This crowd-pleasing homemade cranberry orange sauce will complete and complement any Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

Homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce
This wonderful recipe makes about 2 1/4 cups of cranberry orange sauce. It’s quite enough for Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday meals, or you can store it in pretty glass jars to share with friends.
Gather the Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (12 oz or 350 g)
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan over high heat, bring the water, sugar, and orange juice to a boil.
- Stir the mixture with a spoon a few times while it’s boiling.
- Add the cranberries and orange zest, and return to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium and boil gently for 10 to 12 minutes.
- Remove sauce from heat and cool.
- Transfer sauce to a serving bowl.

What If My Cranberry Sauce Is Too Watery?
Once the cranberry orange sauce cools down, the natural pectin in the cranberries will solidify the sauce and make it more like jelly. Ideally, you should cook the homemade cranberry orange sauce the day before and allow it to chill in the refrigerator.
How To Store The Cranberry Sauce
- Pour a portion of cranberry sauce in a mold or bowl and allow it to set overnight in the refrigerator.
- The cranberry sauce can also be served in any serving dish.
- Extra cranberry sauce can be stored in glass jars or dishes and refrigerated for use later.
Cranberry Sauce Make-Ahead/Freezer Instructions
- You can keep the cranberry sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for 10 days.
- You can freeze it up to two months. It’s a good idea to thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

What To Serve With The Cranberry Orange Sauce
Serve your cranberry orange sauce with turkey, dressing, twice baked bacon potatoes, green beans, and all of the fixings to create a tasty Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner that will be all the more memorable due to your special guests, good conversation, and happy holiday spirit.
You can serve the cranberry orange sauce with these 7 Turkey holiday recipes:
- Super Easy Roast Turkey Dinner Recipe
- Garlic Herb Butter Roast Turkey
- Crispy Roast Turkey Recipe
- Mayonnaise Roasted Turkey Recipe
- Savour the Holidays with a Festive Carved Turkey Recipe
- Roast Turkey with Lemon & Garlic
- Thanksgiving Classic Half Roast Turkey Recipe
The flavours of fall include plenty of seasonal fruits like cranberries that blend beautifully with a moisten turkey. This traditional recipe for Cranberry Orange Sauce is one that brings together the flavours of fall in a dish that is sure to be a favourite for all ages gathered at the holiday table.

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HOMEMADE CRANBERRY ORANGE SAUCE
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan over high heat, bring the water, sugar, and orange juice to a boil.
- Stir the mixture with a spoon a few times while it’s boiling.
- Add the cranberries and orange zest, and return to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium and boil gently for 10 to 12 minutes.
- Remove sauce from heat and cool.
- Transfer sauce to a serving bowl.
Sounds really good and the orange would offset the tartness of the cranberries.
I love cranberry sauce, but never have made homemade, it’s easy enough and probably tastes even better!!
It does!
This is my go to recipe for all the holidays only difference is I use fresh cranberries.