Sweet and tart with some citrusy tang, this easy homemade cranberry sauce is heavenly on a holiday dinner plate and is a simple side to prepare ahead of time!

Simmering together a handful of ingredients on the stove is all it takes to make an irresistible cranberry sauce that you’ll be dying to make for every holiday celebration!

Easy Holiday Cranberry Sauce Recipe

If there’s one thing I absolutely need on my plate for a holiday meal, it’s cranberry sauce. And I’m not talking the kind you get in a can that’s still perfectly can-shaped when you dump it out. Nope, that’s practically a sin in my kitchen. I mean, I’m all for kitchen hacks and cooking shortcuts, but you guys, making cranberry sauce from scratch is so easy that it’s silly to do anything else!

I love, love, love this sauce because it’s sweet from the sugar, tart from the cranberries, and zesty from the orange juice and peel used as flavorings. It has all these rich and bright fall flavors, yet it doesn’t take a professional chef (or a food blogger) to make it perfectly every time.

If you can stir things in a pot on the stove, you’re golden (ahem, that should be everyone reading this!). It’s also a perfect contender to make ahead of time for less stress on the day of the occasion itself. It keeps for up to 3 days, so go ahead and knock it off your to-cook list early!

What do you use cranberry sauce for?

Cranberry sauce is a traditional Thanksgiving dish in America. It’s thought that a cranberry dish may have been served at the first Thanksgiving, as the Wampanoag tribe used cranberries for a variety of things, like dye, medicine, and food. Today, it’s a sweet and tart dish served up at most Thanksgiving tables because the bright flavors complement the heavier, saltier, richer Thanksgiving foods, like turkey, potatoes, and stuffing.

Can cranberry sauce be frozen?

Yes, homemade cranberry sauce freezes beautifully! Store it in an airtight container, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge when you’re ready to serve it.

How do you make cranberry sauce less tart?

For a sweeter cranberry sauce, add an additional 1/4 cup of sugar to the sauce at the start of cooking to cut some of the tartness.

Is cranberry sauce served cold or hot?

This is totally up to you! You can serve it warm, at room temperature, or chilled. It will also keep in the fridge for up to 4 or 5 days, so take advantage of it for all your holiday leftover meals!

How to make cranberry sauce:

Add the cranberries, orange juice, water, and sugar to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
Stir to combine.
Add the salt, cinnamon, and orange peel.
Bring the mixture to a simmer, and reduce the heat to medium.
Simmer and stir for 10 to 12 minutes.
Let the mixture cool for 30 minutes, and remove orange peel and cinnamon stick.
Serve warm or at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.