This is our favorite recipe for the Thanksgiving staple: cranberry sauce. Made from 5 ingredients, this easy sauce is ready after 20 minutes on the stove. Flavored with fresh orange juice, brown sugar, and a dash of vanilla—my secret—it’s a cut above the rest.
I originally published this recipe in 2019 and have since added a few new photos and more helpful success tips.
I’ve been making this cranberry sauce for years. It’s our family’s favorite recipe and whenever I first taste it on Thanksgiving, I always wonder why I wait for the holiday season to make it. It deserves to be a year-round habit!
I almost didn’t share this recipe back in 2019, but it was too easy and too good to keep to myself. Readers have enjoyed it, too:
One reader, Barb, commented: “I have never been a huge fan of cranberry sauce until I made this recipe. The vanilla, in my opinion, makes this. This will be my go-to from here on out. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Emily, commented: “OMG! Just made this ahead for Thanksgiving dinner. It tastes so wonderful, it may not make it until Thanksgiving! Back to the store for more cranberries. And so easy… who knew. ★★★★★”
Finally, another reader, Marsha, commented: “I made this for Christmas and it was fantastic. Reserving 1/2 cup of raw berries and adding them at the end is a flavor sensation. I also loved the balance of orange flavor, which was just right. ★★★★★“
Why This is My Best Cranberry Sauce
- Quick—only 20 minutes on the stove
- Easy—no boiling the water and sugar together first
- Convenient—just 5 simple ingredients, including water
- Flavorful—made with fresh orange, vanilla, and brown sugar
- Texture—moderately thick with whole cranberries swirled in
- Make-ahead—make it a few days in advance so it’s ready!
Grab These Ingredients
No cornstarch or other thickeners needed.
- Cranberries: Use fresh or frozen cranberries. Do not use dried.
- Water: The cranberries cook in liquid, so we’re using a combination of water and orange juice. I find using all orange juice overpowers the cranberry flavor.
- Fresh Orange Juice & Zest: Before you juice the orange, grate some zest off. Add the zest after the sauce comes off heat. Why? When I cook the cranberry sauce with the zest, the end result tastes a little bitter. After zesting, cut the orange and squeeze 1/4 cup of juice. Orange and cranberry are a natural pairing. Have you tried my orange cranberry bread yet?
- Brown Sugar: Why use regular white granulated sugar when there’s brown sugar?! I usually use only 3/4 cup, but if you want a very sweet cranberry sauce, increase to 1 cup.
- Vanilla Extract: I don’t see a lot of cranberry sauce recipes use this ingredient, but I swear by it. A dash of vanilla extract tastes unbelievable with the orange, brown sugar, and cranberry flavors. (And bonus! Smells great too.)
How to Make Quick Cranberry Sauce
Rinse your cranberries first, then set 1/2 cup aside. We’ll stir those in at the very end, adding even more texture.
Combine the remaining cranberries, the water, orange juice, and brown sugar in a pot. Cook for 20 minutes until thickened:
Remove from heat and stir in the orange zest, vanilla, and reserved cranberries. That’s it, you’re done. Though I don’t recommend it, you could probably make this with your eyes closed.
If you need to bring a dish to Thanksgiving, bring this cranberry sauce (and bring cranberry cake for brunch or dessert!).
It’s low maintenance and you can make it ahead of time. You can also freeze the cranberry sauce for up to 3 months. Easy!
Uses for Cranberry Sauce
- With a Thanksgiving meal
- On biscuits, pancakes, or pound cake
- Swirl 3/4 cup into cheesecake batter before baking
- Serve with cornbread
- On buttermilk waffles
- Swirl 1/2 cup into cranberry orange muffins batter (you can skip the whole cranberries in that recipe)
- Swap BBQ sauce for cranberry sauce on BBQ chicken pizza (it really is good)
- Swirl into yogurt or cottage cheese
- Inside these cranberry brie puff pastry tarts
Two Quick Success Tips
- Keep it at a gentle simmer. I managed to over-boil the cranberries while filming a video for this recipe, literally while standing over the pot! So, keep the heat low and an eye on the sauce so the berries don’t shrivel and the sauce doesn’t thin out.
- Rinse your cranberries with water. This one’s for Chandler Bing. The dish soap can sit out this time. 😉
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes
- Candied Sweet Potatoes
- Green Bean Casserole (from scratch!)
- Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
- Sweet Potato Casserole (with crunchy pecan topping)
- Mushroom Puff Pastry Tarts
- Sausage & Herb Stuffing
And for even more inspiration see my complete list of 40+ Thanksgiving side dishes.
Print
Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made from 5 ingredients, including water and a fresh orange, this easy sauce is ready after 20 minutes on the stove. It thickens as it cools. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. See notes.
Ingredients
- 1 12-ounce bag cranberries, rinsed*
- 3/4 cup (180ml) water
- 1/4 cup (60ml) fresh orange juice (about 1/2 large orange)
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar*
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Read before you begin: Zest the orange first and set aside 1 teaspoon of the zest. Then cut the orange and squeeze 1/4 cup of juice. (It’s harder to zest a cut orange!)
- After rinsing the cranberries, set 1/2 cup cranberries aside. You will stir these in at the end for extra texture.
