Incredibly easy homemade Cranberry Sauce that is bursting with flavor thanks to the added Amaretto which gives it a slight nutty aroma. It goes perfectly with your Thanksgiving turkey and makes a great hostess gift too!
If you have always wanted to try making your own Homemade Cranberry Sauce for the holidays but are terrified as to what it might entail...well here you go! A super EASY sauce that comes together in a few minutes with just a few simple ingredients. It is just as easy as opening a can of that molded jelly "sauce" you buy in the store and I promise you that the flavor is a thousand times better! And perhaps the best part? It uses frozen cranberries, which you can buy months in advance (Yay to no last minute grocery runs when you are trying to prep a meal for 20+ people!).
I love making my own sauce for a number of reasons. You can control the amount of sugar you put in it (if you want to do less sugar, add in some fresh orange juice) and you can really let your creative side shine too! In fact, we have quite the secret ingredient that goes into ours...which is always getting "ooooo" and "ahhhhh" from our family. Don't worry, I will share it with you as well! Ready for the step-by-step on how to make this delicious Cranberry Sauce?
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The one thing that you NEED to have to make this sauce a success is a good potato masher for making sure your cranberries are fully mashed into the right consistency.
homemade cranberry sauce recipe
Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 c Frozen Cranberries you can use fresh if preferred
- 1 c Sugar white granulated
- 1 c Water
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 2 oz Amaretto almond liquor
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water over medium heat. Allow to boil and add in liquor. Cook for about 2 minutes to "burn" off the alcohol. Add in cranberries and cinnamon and continue to gently simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep from burning.
- Once cranberries begin to pop (about 5 minutes) you can gently mash and cook for another 3-5 minutes until the liquid dissolves and it begins to take on a jelly consistency.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool before transferring to a sealed container. Refrigerate until ready to use (we make ours 2 days in advance!).
tips and tricks for the perfect cranberry sauce
- Taste it as you go! If you like it more tart cut back on your sugar, and opposite if you like it sweeter!
- Make it at least a day in advance, this will allow the sauce to cool to a nice consistency and give the flavors time to get stronger.
- To get the nice chunky consistency use a potato masher and gently mash the cranberries as they cook.
- Prefer a smooth sauce? No problem, once cooled add to a food processor or blender for 10 seconds to puree to a smooth and delicious spreadable sauce.
- Get creative! We add Amaretto (almond liquor) to our sauce, but we have also added orange juice and zest in the past. You can take a small amount and add in different combinations of ingredients to see what you like best.
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I love homemade cranberry sauce but I haven't tried it with almond liquor. Next time I make it I'm going to add it!
Yes, you need to give it a try! I promise you will love it!
Perfect. I might have to make this for my family. They love cranberry sauce.
It is just about that time again. You'll never go back to canned once you've made your own. I think it's delicious stirred into yogurt too. I love the addition of amaretto here too!
There is no more canned in our house either, fresh is best and so so easy to make! Try it with the amaretto and let me know what you think 😉
I love making my own cranberry sauce. I use fresh when I can find them in the fall, but my hubster is so addicted to turkey dinner that we have to celebrate "half Thanksgiving" each year: that means frozen cranberries. I would never have thought of adding amaretto: that sounds delicious!
I love that, we may need to steal the idea of a half-Thanksgiving too (we love all the flavors that go with it!). The amaretto really steps it up, complimenting the sweet and tartness from the cranberries! Enjoy
This would be such a nice and easy dish to have for Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing 🙂
You're so welcome, it is so easy to make and is great on top of turkey!
I couldn't believe how easy it was the first time I made cranberry sauce. Cinnamon and amaretto is such a cool tough I would never have thought of it!
You have to try it, the amaretto just adds a nice depth to the cranberry sauce that leaves everyone wondering what your secret ingredient is!
Awesome, nothing quite like homemade on a festive table, right down to the smallest detail. I love that your cranberry sauce isn't smooth and there are whole cranberries in there to be enjoyed.
Thanks Azlin, cranberry sauce is all about texture for me! I know some people prefer smooth but there is something so nice about a chunky cranberry on top of my turkey!
I love the addition of the amaretto! I've also made cranberry sauce with bourbon in the past, and it works really well.
Oh yum! We love adding fun ingredients to our traditional dishes!
This looks yummy! I love homemade cranberry sauce but I also love the canned jelly kind lol.
Ha!! I am guilty of loving it too (the canned stuff) but I prefer homemade whenever I can 🙂
I love making cranberry sauce. What a great idea to add amaretto.
This looks so easy and yummy!
You make everything look easy! And yes, it would be perfect for the holidays. I love the taste of Amaretto!
Aw thanks Cynthia! I try to share simple recipes I know you guys will love and be able to make at home 🙂
Delicious. I will have to make this sauce for the harvest festive for my family.
They are going to love it, you will get requests for it for each family function I am sure!!! Enjoy!