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Cranberry Sauce | The Easiest Thanksgiving Side Dish — The Easiest Thanksgiving Side Dish

I’ll admit, I don’t tend to waste space on my Thanksgiving dinner plate for cranberry sauce. However, it’s a must-make side dish for the next day; I must have a good layer of cranberry sauce on any turkey sandwiches following the big dinner.

I’ll also admit that the canned stuff creeps me out. I think it’s the way that it holds the shape of the can that seems very unnatural and not food-like.

The good thing is that cranberry sauce is probably the easiest Thanksgiving side dish to make. It takes about 10-minutes to pull together and you can make it many days ahead. Making your own cranberry sauce also allows you to customize it however you like.

Instead of just a flat flavored jam from a can, you can add some extra pizzazz in the form of aromatics during the cooking phase. I like to add star anise, a cinnamon stick, and some orange peel; some slices of fresh ginger would also be great. And maybe add a couple of cloves if you’re into that sort of thing. But, adding some combination of aromatics guarantees a cranberry sauce with some extra depth of flavor that you won’t get by just opening a can.

And be creative with the leftover sauce. It would be great on pancakes or in oatmeal; or even just on buttered toast. I’ve never tried it, but I feel like it would make a great topping for vanilla ice cream, too. Hmmm, maybe I should stock up on cranberries to make sauce all year long?!

Video: Cranberry Sauce 2-Minute Tutorial

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Cranberry Sauce with with Warm Spices and Orange Zest

Cranberry sauce is so easy to make and much better when you can add a few special ingredients to the recipe. This is my favorite version with warm spices and orange zest.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword Cranberries, Fruit, Jam, Sauce

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Servings 8

Ingredients

12 oz fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 star anise pod
1 cinnamon stick
3 slices orange peel
¼ tsp kosher salt

Instructions

In a medium pot, add all of the ingredients. Heat over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil.
Lower the temperature slightly to a hard simmer. Let simmer for about 10 minutes until most of the cranberries burst and the sauce gets thick.
Remove from heat. Remove the aromatics from the cranberry sauce and discard.
Store cranberry sauce in an air tight container and cool down in the refrigerator. Cranberry sauce will be good for about a week.

Notes

Feel free to make this recipe your own by adding your own favorite aromatics. I think a few slices of ginger would be nice or a couple of cloves. Lemon peel might be tasty too!

Star Anise

Cinnamon Sticks

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Cranberry Sauce with Warm Spices and Orange Zest

Video: Cranberry Sauce 2-Minute Tutorial