A savory easy homemade cranberry sauce with fresh herbs to grace your holiday dinner table this year. Made with fresh or frozen cranberries, this sauce is sure to become a family favorite.
So Thanksgiving is less than one week away and I’m sitting here wondering where the past year has gone. Can’t believe the holidays are already upon us and I have zero Christmas gifts bought. RUH ROH!
One thing I do know for sure is what I’m serving for Thanksgiving…this roasted herb turkey and this Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce With Fresh Herbs, along with whatever organic veggies are in my CSA share.
Other than that, I have no clue what else is going on. Usually, I have my Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners planned by now, but not this year.
I developed this homemade cranberry sauce recipe to go with another dish I made for the Cape Cod Cranberry contest. Since everyone needs a cranberry sauce recipe for the holiday, I decided it would be a good idea to post it separately…but y’all will have to promise to come back next week to check out my last Thanksgiving recipe of the year and the contest’s recipe.
Then it’s on to better things for this blog…like Christmas cookie recipes! WOOOHOOO SUGAR!!!
A perfect homemade cranberry sauce for the holidays
This cranberry sauce is tangy, savory, a little sweet, and perfect with any type of meat or fish. It’s also insanely quick and easy to make, so it’s time to ditch the canned stuff and make this healthier version. I love whole berry homemade cranberry sauce so much that I could eat a big bowl of it, with a spoon, on it’s own, for breakfast.
That’s not too outrageous because it’s probably better for you than most of the sugar-crack cereals out there. I’m making a huge vat of it for Thanksgiving to go with this Double Rum Smoked Turkey. I’m sure I’ll make another vat of it for Christmas too.
Try this quick and easy homemade cranberry sauce with fresh herbs on your holiday dinner table this year. Have it on your table in 15 minutes, sit back, and listen to everyone praise your cooking skills.
An easy homemade cranberry sauce with fresh herbs to grace your holiday dinner table this year. Can make ahead and freeze for later use!
- 12 ounces fresh or frozen whole cranberries
- 2/3 cup demerara sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary , minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh sage , minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme , minced
- 1/4 teaspoon each salt and fresh ground black pepper
- the zest from 1 fresh whole organic lemon
In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine all ingredients and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all cranberries have "popped" open and the sauce has thickened. Mash the cooked cranberries with the back of a wooden spoon to break up the cranberries and make the sauce thicker.
Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes before placing in a serving dish. Serve warm or cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use. The sauce is better if made the day before to give time for the flavors to meld together.
Optional: top with minced fresh rosemary and sage leaves to add additional herb flavor.
Recipe Video
Sauce will keep tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to a week or frozen up to one month.
I’ve never made my own cranberry sauce but if I did, I would be this one!! Great recipe. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Sometimes the best meals are the unplanned ones so if you have no clue what you’re having, no biggie and I’m sure that you will pull of the best meal eva!! And I love your video, by the way! You’re a real pro at those now! This sauce looks fantastic and SO much better than that canned stuff. Love the herb addition…never done that before. Looking forward to what recipe you’ll be sharing next week and definitely can’t wait to see those Christmas cookie recipes. I need to get going on my Christmas shopping too. I do have some done, but now I really have to get at it. I want to be able to enjoy the weeks leading up to the big day and not have to be shopping, ya know? P.S. I love that movie. One of my faves and I could watch over and over again. Hope you guys are having an awesome weekend! xoxo
I love the idea of adding herbs to the cranberry sauce! My favorite is a bit of turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce all in one bite!
Nothing compares to homemade! And this cranberry recipe takes the cake! I love the addition of the herbs! Oh my!! A perfect addition to the holiday table! Happy Thanksgiving, my friend!
How did I miss this fantastic video! This cranberry sauce with herbs sounds perfect to me. I can’t wait for the cookies! Woot!
Wow, Karrie – I love the addition of fresh herbs! I can just imagine how awesome this smells as it’s cooking! P.S. I really like the Elf gif!
I love cranberries but I only used them in cakes. I would love to try this sauce, I am sure it’s tasty and easy to make. Congratulations for the video! ❤
I’m wondering if anyone has successfully canned this sauce? It sounds like something I would enjoy on muffins all year!
Hi Cheryl, I don’t know if anyone has, but don’t see why it couldn’t be done. Great idea on putting this on muffins, especially cornbread ones!