Make your favorite Thanksgiving sauce year-round with this recipe for Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cranberries! In a few simple steps and just 8 ingredients, you can have this delicious side dish on the table in about 20 total minutes.
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Why You'll Love This Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cranberries
- Perfect year-round! No need to wait until "cranberry season" to make this staple holiday side dish. With the use of dried cranberries instead of fresh cranberries, you can make this cranberry sauce any time of the year to pair with all your favorite proteins.
- So easy! In just 3 quick steps, you'll have a delicious cranberry sauce on the table in minutes. The dried cranberries absorb the juice, turn plump, and taste just as good as the fresh ones, especially when paired with dutch oven turkey breast and a side of mashed potatoes!
- 8 simple ingredients! Use just 8 basic ingredients to turn boring dried cranberries into a sweet and tangy, craveable dipping sauce to accompany your Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts or other dinners throughout the year.
Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Dried Cranberries: Although not traditionally included in homemade cranberry sauce, dried cranberries are the best addition to this recipe! They allow you to make this sauce year-round, instead of waiting for cranberry season. They also absorb the liquid and rehydrate easily for a great burst of flavor.
- Cranberry Juice: Cranberry juice accompanies the dried cranberries for that "just as good as fresh" taste. I like to use cranberry juice with no added sugar, so I can remain in control of the sweetness of the sauce. If you use sweetened juice, make sure to adjust the brown sugar accordingly.
- Light Brown Sugar: Using light brown sugar gives the sauce a subtle sweetness. For a tart sauce, use less and for a sweeter sauce, use more.
- Orange Juice and Cinnamon Stick: Both add depth of flavor to the sauce. You can, of course, leave them out for a simpler cranberry sauce, but I think they're both great additions!
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch helps thicken the sauce to match the store-bought consistency. Though, this sauce isn't quite as thick as the sauce from the can, it's still the perfect texture for piling onto a piece of Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey!
⭐️ See recipe card below for descriptions and quantities of each ingredient.
How to Make Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cranberries
- Step 1: Add dried cranberries, cranberry juice, brown sugar, zest and juice of 1 orange, cinnamon stick, and salt to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries rehydrate and turn plump. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick.
- Step 2: In a separate small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Add to the cranberry sauce and stir to combine. Cook 30 seconds to 1 minute more until the sauce thickens.
- Step 3: Serve cranberry sauce warm or room temperature. Sauce will thicken more as it cools.
⭐️ Tip: If using cranberry juice with added sugar, you may want to use less brown sugar and adjust to taste. I recommend using RW Knudsen “Just Cranberry” juice for this recipe or a similar brand that has “cranberry juice” as the only ingredient.
Substitutions and Alterations
- Dried cranberries - Golden raisins or dried cherries would also work in a pinch, but they will offer a slightly different flavor profile.
- Light brown sugar - You can use granulated sugar or dark brown sugar if you don't have light brown sugar on hand. As the sauce cooks, you may need to taste and adjust the amount of sugar, depending on your desired level of sweetness.
How to Store Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cranberries
To store: Store homemade cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days.
To freeze: Freeze cranberry sauce with dried cranberries in a freezer-safe container up to 3 months.
To reheat: Reheating isn't necessary. Simply defrost cranberry sauce in the fridge overnight. Then, about 30 minutes to an hour before serving, let sit on the counter to come to room temperature.
Top tip!
When zesting the orange, make sure you're only scraping off the orange flesh. The orange part contains flavor, while the white part underneath can be bitter. If you scrape too deep and incorporate some of the white flesh into the cranberry sauce, it can taste a bit bitter as well.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe has been developed specifically for the use of dried cranberries, instead of fresh ones. However, if you are looking for a cranberry sauce recipe that uses fresh cranberries, you can make the topping in this crostini recipe and serve it in a bowl, instead of on top of the bread.
Dried cranberries can be rehydrated by soaking them in a liquid. In this case, the cranberries are added to cranberry juice to add moisture and make them juicy again.
Related Recipes
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Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know. Leave a comment with a rating at the bottom of this page!
Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cranberries
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dried cranberries
- 1 cup no sugar added cranberry juice SEE NOTE
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- Zest and juice of 1 orange
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Small pinch of kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Add dried cranberries, cranberry juice, brown sugar, zest and juice of 1 orange, cinnamon stick, and salt to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries rehydrate and turn plump. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Add to the cranberry sauce and stir to combine. Cook 30 seconds to 1 minute more until the sauce thickens.
- Serve cranberry sauce warm or room temperature. Sauce will thicken more as it cools.
Notes
- If using cranberry juice with added sugar, you may want to use less brown sugar and adjust to taste. I recommend using RW Knudsen “Just Cranberry” juice for this recipe or a similar brand that has “cranberry juice” as the only ingredient.
Nutrition
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Angela Jones says
OUTSTANDING!! All I had was grape juice, and it workout beautifully! And everyone loved it ! Ty
Alana Lieberman says
So glad this worked well for you! Thanks for giving it a try!