Quick cranberry sauce recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Christmas, Sauces Gravy Dressings | 82 comments
Two years ago I made cranberry sauce to die for. It kept for months in the fridge and was wolfed down with everything from goat’s cheese toasties to roast chicken. I particularly loved it with brie in sandwiches. In fact we both agreed that it really comes into its own after Christmas, when it is not jockeying for position with so many other treats. Although I would feel bereft if it didn’t make an appearance on Christmas Day.
Cranberry sauce is dead easy to make and it’s quick too. Once you’ve tasted homemade you’ll probably never want to buy a jar again. I spotted a two for one offer on cranberries at the supermarket and pounced on them. It took me half an hour to make this sauce. It is not nearly as sweet as commercially produced sauce and is perfect with turkey, goose, game and cheese.
Update – 23rd December 2007. Today I made a new cranberry sauce recipe you can find it here.
Quick cranberry sauce recipe
Ingredients:
- 300g of fresh cranberries
- 4 clementines (juice and zest)
- 120g white granulated sugar
- 25-50ml of Port (to taste)
Method:
- Wash the cranberries and discard any iffy fruit.
- Put the cranberries in a saucepan.
- Wash the clementines and remove the zest (just a little off each fruit to give you about half a teaspoonful from them all). Squeeze the juice and add the zest, pulp and juice to the cranberries.
- Add the sugar and stir well.
- Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Taste the sauce at this stage, if you find the sauce is to tart for your taste, add a little more sugar.
- Pop on the lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes until all the cranberries are soft and splitting. Some of them will cook more quickly than others. Stir the sauce gently every five minutes or so. When the sauce if ready, remove from the heat and stir in the port.
- Pot in warm sterilised jars with plastic lined screw top lids. Store in the fridge. How do I sterilise jars? See tricks and tips below.
Tricks and tips:
How do I sterilise jars?
Just before making the sauce, quickly wash and rinse the jars and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160c (140c fan-assisted). When the oven has reached the right temperature turn off the heat and open the door. The bottles will stay hot for quite a while, so use oven gloves when removing them from the oven. Sterilise the lids by boiling these for a few minutes in water.
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Sounds like a great recipe. I got my cranberries & clementines today from Asda so I’m off to make it now!
Don’t have any port but will find a substitute and will add a cinamon stick.
Thanks, Sara
Hi Tom
Thanks for the tip. If I can’t find them in Asda, I’ll check out Costco.
I bought a 750gm carton of lovely fresh cranberries in Costco this afternoon which
costco(!) me £2.99
Hi Kevin
Thanks so much for this tip. We have access to Asda! Finally I can nip over and buy some to make the sauce for Christmas!
Asda have fresh cranberries on the shelf, bought some last night. Now searching (and found :-)) recipe….
Cheers
Kev
Hi Crystal,
Thanks for the tip on Lidl. We don’t have a Lidl near here, unfortunately.
Good idea adding mixed spice to the cranberry sauce. Thanks for the tip.
It’s great that you are enjoying the site.
Made a double batch of this today to give jars to friends and family and it is lovely. Added half a teaspoon of mixed spice too which I think complements the tartness of it.
Thanks again Fiona…I wouldn’t have survived Christmas without the site!
Best wishes to everyone for Christmas and the New Year
Crystal
Hello everyone 🙂
I don’t know if you have a Lidl near you but I got large bags of fresh Ocean Spray branded cranberries from there at the weekend for only 79p a bag!
Hope this helps
Hi Caroline
This is a great sauce and I love eating it in cheese sandwiches after Christmas. I haven’t found cranberries yet this year. I do hope that I haven’t missed the boat.
sounds lovely i am off to make some now
Cheers.