Concerned about the sugar in traditional cranberry sauce, I created a healthier, refined-sugar-free whole berry cranberry sauce. With a fresh, tart-sweet flavor from whole cranberries and pomegranate seeds plus natural sweetness from orange, it’s the perfect side for turkey or ham. Time to skip the canned stuff and make your own cranberry sauce for your Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner.
For years I made my family traditional cranberry sauce recipe starting with a can of Ocean Spray canned cranberry sauce. When I read the label I was shocked at the amount of sugar. One 14 ounce can has 121 grams of sugar! That is equivalent to 30 little sugar cubes.
I had to create something healthier but still delicious for Thanksgiving and Christmas for those who want to reduce sugar or eat lower carb, so here is my homemade whole berry cranberry sauce recipe.
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Why You'll Like This Recipe
- Starts with fresh whole cranberries.
- No white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or corn syrup.
- Easy recipe to make.
- The twist of ruby pomegranate seeds add texture and flavor.
- Just a hint of orange flavor.
Love pomegranates? Here are 20 things to do with pomegranate seeds, the ruby jewels of the produce world.
Recipe Ingredients
- Cranberries: A bag of whole fresh cranberries (frozen works well too).
- Pomegranate seeds: Either buy a pomegranate and seed it yourself (fresher), or buy the little containers of the seeds (faster). See my directions below for how to open a pomegranate.
- Orange: A large fresh orange such as a navel or valencia, for both zest and juice.
- Sweetener: I use a monk fruit/allulose blend to reduce sugar but you can use all or part granulated sugar if preferred. With monk fruit it is way less sugar than a traditional cranberry sauce recipe.
- Spice: A little cinnamon adds nice flavor.
Please see the recipe card for measurements.
Whole berry cranberry salad is terrific with simple roast chicken breasts too.
Substitutions and Variations
- As this whole berry cranberry sauce is not overly sweet, make it sweeter if preferred.
- Substitute orange blossom honey or maple syrup for the monk fruit if desired.
- Use other warm spices with the cinnamon such as nutmeg, allspice, or clove.
- Use a whole cinnamon stick instead of ground cinnamon.
- Sweeten with honey or zero-sugar honey.
For that traditional cranberry sauce recipe I mentioned, try this no-cook cranberry sauce with canned cranberries.
Recipe Instructions
How to Peel a Pomegranate
Here's how to peel a pomegranate for whole berry cranberry sauce. It really is easy. Arils stay fresher much longer than the packaged ones. Here's how:
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Serving Suggestions and Storing
Whole berry cranberry sauce is terrific alongside roast Thanksgiving turkey, a holiday ham, or roast chicken. Anywhere where a a sweet-tart sauce would be complimentary. It's easily made ahead to save time, and one less thing to do on Thanksgiving Day. At serving time serve chilled or at room temperature.
Leftover cranberry sauce keeps a week in the refrigerator in an airtight container. More uses for leftovers, make a dessert out of it served over vanilla ice cream, or use it for breakfast over oatmeal or overnight oats.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can use frozen cranberries for whole berry cranberry sauce. Thaw them or cook them longer. A standard 12-ounce bag is about 3 cups of cranberries.
If you are not a fan of monk fruit, substitute any mild honey or orange blossom honey, maple syrup, or a low-glycemic sweetener. Each will slightly alter the flavor so you may need to make some adjustments to meet your needs.
Make cranberry sauce up to a week ahead of time. The flavors actually get even better. But realize in making it that far ahead you also reduce the time it lasts as a leftover after the holiday dinner.
To make cranberry sauce thicker, cook it down a little more. To make it thinner, add a little water or more orange juice until your preferred consistency is reached.
While the terms may be used interchangeably, cranberry sauce and cranberry relish are technically different. Cranberry sauce is cooked while cranberry relish is raw, often broken down in a food processor.
More Holiday Recipes
Be sure to check out the Thanksgiving recipes index page or Christmas recipes page for more side dishes.
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📖 Recipe
Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
Equipment
- Medium saucepan about 3 quart
- Citrus juicer hand press or electric
Ingredients
- 1 large orange zest and ½ cup juice
- ¼ cup granulated monk fruit/allulose blend sugar or part sugar
- 12 ounces fresh or frozen raw cranberries washed and picked over
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- 2 pinches ground cinnamon or others such as allspice, nutmeg, etc
- 1 pinch sea salt
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Instructions
- Zest the orange, then juice. You should get about 1 ½ – 2 teaspoons of zest and ½ a cup of juice.
- Place juice, monk fruit or sugar into a medium (3 quart) pan and melt the sugar until smooth over medium low heat, stirring. Add cranberries, bring to a boil and cover with a lid.
- Turn to medium low and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add pomegranate seeds, orange zest, salt and cinnamon. Cool and serve.
Sheila says
Can you sub honey or maple syrup for monk fruit?
Sally Cameron says
Hi Sheila, yes, you can swap honey or maple for the monk fruit. For honey, use an orange blossom honey, it will go with the flavor. happy Thanksgiving!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
Never made my own cranberry sauce before, this looks incredibly delicious and is definitely a recipe I need to try!
La Torontoise says
Sally, thank you so much for sharing!
This bunch of ideas are just in time for me: -)
All the best!