- Combine the remaining cranberries, water, orange juice, and brown sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally as the mixture comes to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce heat to low-medium. While stirring occasionally, continue to cook until liquid has reduced and cranberries have burst and thickened, about 15 more minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup reserved cranberries, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Sauce is excellent served warm or at room temperature. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can prepare the sauce 3 days ahead of time. Cool completely, cover tightly, then refrigerate until ready to use. Bring to room temperature or warm on the stove/in the microwave, if desired, before serving. To freeze, cool sauce completely. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or warm on the stove/in the microwave before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Zester | Citrus Juicer | Saucepan | Wooden Spoon
- Cranberries: One 12 ounce bag is usually between 3 and 4 cups. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. No need to fully thaw. Rinse the cranberries with water in a colander before using. No need to pat dry—some water droplets are fine.
- Brown Sugar: I usually use 3/4 cup brown sugar, which makes a moderately sweet cranberry sauce. You can increase to 1 cup (200g) if you prefer your cranberry sauce extra sweet.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I made this at Christmas and it was a hit both warm and cold. My husband is generally happy with a can of the stuff, however he said make this again!
Just made this for a New Years Dinner.
I added some pomegranates to add even more texture.
What do we do with cranberry seeds?
Hi Estee, you’ll leave the cranberries whole. You can eat the seeds.
5 Stars! Super easy to make. Pretty much idiot-proof too! I made this for Christmas Dinner this year. Everyone liked it. It was still warm which my husband had said he’d never had that way. We ate it warm and he liked it both warm and cold as leftovers. In-laws loved it too. Thanks
I made this for Christmas Dinner this year. It turned out really well. It was still warm for the dinner, however, my husband said it was good both warm and cold. My in-laws liked it as well.
Tastes amazing, this was my first homemade cranberry sauce i’ve ever made. The orange flavor is quite nice. Wish my oranges were as juicy as yours, though! Took almost two oranges to get a 1/4 cup of juice. I plan to use this in a ham and brie croissant wreath for Christmas brunch.
Wow! This is a keeper!
I have made this now a couple of times. My family loves it so much, I’ve made a quadruple batch and canned it for future use. I’m even giving it as Christmas Gifts. Note, I made it Keto friendly by substituting sugar 1:1 for “Wholesome Yum Besti Natural Sugar Substitute” and a splash of “NOW Foods Better Stevia Organic Zero-Calorie Liquid Sweetener.”
Never really liked Cranberry sauce but this is delicious! My go-to recipe for Christmas from now on! Thank you!
I followed it exactly and it was delish! Week later my husband comes home with a bag of cranberries and asked me to make it again. He uses it like a compote with Greek yogurt and cashews for his breakfast.
I’ve always made homemade cranberry sauce but the orange juice and brown sugar really makes it. Does it need to come to room temperature before storing in the fridge?
Hi Anne! Yes, we would let it cool before chilling.
I’m planning my New Year’s Day dinner, and want to make this delicious sounding cranberry sauce to serve with smoked turkey. I will use land picked cranberries, and possibly a little less sugar. Thank you for sharing.
Willl be making your cranberry sauce for Xmas dinner this year sounds lovely
I want to try this. How would using lemon instead of orange (zest and juice) work/taste
Hi Elsa, you can use lemon instead of the orange! Let us know how they turn out.
Forgot to rate, a definite 5 star
Very tasty recipe. To save on calories and WW points, I omitted the orange juice and substituted True orange crystallized orange and used Swerve brown for the sugar. I used 1 cup water. I made it for Thanksgiving and again today for leftover turkey.
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was the best cranberry sauce I ever had!! Super easy to make! Thank you for always coming through for us Sally!
Love this recipe and it was so easy. Added just a dash of cinnamon as I’ve had made it that way before. It was delish!! Thanks for sharing your great recipes. Happy Holidays
This is a delicious & easy recipe. I especially like the addition of the vanilla. This was my 10 year old’s favorite Thanksgiving side dish.
This will be our ‘go to’ recipe for Cranberry Sauce. First time making it with brown sugar, orange juice and zest. Delicious! And the vanilla is genius! So glad I looked for, and found this version. Thank you!
Cooked it this Thanksgiving! Turns out wonderfully! Thank you for the recipe!
Have you tried canning it?
I used this recipe yesterday for thanksgiving and it was a hit!
I followed this recipe yesterday and it was a hit!
My 3 year old granddaughter ate some off her plate and liked it so much she jumped up and ran across the room to the serving bowl and began eating it quickly before we could catch her. It was the best I’ve ever had and everyone was interested in the recipe.
I got compliments on the cranberry sauce from several people around the table. Only change was added a generous dash of cinnamon. Also had great success with your all butter pie crust. Made ahead and froze and it was perfect!
The perfect cranberry. I’ve never had a better, more simplified recipe. I’ll never make any other way
Excellent recipe, easy and delicious. I put 1/2 c rather than 3/4 c brown sugar for more tartness and then put extra orange zest on top for decoration. Everyone loved it. Thank you!
what can you add to the sauce if it is too thick after making two days ahead of time?
Hi Mary, if you think your sauce has thickened too much for your liking, you can reheat it on the stove with some added water stirred in, until it reaches your desired consistency.
I love this recipe, did use a little Vietnam Cinnamon at the end and a good bourbon vanilla. Ginger ale can be used to thin next day. Loved the tase of the brown sugar instead of white.
I made this recipe today and it is a winner ! Stick to orange citrus addition ; I would like to know what is the dish you have pictured at the end on the recipe with the gooey cheese ? Looks like a Brie crostini maybe?