Cranberry Sauce · Orange-Ginger
Orange-Ginger Cranberry Sauce
Fresh cranberries simmered with orange juice, zest and a little ginger until they burst into a glossy, sweet-tart sauce. Make it days ahead and cross one dish off the list.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Total
- 1 hr 17 min
- Serves
- About 2 1/2 cups
- Level
- Easy
Ingredients
- 12 oz fresh cranberries, rinsed, soft ones removed
- ¾ cup sugar ≈ 150 g
Swaps for sugar
Instead of sugar
- Less sugar: Up to ¼ less in cookies, muffins and quick breads. Less browning and spread, a drier, more cake-like texture, and bakes go stale sooner.
- Brown sugar: The same amount, packed. Moister and chewier, with a caramel flavor and darker color.
- Coconut sugar: The same amount. Darker and caramel-like, a little less sweet; cookies spread slightly less.
- ½ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tsp orange zest
Swaps for orange zest
Instead of citrus zest
- Another citrus zest: The same amount. A different citrus aroma; any of them brightens a dish.
- Dried citrus peel: 1 tsp dried for each 1 tbsp fresh zest. Milder and a little bitter.
- Lemon or orange extract: About ¼ tsp extract for each 1 tsp zest, to taste. Strong citrus flavor, no texture.
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
Swaps for fresh ginger
Instead of ginger
- Ground ginger: ¼ tsp ground for each 1 tbsp grated fresh. Warmer and less bright, with no zing.
- Ginger paste (jar or tube): The same amount. Close; slightly salty or sour from preservatives.
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
Swaps for ground cinnamon
Instead of cinnamon
- Pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice: The same amount. Mostly cinnamon, with ginger, nutmeg and allspice or cloves: a little spicier.
- Ground allspice or nutmeg: About ¼ the amount. Much stronger and different, but warm in the same way.
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Swaps for kosher salt
Instead of salt
- Table salt or fine sea salt: About half as much as Diamond Crystal kosher, about ¾ as much as Morton kosher. The same saltiness when measured this way.
- Salt by weight: 1 tsp is about 6 grams of table salt, 5 grams of Morton kosher, 3 grams of Diamond Crystal kosher. The most reliable way to swap, especially in baking and brines.
Missing something? Tap Swaps next to an ingredient, or see all substitutions.
Steps
- Put the sugar, orange juice and water in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the cranberries, orange zest, ginger, cinnamon and salt.
- Bring to a⏱ Simmer: 10 min, then lower to a steady
boil (how to boil)
Boil Heat liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. 1. Use a pot big enough that the water fills it no more than three quarters.2. Cover it to boil faster, over high heat.3. Salt pasta or vegetable water once it boils.4. Add the food, stir, and bring it back to a boil before you start timing. Done when: A rolling boil keeps bubbling hard even when you stir. Safety: Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove, and drain pasta into a colander in the sink, pouring away from you. Steam burns fast: lift lids and foil away from your face, tipping the far edge up first.How to boil water for pasta and vegetables: mistakes to avoid. Cook, stirring now and then, until most of the berries have popped and the sauce starts to thicken.simmer (how to simmer)
Simmer Cook liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles breaking the surface now and then. 1. Bring the liquid up over medium-high heat.2. As soon as bubbles rise steadily, turn the heat down.3. Adjust until only a few small bubbles break the surface every second or two.4. Stir now and then and check that it hasn't crept back to a boil. Done when: You see lazy, small bubbles, not a rolling boil. A "bare" simmer has just a bubble here and there. Safety: Steam burns fast: lift lids and foil away from your face, tipping the far edge up first.How to simmer: mistakes to avoid - Press a few whole berries against the side of the pan with a spoon if you like a smoother sauce.
- Take the pan off the heat and let it cool. It will thicken a lot as it cools.⏱ Cool: 1 hr
- Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Tap an underlined word for how to do it, or see all techniques.
Tips
- Frozen cranberries work without thawing; add 1 to 2 minutes to the simmer.
- Cranberries vary in tartness. Taste once it has cooled a little and stir in more sugar if you like.
Storage
Refrigerate up to 1 week or freeze up to 2 months.
Make ahead
Make up to 5 days ahead and refrigerate covered.
How long leftovers keep, and freezing and reheating: leftovers and storage. In season: cranberries (October to December), oranges (December to April).
Quick answers
- Can I freeze it?
Yes. Refrigerate up to 1 week or freeze up to 2 months.
- Can I make it ahead?
Make up to 5 days ahead and refrigerate covered.
- What can I swap?
- Instead of sugar: Brown sugar, the same amount, packed.
- Instead of citrus zest: Another citrus zest, the same amount.
Answered from this recipe's own storage, make-ahead and swap notes.
Estimated nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 100 420 kJ
- Protein
- 0 g
- Carbohydrates
- 26 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sugars
- 22 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Saturated fat
- 0 g
- Sodium
- 15 mg
Whole recipe, 8 servings: about 800 calories.
Estimate from USDA FoodData Central; not medical or dietary advice. Based on 8 of 8 ingredients.
How we estimate
We add up USDA FoodData Central values for each measured ingredient as written and divide by the recipe's 8 servings, so changing the servings or units here doesn't change a serving. Brands, swaps, trimming and cooking all change the real numbers.
Estimated cost
About $0.40 a serving
About $3.10 for the recipe as written (8 servings).
Estimate; prices vary by store and region. U.S. average prices for September 2026 from BLS Average Price Data and USDA ERS Purchase to Plate prices updated with the BLS Consumer Price Index. Priced: 4 of 8 ingredients, 99% by weight.
How we estimate
Each measured ingredient is weighed as in the nutrition estimate and priced at the U.S. average: BLS's average price where BLS publishes one, else USDA ERS's Purchase to Plate price for 2017-18 raised to September 2026 with the CPI for that food group. Whole packages, store brands, sales and regions all change the real cost: treat it as a ballpark.
- fresh cranberries $2.45 ERS
- sugar $0.35 BLS
- orange juice $0.30 ERS
Free: water (tap water).
Not priced (no official average price we can match, so not in the total): orange zest, fresh ginger, ground cinnamon, kosher salt.
More dishes for less: cheap eats.
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Cleanup score 5/5 (very easy cleanup): 1 thing to wash, saucepan.
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