When I was a kid, I used to love opening the can of cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving day and listening to the sucking sound as it dropped from the can and ka-lumped onto the serving plate. And I used to love drawing designs with my fork in the cranberry sauce slice on my dinner plate. But that was as far as my love of the stuff went. I hated eating it. To me, it was so bitter, it was like a slice of medicine laying there. But under my parent’s stern eye, I eventually ate the stuff, and praised the heavens that we only had it twice a year, on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
But then a few years ago, I discovered the bliss of homemade cranberry sauce. It’s so easy to make, and so much better than canned. So here we go!
Yield: 16 servings
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Ingredients:
- 4 cups (1 pound) fresh or frozen cranberries
- 2 cups of granulated sugar
- 2 cups of water
First, wash the cranberries in a colander in the sink. If you’re using frozen, thaw them out ahead of time, and then wash. Pick out any bad berries.
Pour the 2 cups water into a large saucepan.
Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
Put a lid on the pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Boil for 5 minutes.
Remove lid, and add cranberries.
Boil for an additional 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. The skins will split as they cook.
Remove from heat and refrigerate in covered container for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
For variety, you can add some grated orange peel, or raisins. Or spice it up with cinnamon, cloves or ginger.
Besides serving it as a side dish, it can also be spooned over cake or ice cream.
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——-> UP NEXT: Kitty In Bed. Our bed. Shhhh….with all the work she does, she needs her rest.
——> AND LATER THIS WEEK: Homemade Apple Pie with Homemade Pie-crust.
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[...] Homemade Cranberry Sauce Kicking Up Leaves [...]
I had no idea you could make cranberry sauce from scratch! I may have to try it on the family next week. Thanks!
Hi Glenda,
Absolutely, and it’s so easy and quick. Go for it!
I may have to try this!
Love that picture of Kitty watching!
Hi Debbie,
Kitty is the kitchen supervisor. No cooking is done without her watching.
I’m with you. .double YUCK!! PW had a homemade version on her website a few weeks ago that uses pomegranate juice in it instead of the water. I just printed it out earlier today to try out for our Thanksgiving. Can’t WAIT!!
Hi Melanie,
Anything but the stuff out of the can. Sounds delish.
This sounds good and seems easy to make. Thanks for sharing it. My family likes the kind out of a can (jellied version) but I may break with tradition and serve this instead.
p.s., if you’re interested, I’m doing a cookbook giveaway at my book review blog. It’s a copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks. http://chocolateandbooks.blogspot.com
Hi Cindy,
Give it a try, you may find you like it better. And thanks for the link, I’ll stop by and enter. Thanks.
So pretty! Okay, I’m going to try it this year. Could you send Kitty over as an assistant?
Hi Lainie,
With all the kitchen watching Kitty does, she should be able to cook dinner for you while she’s there….and wash the dishes too.
Thankfully my mom made it from scratch every year. I’ve never had to endure it from a can. It just looks like Jell-O to me.
Hi Alyse,
Yes, it does look like Jello, which begs the question, how do they get the canned stuff to hold its shape?
One of my new attempts for this season is the cranberry sauce. I love the berries over the “jell” so homemade it shall be!
Hi MarieElizabeth,
Good luck, and hope you enjoy it.
Suzanne, if you can believe it, I haven’t made cranberry sauce from scratch yet. My son actually loves the stuff in the can so I definately will be buying a can for this year’s dinner. However, I have decided that I am going to try your recipe for our dinner as well. I am hoping it is nice and sweet!! yummy!
Hi Bonnie,
I wouldn’t call it sweet, but it’s definitely not bitter like the canned. It’s somewhere in between. But it also has a good cranberry flavor.
That looks so delicious! I might have to actually try this. I’ve always just used the canned kind, but this looks way better!
Hi Teresa,
It is much better, I think anyway. Hope you like it too.
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