Spiced Cranberry Sauce Recipe

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
Learn about Serious Eats' Editorial Process
Updated August 30, 2018
20111112-179192-spiced-cranberry-sauce.jpg

I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to my meals. This has led me to slowly but surely take over almost every aspect of Thanksgiving dinner. There's some holdouts though, like cranberry sauce, who I leave to my sister or mother to handle.

Truth be told, I'd never actually made cranberry sauce before developing this recipe. It was just one less thing for me to cook on Thanksgiving, but now knowing how incredibly simple it is to make and build upon, I may need to move this dish into my court this year.

For this variation add spices like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves as well as orange juice and zest, then finish it off with a bit of spiced rum. The end result is incredible: a cranberry sauce that has a multidimensional array of seasonal flavors that fits seamlessly into any Thanksgiving meal.

Recipe Details

Spiced Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Active 15 mins
Total 45 mins
Serves 8 to 12 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries

  • 3/4 cup white sugar

  • 1/2 cup water

  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar

  • 2 tablespoons orange juice

  • 1 teaspoon orange zest

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

  • 1 tablespoon spiced rum

Directions

  1. Place all cranberries, white sugar, water, brown sugar, orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, Kosher salt, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until berries start to pop, about 10 minutes.

  2. Remove from heat, stir in spiced rum, and let cool for 30 minutes. Adjust consistency with additional water as needed. Serve immediately or place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator, reheating prior to serving.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
76Calories
0gFat
19gCarbs
0gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 12
Amount per serving
Calories76
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g0%
Saturated Fat 0g0%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 28mg1%
Total Carbohydrate 19g7%
Dietary Fiber 1g4%
Total Sugars 17g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 6mg28%
Calcium 7mg1%
Iron 0mg1%
Potassium 33mg1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

More Serious Eats Recipes