When the holidays roll around every year, my family always requests their favorite dishes including roasted turkey breast, golden brown Thanksgiving stuffing, and this sweet and tart slow cooker cranberry sauce.
Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce Ingredients
How Do You Make Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce?
To make slow cooker cranberry sauce place in the slow cooker cranberries, water, orange juice, sugar, orange peal and cinnamon. Then stir everything together. Place the lid on the crock pot, and cook for 3 hours on high, or 6 hours on low, stirring occasionally. During the last 5 minutes of the cooking time, stir in vanilla extract. Let the sauce sit uncovered for at least 15 minutes to thicken up, then serve and enjoy. Still considering the perfect cranberry recipe? Take a look at my Thanksgiving recipes like cranberry salad, cranberry relish, cranberry orange sauce and Instant Pot cranberry sauce.
Cranberries: I prefer to use fresh cranberries, but frozen cranberries will also work just fine! Orange: Cranberries and orange are the ultimate flavor combination. This recipe calls for both orange juice and a strip of orange peel. Use freshly squeezed juice if possible! Sugar: I use 1 cup of sugar per bag of cranberries, which is I think is a great ratio between sweet or tart. You can also adjust this amount up or down depending on your personal tastes. Cinnamon: Cinnamon gives the sauce a rich flavor and a hint of warm spice. Water: The water in this recipe makes sure that the cranberries have enough liquid to cook in so that the sauce isn’t overly thick. Vanilla: Add a little vanilla extract at the very end of the cooking time for a unique and unexpected flavor complexity.
Tips For The Perfect Cranberry Sauce
I typically use a 4 quart slow cooker for this recipe, but if you decide to double or triple the recipe you may want to use a 6 quart crock pot instead. Slow cooker cranberry sauce can be made up to 3 days before you’re ready to serve it. Simply store it in a covered container in the refrigerator. The cranberry sauce may look a little thin when it comes out of the slow cooker, but will thicken considerably as it cools. If you prefer a very thick sauce, you can uncover the pot during the last 30-45 minutes of the cook time so that some of the water can evaporate. Got leftover cranberries on hand? Use them to make my delicious cranberry chicken for dinner!
Flavor Variations
While this homemade cranberry sauce is great as-is, you can add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
Brown Sugar Crock Pot Cranberry: Use brown sugar instead of the granulated sugar. Cherry Cranberry: Add 1 cup of coarsely chopped frozen dark cherries to the slow cooker. Cranberry Apple: Use apple cider instead of orange juice and water, and add 1 diced peeled apple to the pot. Sweet: If you like a sweeter sauce, you can try adding a little maple syrup or honey. Spice: You can let the sauce cook with a cinnamon stick which you remove before serving. You could also try a pinch of nutmeg or ground cloves. Orange: If you want even more orange flavor, grate a teaspoon of orange zest into the slow cooker.
Once you see how easy it is to make this cranberry sauce, you’ll find yourself adding it to every holiday meal from now on!
