Apple Cranberry Sauce

Apple Cranberry Sauce is a refreshingly delicious change from your typical cranberry sauce. A flavorful balance of sweet and tart, with a hints of cinnamon and orange, even those who swear they don’t like cranberry sauce find they enjoy this tasty recipe.

After you serve this easy cranberry sauce, get ready for rave reviews. Friends and family will ask (or demand!) that it be on the holiday menu each and every year.

Cranberry Sauce

What do you think of when you hear the words cranberry sauce? If it’s that jello like substance that comes out of a can, it’s time for us to change that.

Let me introduce you to Apple Cranberry Sauce. From it’s delicious blend of flavors that include cranberries, apples, brown sugar, cider, oranges, cinnamon and allspice to it’s amazing texture, THIS is what you should think of when you hear “cranberry sauce”.

It strikes a perfect balance of sweet and tart, making it not only a great addition to your holiday meal, but to almost any meal. While we may think of pairing it with turkey or ham, you’d be amazed how great it is with something like pork tenderloin.

How To Make Apple Cranberry Sauce

Let’s discuss the ingredients you’ll need, and the steps you’ll take, to make this sauce. My goal is to provide you with information to help you be successful when making this recipe in your kitchen. If you want to skip my discussion, tips, information and answers to frequently asked questions, just scroll to the bottom for the printable recipe.

Ingredients

1. Cranberries – For this recipe we’ll be using fresh cranberries. They are sold by the bag and are typically very easy to find during the holiday season. They’re usually in the produce section, but sometimes they’ll stock them near the turkeys. They typically are sold in a 12 ounce bag, which is roughly three cups of cranberries.
2. Apples – My apples of choice for cooking are Granny Smith, Fuji, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious and Jonagold. These apples all tend to have not only a great flavor, but a pleasing texture once cooked. I avoid Red Delicious as they just tend to get mealy. The apples will be peeled, cored and diced.
3. Brown sugar – Light or dark brown sugar can be used. Also, if desired, you can cut back the sugar a bit if that better suits your tastes. While brown sugar is preferred, you can use white sugar if that’s all you have available.
4. Apple cider – I can’t say this strongly enough, use apple cider – NOT APPLE CIDER VINEGAR. You could use apple juice if you needed, or even cranberry juice, but do not use apple cider vinegar.
5. Orange juice – Any orange juice will work, but fresh squeezed is best if possible.
6. Orange zest – If you’ve never zested citrus fruit before, don’t worry – it’s easy. Here’s a great post on how to zest and orange.
7. Cinnamon sticks – The cinnamon sticks will cook in the mixture, but will be removed before serving. If you do not have fresh cinnamon sticks, you can use 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in their place.
8. Allspice – if you don’t have allspice, you can replace it with the following combination: 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves.

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in a large pan and cook over medium heat, stirring often.
2. Use the back of a spoon and press when the cranberries have cooked for about 10 minutes. Start pressing them to the side of the pan to pop them open to cook down. Continue cooking on a low simmer until the sauce starts to thicken. Remove from stove and allow to cool, then place in an airtight container and chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to servings. Sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
3. Remove the cinnamon sticks before serving.

Tips, Advice and FAQ

Pop Go The Cranberries – If you haven’t cooked cranberries before, it’s good to know that cranberries pop – and often then splatter while cooking. This is to be expected, but they are hot, so take care while cooking.

Get Ahead Of The Game – While this is a quick dish, it’s also an excellent choice to make in advance. I highly recommend making this in advance. This sauce only gets better as it sits!

The More The Merrier – If desired, you can add in additional items such as pecans, raisins, currents or even blueberries at the end of cooking.

Do You Need To Wash Cranberries? – The general rule of thumb is that most bagged cranberries are prewashed. Tha said, I typically do wash and then dry mine prior to use.

How Do You Store Apple Cranberry Sauce? Tightly covered, it is good in the fridge up to a week, or can be kept in the freezer for up to two months.

More Holiday Recipes To Try

If you are looking for more recipes for your Thanksgiving or Christmas meal to go with this Apple Cranberry Sauce, I’ve got you covered! Here are some of my top choices.

Holiday Main Dish Recipes

• Air Fryer Turkey Breast
• Instant Pot Turkey Breast
• Brown Sugar Spiral Ham

Holiday Side Dish Recipes

• Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Casserole With Marshmallows
• Green Beans Almondine
• Mashed Butternut Squash
• Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole
• Crock Pot Creamed Corn
• Broccoli Casserole With Ritz Crackers
• Easy Glazed Carrots
• Homemade Green Bean Casserole
• Chicken Stuffing Casserole

You’ll also want to whip up some easy Apple Cider Sangria with this!