Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I love to experiment in the kitchen. One traditional side dish that I love is cranberry sauce — the stuff made with fresh cranberries, not the jelly mold from the can! Every year, I see so many variations of cranberry sauce recipes in cooking magazines and online, but I have never actually made my own … until now. I took some inspiration from a variety of recipes and included some traditional components such as orange. So, here's my take on a Thanksgiving favorite.
Orange-Ginger Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ cup minced shallot
- 2 12-ounce bags fresh cranberries
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ⅔ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Directions
- In a medium saucepan, heat oil and sauté shallots 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add cranberries, sugar, ginger, orange zest and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the cranberries have popped and the sauce has thickened.
- Stir in red wine vinegar and orange juice. Season with salt and pepper.
- zRemove from heat; cool completely at room temperature.
Cooking Note
- If making the sauce a day or two before Thanksgiving, store in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature or warm before serving. Cranberry sauce can be kept refrigerated for up to a week. One of the reasons some people don't recommend freezing cranberry sauce is that it will be too watery when defrosted.
*This recipe originally appeared on Jessica Fishman Levinson's Nutritioulicious blog in November 2012. Recipe updated by author to reduce sugar (November 2016).