I understand that Thanksgiving is over. I know that it’s time to move on from lentil loaves, mashed potatoes, and roasted yams. My brain is on board with this. But, my tastebuds? That’s a different story.
I made this spiced orange cranberry sauce this year for Thanksgiving and have been indulging myself every day since. I’ve had this sauce over lentils, spread this on toast, and eaten it after dinner for dessert. If this keeps up, by New Years you might have to send me to cranberry rehab.
In my defense, it’s important for you to know that this isn’t any ordinary cranberry sauce. This one isn’t overly sweet or loaded with refined white sugars like the typical canned cranberry sauce of my youth. Instead, it is sweetened with a few dates and spiced up with ginger, fresh oranges, and zest.
This recipe comes together quickly with minimal ingredients. I highly recommend using an organic orange since you will be using the zest in this recipe. If you are not able to purchase an organic orange, I would skip the zest to eliminate unnecessary pesticides.
- 1 organic orange
- ½ cup water
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries
- 5 Medjool dates, pitted and diced
- 2 teaspoons fresh minced ginger
- Zest half the orange. Next, segment it by cutting off the top and bottom of the fruit then cutting away the peel and pith of the fruit. Slice in-between the segments to remove any of the white skin in the middle of the fruit.
- Add water to a medium saucepan and bring water to a boil. Add cranberries, dates, ginger, and segmented oranges. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, until sauce is reduced and thick. Stir in the orange zest and refrigerate until serving. Serve cold.
No, no, everyone else is crazy. I’ts never time to move away from roasted yams, lentil loaves, and especially not cranberry sauce! I’m a condiment fiend, and cranberry sauce is one of my absolute favorites. After thanksgiving, I also made a wonderful cranberry mustard to feed the habit a bit more
LOL – so glad to know I’m not alone!
I agree! I love cranberry sauce, this sounds great!
I make homemade cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving…and then proceed to eat most of it myself, mixed into my morning oatmeal!
I made spiced orange cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and I used the left overs on my oatmeal in the morning. Fantastic. I heard cranberries freeze well, so my plan is to freeze some bags so I can have cranberry sauce all year long!
That’s a great idea! This would be fabulous on oatmeal!
I love homemade cranberry sauces. I use them like jam! Looks great. And thanks for linking up to WellnessWeekend this week!
I’m glad I found this recipe, looks awesome. I recently received some fresh cranberries from my organic buying club and had no idea what to do with them..They were so tart! but this recipe looks like I’ll have to give ‘em a second chance. Thanks!
This looks delicious! I usually make chunky cranberry sauce, but I’m interested in trying a smooth version this time.