The Basics: How to Make Cranberry Sauce

Published on Friday, October 23, 2009, by CHOW Food Team / Edit Post

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:

VIEW ONE STEP AT A TIME | PRINT PDF

  • 1. Combine the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, and orange juice in the saucepan.

    Step 1

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

    Step 2

  • 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.

    Step 3

Illustrations by Bill Russell

PDF
ALLThe Basics
POST A COMMENT |7 Comments

COMMENT

  • What if you make this ahead of time and then freeze and thaw the day you serve it?

  • This turned out perfect! Thanks!

  • We use maple syrup and whole oranges. Leftovers, which can be left over months, taste great on mashed potatoes.

  • My family's cranberry sauce is cranberries, apple, cinnamon, & sugar. (Lots of sugar.) When it's made in large enough batches that there are leftovers, they keep in the fridge pretty much indefinitely.

  • I've made cranberry sauce using an entire bottle of Zinfandel wine. It was fabulous. And it lasted in the fridge for MONTHS. The sugar acts as a preservative, like in jam.

  • how long will this be good for in the fridge?

  • I think I want to try a little red wine, even just a tablespoon or two.