Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipes (2024)

Updated on February 17, 2024

Can You Freeze Cranberry Sauce That's Homemade or Canned?

Double Cranberry and Apple Sauce

This homemade cranberry sauce is made with both dried and fresh cranberries, which means double the sweet and tart flavor we all know and love the sauce for. Apple chunks create the perfect chutney-like texture, and warm maple syrup rounds out all the flavors.

Citrus Spice Cranberry Sauce

No Thanksgiving table is complete without cranberry sauce, but with a plethora of other dishes to prepare there’s no harm in taking a few shortcuts when you can. While this recipe calls for canned cranberry sauce, you’ll infuse the store-bought stuff with cloves, star anise, and cinnamon, and add some orange segments to the mix. The result is a side that tastes entirely homemade but requires just a few minutes of hands-on work.

Bourbon-Cranberry Compote

This boozy sauce requires just four ingredients and five minutes of hands-on prep. And it's not just for Thanksgiving dinner: Make an extra batch to spread over leftover turkey sandwiches, or to top a bowl of ice cream or yogurt.

Brussels Sprouts Salad

Any make-ahead recipe for Thanksgiving is a true lifesaver, and this flavorful salad is no exception. Inside you’ll find thinly sliced Brussels sprouts, colorful strips of bitter radicchio, toasted pecans, and dried cranberries for a pop of sweetness. Sharp shavings of aged provolone and a tart apple cider vinegar dressing tie the whole dish together.

Wild Rice and Mushroom Pilaf With Cranberries

This vegan-friendly dish screams fall flavors: tart cranberries, hearty wild rice, and flavorful mushrooms. Swap out dried cranberries for fresh or frozen, and use a mix of mushrooms to add depth of flavor.

Baked Oatmeal With Cranberries and Almonds

Like a casserole-cookie hybrid (and healthier than leftover pie), this make-ahead whole-grain breakfast dish will feed a crowd of leftover Thanksgiving family and friends.

Cranberry-Lemon Spritz

This refreshing, bright co*cktail just might become your Thanksgiving go-to recipe, especially if you love a tall pour but not something over-the-top sweet. Just a spoonful of sugar livens up the tart cranberries and generous pour of lemon juice. This recipe calls for vodka, but swap with a floral gin or even smoky mezcal, which would play nicely off the cranberries.

Campari and Cranberry Jell-O Shots

For these festive shots, mix Campari with cranberry juice and a bit of sugar to balance out the bitterness. The sweet orange zest rim not only looks sparkly and pretty, but the citrus marries nicely with Campari too. These are equally as delicious as a pre-dinner co*cktail as they are a palate cleanser before dessert.

Cranberry Ricotta Cake

This light, buttery cake is studded with jewel-like fresh cranberries, which are tossed in granulated sugar and then sprinkled over the cake batter. As the cake bakes, the sugar crystalizes into a thin, delicious crust. Serve up a big wedge of this sweet-tart delicacy for dessert—or for breakfast.

Cranberry Cacao Nib Brownies

Fresh or frozen cranberries add a delicious tartness to keep these treats from being over-sweet. They also contribute to that moist-and-chewy-in-the-center quality that we love in a brownie, turning this anytime dessert into a Thanksgiving classic.

Cranberry-Strawberry Crumb Pie

Use fresh or frozen cranberries to mellow sweet strawberries in this fruity alternative to pumpkin pie. A store-bought crust makes putting this dessert together easy-as-pie. Add a classic crumb topping spiced with cinnamon and ginger, and you've got a treat that's vaguely muffin-y, in all the best ways.

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