Homemade Cranberry Sauce with Honey

This cranberry sauce with honey comes with a hint of orange and contains a little Marsala wine for a festive feel. It's moderately sweet, easy to make using a handful of ingredients and ready in about 20 minutes. Perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas and beyond!

See also cranberry chutney!

This cranberry sauce with honey doesn't contain granulated sugar and features fresh cranberries cooked in a fragrant mixture of orange and wine for a delicious, festive condiment. This homemade sauce is thick, packed with juicy cranberries and does not resemble the overprocessed cranberry sauces sold in the grocery stores, which often contain more jelly (sugar!) than fruit. 

My honey sweetened cranberry sauce has a rich, tangy and sweet (but not overly so) flavour and a hint of savouriness. Because cranberries are naturally very sour they do need to be combined with some of of sugar (I used about 30% less than commercially produced cranberry sauce). I chose honey, which not only sweetens the sauce but also infuses it with more flavour.

This cranberry and honey sauce recipe is simple, easy to make and takes about 20 minutes from start to finish. It's highly customizable and you can tweak the ingredients and add your own flavour twist as desired - see Ingredients below as well as my tips at the bottom of the post.

Cranberry sauce with honey ingredients and substitutions

• Cranberries: see details below.
• Honey: adjust the amount to your preference. For a vegan option use maple syrup, instead.
• Orange: I used both the juice and zest (fresh orange juice is best). You can omit the zest if you want less orange flavour (if you then change your mind you can add it once the sauce is cooked). Alternatively use low-sugar cranberry juice or apple juice (and adjust the amount of honey).
• Marsala wine: adds a delicious flavour twist. You can use port or sherry, instead. Adjust the amount to suit your taste. Alternatively omit the alcohol and use more orange juice, instead.
• Balsamic vinegar: adds depth of flavour.
• Salt: enhances the flavour.

Can I use frozen cranberries

Yes, you can! Both fresh or frozen cranberries are absolutely fine to use. If you choose frozen there is no need to defrost them. Place them straight into the pot and cook your cranberry honey sauce as per Instructions (they might take a couple of minutes longer to cook).

Step-by-step recipe instructions

1. Assemble ingredients: Place the cranberries, honey, orange juice and zest, wine, balsamic vinegar and salt in a saucepan. Stir thoroughly.

2. Cook sauce: Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes stirring often (do not cover the pot). Cook until the sauce thickens, the cranberries have softened and stopped bursting and making popping sounds. Remove from the heat.

3. Cool: Remove from the heat, taste the sauce and adjust the flavour if needed then set aside to cool completely. The sauce will thicken as it cools. Once cooled completely transfer into a jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Serving suggestions

Honey sweetened cranberry sauce makes a delicious accompaniment to roast turkey, meat stuffing, roast ham or chicken, stuffing meatballs as well as vegetarian stuffing. And if you make a big batch you can also enjoy it with Thanksgiving/Christmas leftovers. Try it with this no-mayo turkey sandwich!

This recipe is so easy and delicious I continue making it until fresh cranberries disappear from the stores. It goes so well with Polish kotlety and meatballs in sauce!

How to adjust the consistency

My easy, low-sugar cranberry honey sauce is quite rich and thick, but you can loosen the consistency by adding more orange juice, water or cranberry juice. Do this once the sauce has cooled.

Variations

• Add spice: this can be a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice, as well as cayenne or black pepper.
• Add dried fruit: such as about ⅓ cup dried sweetened cranberries, currants or raisins for added sweetness (use less honey). You may also need to add a little more orange juice/water.

Top tips

• Cranberries: Use fresh or frozen (no need to defrost them). If you use frozen cranberries your sauce will take a couple of minutes longer to cook.
• Cooking time: Typically this sauce is ready after about 12-15 minutes of simmering. Don't worry if there is still quite a lot of moisture in the sauce after it's been cooked - it will thicken as it cools.
• Serving: For best results refrigerate overnight (or longer) before serving. The flavour will fully develop over a day or so.
• Storing: Keep refrigerated in a jar for up to 2 weeks. Your homemade cranberry sauce with honey will stay fresh for longer if you make sure it doesn't become contaminated with other foods.
• Not suitable for freezing.

Related recipes to try next

• Spiced Beetroot Chutney
• Festive Holiday Coleslaw Salad
• Easy Redcurrant Sauce Recipe

See also these other easy appetizers/condiments!

Recipe

Keep in touch!

If you make this recipe for cranberry sauce with honey I'd love to know how it turns out for you. Let me know in the comments below, thanks!

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