CrockPot Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Day 319.
It's Friday. Instead of fondue, you're getting cranberry sauce. It's a fair trade.
This worked! I've made cranberry sauce exactly once before---in a kindergarten class. We followed the directions on the bag, and it came out quite bitter. No one except this one little boy who enjoyed shocking his classmates with odd behavior would eat it. I could tell it was bitter just by the smell.
I did not have high hopes for cranberry sauce in the crockpot, but was pleasantly surprised. This not only worked, the kids each had some with leftover turkey and I've had it now a few times on top of spinach salad.
I think the secret is the enormous amount of sugar I added...
The Ingredients.
- 12 ozunces cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed is best)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
The Directions.
Use a 2- quart crockpot. If you only have a huge crockpot, you can put an oven-safe dish into it to create a smaller cooking vessel --- like a pyrex or Corningware.
This is what I use in the crock (scroll down to see them).
Rinse off the cranberries and put them into your crockpot. Add the orange juice and water. I had the kids squeeze fresh juice, but you can use store-bought if that's what you have on hand.
Add the sugar and the cinnamon. Stir. There will be an awful lot of liquid, and the cranberries will float and you'll wonder how on earth it could possibly turn into cranberry sauce.
Cover and cook on high. It will take about 3 hours.
Stir every hour or so. When the skin from the cranberries has softened, the cranberries will "pop" when pushed with a spoon up against the side of the crock. It wasn't until about 2 hours in that my cranberries were soft enough to do this.
Smoosh all of the cranberries. Stir well.
Heat enough for it to be warm throughout. Take the lid off and heat on high for another 30 to 45 minutes. Your house will smell wonderful!
Serve. This easily can be made a few days before your holiday dinner.
The Verdict.
This is pretty much the best cranberry sauce in the history of the world. I like it so much I'll eat it right off the spoon.
My mom makes batches and batches of it and gives it to her friends for gifts (seriously!) and freezes little Tupperwares of it so she can have it all year round.
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If you like cranberry stuff, check out these dishes:
- Super easy cranberry pork or beef roast
- Potroast with cranberry and red wine glaze
- Turkey meatballs with cranberry barbecue sauce
- Cranberry party recipes: martini, chicken, cranberry surprise dessert!
Cranberry Sauce
Yield: 12
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 3 H & 45 MTotal time: 4 H & 15 M
How to make homemade cranberry sauce in the crockpot slow cooker
Ingredients
- 12 ozunces cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed is best)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Use a 2- quart crockpot. If you only have a huge crockpot, you can put an oven-safe dish into it to create a smaller cooking vessel --- like a pyrex or Corningware.
- Rinse off the cranberries and put them into your crockpot. Add the orange juice and water. I had the kids squeeze fresh juice, but you can use store-bought if that's what you have on hand.
- Add the sugar and the cinnamon. Stir. There will be an awful lot of liquid, and the cranberries will float and you'll wonder how on earth it could possibly turn into cranberry sauce.
- Cover and cook on high. It will take about 3 hours.
- Stir every hour or so. When the skin from the cranberries has softened, the cranberries will "pop" when pushed with a spoon up against the side of the crock. It wasn't until about 2 hours in that my cranberries were soft enough to do this.
- Smoosh all of the cranberries. Stir well.
- Heat enough for it to be warm throughout. Take the lid off and heat on high for another 30 to 45 minutes. Your house will smell wonderful!
- Serve. This easily can be made a few days before your holiday dinner.
this sounds great. you and your family are gonna have so much thanksgiving food that by the time thanksgiving is here, you'll all be sick of it haha
ReplyDeleteactually, now that i think about it, i could never get sick of thanksgiving food... so without further ado, eat up!!!
lol, Joanna! I'm actually wondering about that, too. We might have a nice lasagna... ;-)
ReplyDeletexox
steph
Hi, I'm a new reader of your blog and am really enjoying it! I've started reading it from the very beginning and have got to about day 107 so far! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe cranberry sauce sounds really good, I may try it that way this year :-)
Congratulations on such a great blog!
Love your blog! I've made quite
ReplyDeletea few of your recipes that my kids have loved.
I've never done cranberry sauce in a crockpot, but have made it on the stovetop using cranraspberry
juice in place of some of the sugar.
