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close up ruby red homemade cranberry sauce in a jar.
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5 from 3 votes

Canning Cranberry Sauce

Canning cranberry sauce to have it ready on time for Thanksgiving is easy. This homemade sauce is quick to make and has more flavor than any store-bought brand.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Side Dishes
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegan
Servings: 3 small jars
Calories: 325kcal
Author: Adina

Equipment

  • Saucepan
  • Water bath canner

Ingredients

  • 1 lb cranberries fresh or frozen (Note 1)
  • 2 oranges juice and zest (Note 2)
  • ¼ cup apple juice unsweetened (Note 3)
  • ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar Note 4
  • 2 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar Note 5
  • 1 star anise
  • 6 cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt or Kosher more to taste
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
US - EU

Instructions

Cranberry sauce:

  • Prepare oranges: Wash the oranges with hot water. Dry them well and zest them. Then, halve and juice them; you will need ½ cup/ 120 ml juice.
  • Syrup: Place sugar, orange zest and juice, apple juice, vinegar, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a pot. Bring to a boil, often stirring to help dissolve the sugar. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes without a lid, stirring occasionally.
  • Cook cranberries: In the meantime, wash the cranberries. Add them to the pot. Cover leaving a crack open. It is best to cover the pot because the berries might “jump” out of the pot once they start popping. Once they stop popping, remove the lid.
    Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
  • Adjust the taste of the sauce with a little more salt if necessary.
  • Fill the hot/warm jars leaving about ¾ inch/ 2 cm headspace (Note 7). Close the lids tightly.

Sterilize jars:

  • If not canning the sauce, sterilize the jars while the sauce is simmering. Let drain upside down on a clean towel until ready to use (Note 6). You don’t have to sterilize the jars if you can the sauce; just make sure they are super clean.

Can the sauce (Note 8):

  • Boil: Place the closed jars in the simmering water in the water bath canner. Cover and bring to a boil. Once the water starts simmering again, can the jars for 15 minutes.
  • Rest: Turn off the heat, but leave the jars in the canner for another 5 minutes. Remove using a jar lifter to avoid burning yourself with the hot water.
  • Let cool: Place jars on a folded kitchen towel and let cool completely.
  • Check the seals before transferring to the pantry or cellar. Keep any jar that didn’t seal in the refrigerator or freeze it.

Notes

  1. If using frozen cranberries, defrost them for a couple of hours or use them frozen. In this case, add a few more minutes to the cooking time.
  2. Preferably organic and unwaxed oranges. You will need the zest and ½ cup/ 120 ml juice.
  3. You can replace the apple juice with more orange juice if you don’t have any.
  4. Brown sugar is great as well.
  5. Apple cider vinegar works best, but you can replace it with another kind of vinegar.
  6. Place them in a large pot, cover them with water and boil them for 10 minutes. Remove them from the water shortly before filling and let them drain upside down on a very clean kitchen towel. Sterilize lids in boiling water for 5 minutes.
  7. The jars should be hot or very warm when you fill them. If they are cold, they might crack when you fill them with the hot sauce.
  8. Canning is optional. You can also refrigerate the sauce for one week and up to 10 days or freeze it for at least 6 months.
  9. Canned sauce will keep in the pantry or cellar for at least 6 months. Once you’ve opened a jar, refrigerate it and consume it within a few days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1jar | Calories: 325kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 208mg | Potassium: 340mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 67g | Vitamin A: 393IU | Vitamin C: 67mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1mg