The Basics: How to Make Cranberry Sauce
Lose the can this Thanksgiving
From the store to the kitchen to the table: We outline the steps that get you from raw ingredients to your dinner tonight, free of measurements and complicated techniques. It’s a method you’ll remember and whip out whenever you like. It is the most basic way to make the thing you’re making.
- WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- - a medium saucepan
- - 3 cups (12 ounces) fresh, or frozen and thawed, cranberries
- - 3/4 cup sugar
- - the finely grated zest of a whole orange
- - the juice of half an orange
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
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1. Combine the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, and orange juice in the saucepan.

2. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Once the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low.

3. Simmer the sauce until the cranberries are soft and start to fall apart, about 30 minutes. Then remove from heat—the sauce will thicken some as it cools. Makes 8 servings. See more Thanksgiving Basics.

Illustrations by Bill Russell
