Recipe: Homemade Cranberry Sauce

When I was a kid nothing disgusted me more than whole berry cranberry sauce. Give me my jellied, can-shaped, goo pile, thank you very much! But, like many things, as we grow up our tastes mature and whole berry didn’t sound so repulsive to me anymore. In fact, I became a little obsessed with the thought of making my own cranberry sauce this year and was the most excited to eat this on Thanksgiving. For some reason I thought it was going to be really difficult to make but it was honestly the easiest thing I made this year. This recipe is a classic and I can forsee using it indefinitely.

Domestocrat’s Homemade Cranberry Sauce (This recipe yielded enough for seven people but could easily be cut in half for a smaller portion.)
Two 12 oz. bags of whole cranberries
1.5 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 inch of peeled ginger
1 medium yellow onion
1 tbsp. EVOO
1 tsp. cinnamon

Start by chopping your onion very fine and then sauteing it over medium heat with the EVOO until it’s lightly brown.

When the onions are browned add the cranberries, water, and sugar to the pot. Keep on medium heat and stir to combine.

As your cranberries start to cook down peel an inch or so of ginger. Use a zester to grate about a teaspoon of ginger. Zest the whole orange and lemon as well.

Add the ginger, orange zest, and lemon zest to the pot and stir. Cut the orange and lemon and squeeze their juices into the pot as well.

Cook down your cranberry sauce over low-medium heat until the majority of the berries have burst, the mixture reduces down, and starts to thicken. The whole cooking process takes about 45 minutes.

Transfer your finished cranberry sauce into a tupperware container. Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon on the top and stir to combine. Seal up your tupperware and this cranberry sauce will keep in the fridge for up to one week. Not only is the recipe super simple and tasty, it’s a fantastic make ahead as well!

This cranberry sauce was the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and tart. It came out great!