Thanks for all the wonderful ideas.
Thank you for this, it's perfect timing! I am making it today for friends.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds wonderful! I'm buying cranberries today!
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of your blog. I use my crockpot as often as possible, because it's beyond fabulous to have a dinner cooking while I'm doing something else. And I've got a spare crockpot for holidays & parties, too.
Marla
The secret to great cranberry sauce is ORANGES. They cut the bitter somehow and make it sweet. According to the food network anyway. :) This looks great!
ReplyDeleteI usually make fresh cranberry sauce on the stovetop but I've never thought to use brown sugar instead of (or along with) white. I'll have to try that this year!
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!! Cranberries are on sale for $1 this week- I'm totally stocking up! Can't wait to try! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try this recipe for this Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteRecently came across your blog and looking forward to looking through all the crockpot recipes.
I would definitely try a berry-cranberry sauce if you like it sweeter. I haven't made mine in the crockpot before, but I use equal parts cranberries and raspberries and instead of sugar and water use either cranberry juice, white grape juice, or apple juice (whichever I have on hand because I always forget to buy extra for the sauce). It comes out pretty sweet without any additional sugar, but you could add about 1/4 cup if you really wanted too. Also, a packet of gelatin will allow you to make pretty ridges or mold it in any shape you like too! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna try this with Splenda!
ReplyDelete:)
I can't take the suspense anymore! Are you going to do a candied yams recipe? Pretty please?? I'm having eleven people over for Turkey day and I think the crockpot is the only pot I have big enough to hold the required quantity of sweet potatoes.
ReplyDeleteOh thank you thank you thank you. Thanks to your influence I am now the proud owner of FIVE crockpots. Seriously. I had one I never used before your blog.
ReplyDeleteNow I have enough to cook ALL of thanksgiving in crockpots!
Hi ! You hooked me into your blog because my crockpot is my best friend too and when you wrote "But I'm o.k. with it" that gave me a good laugh !
ReplyDeleteLast night, I went to an R.S. Enrichment Cooking Activity at a friend's house and we were sharing recipes for side dishes for our Thanksgiving dinners...I actually mentioned I loved homemade cranberry sauce and wow , like magic, you posted a recipe for us !
Even better, it's in a crockpot !
Thanks so much...
Lynn
BTW, you are now on my favorites list on my cooking blog "Lynn's Kitchen"
I make homemade cranberry sauce every year. I am definitely going to try this one in the crock pot the day before and chill. Make ahead is the key! One change I will make is using cinnamon sticks instead of ground cinnamon. Gives it an extra level of flavor. Thanks for all the great crockpot Thanksgiving recipes!
ReplyDeleteohmygosh I totally love you. =) Cranberries are one of my favorite things on earth. It's so pretty too!
ReplyDeleteI challenge you to make jello in the crockpot.
I do a cranberry recipe that's really similar to this, except I use lemon juice instead of orange juice (and less of it) AND I add a half teaspoon of VANILLA. Yum. Takes it from a really good recipe to a GREAT recipe, in my humble opinion. ;-)
ReplyDeleteNow, that's a slice of heaven. Yum.
ReplyDeleteI was recommended this blog just a few days ago, and I am so hooked! I made the rotisserie chicken a few nights ago, and am eagerly awaiting the Autumn Sausage Casserole for dinner tonight!
ReplyDeleteAs my extended family has decided to descend on my daughter and myself for Christmas this year, I'm wondering how many crockpots I can beg, borrow, or steal! (small kitchen/house, no room to store multiples)
It is so wonderful of you to have your Thanksgiving foods early so that we can learn from you. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI'd never been inspired to make my own cranberry sauce until now. Mmmmm!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this recipe. Actually it has less sugar than the other recipes I've seen so this is a good thing. I can't wait to try it out!
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blog! Have you ever tried sweet potato casserole in a crockpot? Have I missed it on your blog?
