Ginger Cranberry Sauce: Cranberry Recipe Roundup
Thanksgiving cranberry sauce is often a polarizing side at Thanksgiving.
It seems you are either in the "I love it" camp or "I do not care for it" camp. I was in the latter camp for many years until I discovered cranberry sauce options outside of the canned version that you can slice with a knife.
Point is, if you've never had cranberry sauce beyond the can, I urge you try the homemade version. It's super simple to make and versatile, too.
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Ginger Cranberry Sauce
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
Description
Add ginger to your homemade cranberry sauce to make it extra special.
Ingredients
- 12 ounce bag (about 3 cups) fresh cranberries
- ¾ cup water
- ¼ cup orange juice
- ⅔ cup honey
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
Instructions
- Rinse cranberries and add to medium pot. Add water and orange juice, bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer, add in honey and ginger, mix well. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes - cranberry skins will start popping and the flesh will start to cook into a sauce.
- Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes. Mix in orange zest.
Notes
If you want a smoother sauce, mash with a potato masher.
If you aren't into ginger, leave it out. Or add a cinnamon stick instead. Swap orange zest for lemon. Make it your own new Thanksgiving tradition. Or perhaps your new favorite sandwich spread.
Beyond the sauce, here are a few of Serena's & my favorite cranberry recipes:
Holiday Cranberry Cake - A fairly healthy dessert when it comes to cake & holidays!
Festive Cranberry Whip - Another holiday recipe - a tradition in Serena's family for generations.
Cranberry Lemon Curd - A yummy spread that doubles as a creative, homemade gift.
And some more creative cranberry recipes from around the blog-o-sphere:
Pickled Cranberries - Amanda @ Phickle
I'm so intrigued by these (plus I kind of adore the name of this fermented food blog written by a Philly gal.)
Cranberry Whole Wheat Muffins - Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean
Not only are these easy to whip up, Lindsay's post is a great read on the nutrition benefits of the all-American cranberry.
Pumpkin Spice Milkshake with Cranberry Sauce Swirl - Joanne @ Eats Well Well Others
Let's just say this is the next thing I'll be whipping up in my blender.
Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce - Annmarie @ Real Food. Real Deals
Another way to make a batch of homemade cranberry sauce (what can't you make in Crockpot, right?)
Almond Cranberry Quinoa Bowl - Janice & Liz @ Meal Makeover Moms
Get out of your oatmeal rut with this yummy breakfast recipe.
20 Healthy Cranberry Recipes - Katie @ Healthy Seasonal Recipes
And if you want to continue to drool over more delicious, nutritious cranberry recipes, Katie has you covered here.
Do you like cranberry sauce? Canned or homemade? Any favorite cranberry recipes to share?
Cranberry and ginger is definitely one of my favorite flavor combinations. I'm obsessed with ginger and eat ALL of it when enjoying sushi. This looks just stunning!
Thanks Sues! I've developed a love for all things ginger in recent years - have you ever had Reeds Extra Ginger Brew?? So so good.
Well one things for sure, I am still not even close to sick of cranberries yet. Bring it on! Your sauce looks great (I love ginger and cranberry together) and the quinoa bowl will have to be one I try soon too. Thanks for including a link to my round-up too!
I infuse my cranberry sauce with ginger as well!! Great minds. 😛
Sweet - Serena and I both can't wait to make your pumpkin milkshake. And now I see you have an amazing gingerbread cake posted....off to check that out 🙂
Yum!! I'm def in the "I love it" camp 😉 And I love the addition of ginger! I just recently made homemade cranberry sauce myself, and it was soo much better than canned. Can't wait to try your version ^_^
It's amazing the difference, right? Thanks for stopping by Min - always love hearing from you 🙂
Growing up I felt exactly the same way as you about cranberry sauce (it was from a can), then I dies covered homemade cranberry sauce with oranges and nuts and fell in love 🙂 Super yummy sauce, and cranberry lemon curd? Oh, my yum!!
oooh - I've never had cranberry sauce with nuts. I'm thinking pecans would be amazing....
Cranberry sauce is something I reaallly need to experience one day, but we don't have fresh cranberries available here in Australia 🙁 I've been told we can buy them frozen, but goodness knows where from as I can't find them!
I might need to try rehydrating some dried cranberries and see if I can still make your recipe or some of the others on this page - everything looks delicious!
Ally - I never thought about how cranberries are scarce in your neck of the woods but I guess they are native to North America. Let me know if you try it by rehydrating dried cranberries - so curious about that - of course you'd wouldn't have to use as much sugar with them 🙂
I can not wait to try this recipe.
Thanks Jennifer - let me know if you do!
Cranberries are one of my favorite winter fruits. I just love this simple recipe with no refined-sugar. I will definitely be trying it this fall.
Can you you make this a few day ahead? How long would this keep on the fridge? This recipe looks fantastic!
Amy - so funny you asked that today because I was just looking at the batch I made 2 weeks ago and realized I can serve it for Thanksgiving! It's kind of like jelly - I'd say it stays good up to 3 weeks or so in the refrigerator. Let me know if you make it!
I just made it and it is fantastic! I even messed it up by putting all the ingredients in at first instead if waiting to add the honey, ginger and zest. Can I blame it on the margerita at dinner or being distracted by my two year old? Haha. Hopefully I didn't mess it up too bad. I think it tarted great. Thank you for such a good recipe- it's definitely a keeper.
Whoot! Seriously, thanks for taking the time to comment and let us know you actually tried the recipe - we want to hear the good & the bad about our posts for sure. Glad this is a new keeper for you and I'm gonna mix me up a margarita the next time I make this too!
Just made this-- delicious! First dish prepared in advance for Thanksgiving-- Check!
Sweet - that's what I love about it - you can make it so far in advance - happy early Thanksgiving 🙂
This is definitely the cranberry sauce I want to make this holiday season. This looks so good
What a great cranberry sauce recipe. Bet the ginger gives it a little zing!
I always make my own cranberry sauce but do keep it pretty basic. I bet the addition of ginger into this mix is wonderful!!