Homemade Cranberry Sauce
on Nov 02, 2021, Updated Apr 08, 2025
This easy homemade Cranberry Sauce has been a Thanksgiving table tradition for years. Once you taste fresh cranberry sauce you will never buy the canned stuff again!
Homemade cranberry sauce
This cranberry sauce is a traditional favorite every year at our Thanksgiving table.
I grew up on the canned cranberry sauce but I never liked it.
The first time I made homemade cranberry sauce I loved it and now make it every year! The flavor difference is so huge that I can’t believe what I was missing out on.
I love having a bite of mashed potato with gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Now that’s the perfect holiday bite!
It’s so easy to make that anyone can do it. I hope you give it a try this year!
Cranberry Sauce Ingredients
All you need is just 3 ingredients to make your own cranberry sauce at home. The full recipe and instructions is at the bottom of this post, but here are the ingredients you will need.
- Fresh Cranberries: look for bright red cranberries that are not mushy or soft/wrinkled.
- Pure Maple Syrup: the real stuff, not pancake syrup.
- Salt: just a little bit to make all of the flavors pop.
How to make cranberry sauce
Step 1: Add the fresh cranberries, maple syrup, and salt to a medium sized sauce pan.
Step 2: Heat the pan over medium high heat until the cranberry mixture starts to boil.
Step 3: Once the cranberries begin to boil, turn the heat to low and stir the cranberry sauce often for 10 – 15 minutes.
As the cranberries cook, they will start to soften and burst. Use the bottom of a spoon to mash the cranberries as you go.
Step 4: Once the cranberry sauce is finished cooking, transfer it to a covered container and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Cranberry sauce is thick, sweet and tangy. It really could not be any easier to make!
Thanksgiving Tip
This is a great recipe to make the day before Thanksgiving and store in the fridge until it’s time for Thanksgiving dinner. I do this every year to save on time on the big day!
Now that I’ve made my own cranberry sauce, I can’t imagine Thanksgiving without it!
Joy’s Tip
When buying cranberries, they should be bright red and firm to the touch. Try to avoid mushy darker colored cranberries, as this means they are starting to turn bad.
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add the fresh cranberries, maple syrup, and salt to a medium sized sauce pan and bring the mixture to a boil.
- After it boils, turn it down to low and cook 10-15 minutes, until thick, stirring frequently and smashing the bubbling cranberries with a spoon. The cranberries will begin to burst the longer they boil and the mixture will thicken.
- Refrigerate the cranberry sauce and serve chilled.
Wondering how long this will last in the fridge? Dinner is Saturday and I’m doing prep work through the week.
I would think it would be fine to make it 2 days in advance.
Is salt necessary? I am on a low sodium diet.
Easy recipe and tastes delicious!! Thank you!!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Happy Thanksgiving!!
This recipe is super fast, easy and fun! I used 1/3 cup of maple syrup. Just right.
Amazing! I will be using this recipe for now on in place of the tradutuonal refined sugar recipe. Although I may take it down to 1/2 a cup of maple syrup next time. Thank you so much for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Jenn!
This was so easy to make, and it does taste good. I put a little orange peel in it, because that’s how our family likes it. I’ve never cooked with whole cranberries before, and it was fun to hear them pop in the syrup. It turned out thick and sweet/tart, so I’ll probably be making it again. I don’t have a nonstick pot, so was worried that my stainless steel pot would be hard to clean, but the residue washed right out. Thank you for this recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it Lynn!
Uhh… no need to add water?
Nope, only the ingredients listed! You can watch the video of the recipe in the post to see how it works 🙂