ReplyDeleteI discovered your blog a few weeks ago and you have really inspired me to take risks with the crockpot. I made chicken noodle casserole this week, and last week I "baked" foil pouches with BBQ Chicken and seasoned potatoes. I wished I had corn on the cob to put in a foil pouch as well! Everything turned out great! Keep it up, I check you blog almost everyday!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to try this. Love your secret ingredient. LOL
ReplyDeleteyour comment about ridged cranberry sauce from a can reminds me of when i first met my (then) upcoming son-in-law. i made what i thought was a beautiful dish on the stove top and was SO proud. he, however, looked at it and asked if I had any of the "real stuff...the kind with ridges.." i've loved his honesty and him ever since, and i never again bothered to make it from scratch. thanx for such good daily reading. i love your blog.
ReplyDeleteYummm...I linked you:
ReplyDeletehttp://momsbyheart.blogspot.com/2008/11/best-of-blogosphere_14.html
Huh, never would have thought to do this.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting, I would had *never* thought to have done this! :)
ReplyDeleteummm....crockpot lady. It only takes 5 minutes to make cranberry sauce on the stovetop. Yes, you CAN make it in the crockpot, but I think this is one that makes more sense to do the traditional way! My family has always done homemade cranberry sauce, it is so easy and so good. Hopefully you will insprire some of the canned gang to give it a whirl. Love your blog and your committment to the crockpot!
ReplyDeleteYes you can make it on the stove, but if you are like me you end up burning it! My in-laws farm cranberries so I have a lot of berries to turn into sauce. I am trying the crockpot this year. Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteI started following your blog about two months ago and I am loving it! I have three crockpots and want another one. I made this last night and added a little bit of diced apple (it sounded good.) it was so yummy! Oh, I also made the pumpkin dip and it was delectable too.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds SO GOOD! Thanks to you, I have a 6+ quart crockpot on my Christmas list. I already have a 4qt and a lil dipper, but rarely used them until I started reading your blog - thanks!
ReplyDeleteI made this today in a 1 quart crockpot set on a timer to start cooking before I woke up. It is exactly what I want Cranberry sauce to be - not a solid jell but a spoonable sauce! I let the sauce cool and we used it as a condiment on sandwiches (Chicken and cheese on croisannts!). The GF version was meat, spinach leaves and cheese roll-ups with a drizzle of the sauce in the inside! Delicious! I will make this again for Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I was looking for this recipe and here it is. I am going to make it for Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteI will let you know how it comes out.
I make cranberry applesauce every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I started doing it in the crock pot a few years ago. I use one bag of cranberries, 3-4 Granny Smith apples, anywhere from 2/3 to 1 cup of sugar (depending on how sweet I want it and how many apples I put in), and 3/4 cup of water. Cook it until the apples are mush and the berries have popped, then stir and chill.
ReplyDeleteI just made this recipe and can hardly wait for it to cool so I can taste it!
ReplyDeleteI love using the crock pot because I dont feel like my son will get hurt, like when I use the stove!
I made this for the Thanksgiving dinner we had today. It was perfect. YUM. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteThis recipe is great! I made it yesterday for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. So much better than store-bought. It was easy and really did make the house smell good. Plus popping the craberries with the spoon was VERY therapeutic - like popping bubblewrap :)
ReplyDeleteI made this yesterday for Thanksgiving and it was a hit! Even my mom, who's NEVER liked cranberry sauce said she liked it. We want to try the Pumpkin Pudding next! :)
ReplyDeleteI also made this for Turkey Day. I actually quadrupled the recipe, because I didn't know what else to use the cranberries (frozen) for. I'm glad I did, too! We had 2 extra guests over, and between the total of 4 adults, there wasn't much left! Toward the end of the night, we were just dipping biscuits straight out of the tub.
ReplyDeleteWe still did have a lot of leftovers, BUT...that also didn't last long. It's 2 days after Turkey Day, and it's gone. I had this over oatmeal in the morning, plain for a snack, on some salad for lunch, and warmed up and served over ice cream (as did my husband...he had 2 bowls) for dessert. Our friends came over and asked us if we had anymore leftovers! HAHAHA!
The OJ and cinnamon (which I added more than the recipe calls for) was the perfect combo. It was too soupy for us, so next time I make this (Christmas), I'll either add less water or add a package of plain gelatin to it (per crockpot lady's suggestion).
Either way, superb!!!!
This is DELISH!!
ReplyDeleteI made this for Thanksgiving because my mom is Corn intollerant and she LOVES cranberry sauce and whines EVERY year about it! LOL
I had some left over (about a cup) after dinner. I mixed the left over sauce with cream cheese and pecans and put it on GF crackers!
