce. I like eating all year not only during winter! It taste delicious on chicken and turkey. I also like using it with the cranberry meatball recipe you have and the cranberry corn muffins. i have to incorporate it into the other recipes you have. Thanks for sharing. Shalom