SO TASTY!
Just found your site & I'm LOVING it!!!!! Still haven't found what I came here though. I used to make a craberry sauce using my baby crockpot but I lost the recipe - been searching for something like it for about 2 years now - thought you might be able to help. Mine was similar to this one, but very different (does that make sense??). I remember using whole cranberries, frozen sliced strawberries (in syrup) and cinnamon sticks - maybe a splash of orange juice, too ... not sure about the other supporting ingredients. Sound familiar anyone? This isn't a "crock-pot" recipe, but I like to do it in the crockpot because I'm less likely to burn it. Thanks to anyone that can help!!!
ReplyDeleteJosee, is this what you are looking for?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cooksrecipes.com/sauce/strawberry_cranberry_sauce_recipe.html
That's it!! Thank you sooo much!! It's all coming back to me now ... wild goose chase for the elusive crystalized ginger just to realize I'd have to take out a loan to pay for it! Recipe has been printed & laminated, with a backup saved to my flashdrive! Thanks again!!
ReplyDeleteThis is in my slow cooker now - YUM! Made up a fresh batch of cranberry sauce last night, and put it in at lunch time today. I'm a little worried that it isn't as "wet" as most of slow cooker experiments are, but I'm trying to follow advice and not add water. I'll just peek at it often.
ReplyDeleteThank you! One less thing to "worry" about tomorrow at Thanksgiving. I can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say that I tried this this year for the first time at Thanksgiving and it was DELICIOUS! Everyone raved about it and it was the ONLY think my twin 3-year-old niece and nephews would eat! haha. I doubled the recipe and used a larger crock since we had a big crowd without any problems. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteHI There - this sounds great but I really despise OJ..is there anything I can substitute it for? THANKS!
ReplyDeleteI am trying this. I once had cranberries and apples one year at a dinner with friends -she made me try it cause I said I don't like cranberries, but I think I will add an apple or two sliced to the sauce.
ReplyDeleteJust finished this- I went ahead and pureed it in a food processor once it had cooled a little, and it is fantastic. For people who found it wasn't thick enough, the pureeing helps quite a bit :)
ReplyDeleteI made this for Thanksgiving and have it in the crock pot right now for Christmas tomorrow. It is excellent! I zested the orange and added it, plus added some apple. I also used a cinnamon stick instead of the ground stuff. I didn't even think I liked cranberry sauce, but it was exceptional last month and I'm looking forward to it again. I did think it came out a little runny, but it did firm up in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteIf you put a sweet apple or two in with the cranberries you will not need as much sugar. This is a trick I do. It also makes the sauce have more of a jellied texture. I also run mine in a blender and strain it because my family doesn't like the skins in it.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried making cranberry sauce, but your recipe sounded great and so easy using the crock pot. It was so good, my husband really liked it and he doesn't usually even eat it. I'm planning on making it again for Christmas, but will strain it since most of my family prefers a smoother texture. Thanks, this will be standard on our holiday table now.
ReplyDeleteMade this for both Thanksgiving and Christmas even though my family doesn't really like cranberry sauce I do. Since I have had so much leftover just for myself I found that it is really tasty on my bagel in the morning makes it a bit soggy but I don't like really dry bread either so it really works for me and gives me a little something I don't usually have around all during the year so I feel like I am getting a little treat now. I will have to figure out some more ways to use it up though besides getting a spoon and having some. This is a really simple and easy recipe and will make it again. Thanks for showing us all sorts of different things we can make in our crockpots love it.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on canned jellied cranberry sauce. As I have gotten older I have learned to like whole berry sauce as well. Years ago Ocean Spray offered both Cran-Raspberry and Cran-Orange sauce. Some years ago, much to my disappointment, they dropped my favorite, the Cran-Raspberry. When I saw your recipe I got to thinking I might be able to make this and substitute raspberries for the O.J. I have a 6oz. package in the freezer and think I will thaw them out and run half the pack in a blender or processor and just add the rest of the berries whole to the sauce. I think that is the only change I would make. What are your thoughts? Do you think this will turn out well? Thanks for sharing this recipe.
ReplyDelete