Apple Cider Cranberry Sauce – Easy homemade cranberry sauce flavored with fresh apple, apple cider and maple syrup. Lightly spiced, mildly sweet and slightly tart, this is the perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving table.
Let’s get a head start on Thanksgiving! The holiday is much more enjoyable if we’re not doing everything the day of. Some dishes are just as tasty when made in advance… like cranberry sauce! I’ve already made it and stuck it in the freezer, and it’s waiting to be defrosted for the big day.
Have you made homemade cranberry sauce before? It’s unbelievably easy. You dump the ingredients into a pot and let them simmer for about 15 minutes – that’s it!
Put down the can of corn syrup-laden store bought cranberry sauce. We’re making it ourselves this year! This cranberry sauce is mildly sweet and a bit tart. It is cooked with finely chopped apple and fresh apple cider, which impart a delicious hint of apple flavor.
Making your own cranberry sauce allows you to control the quality of ingredients, the flavor and the sugar content. I prefer my cranberry sauce more tart than sweet. This recipe is sweetened with sugar, pure maple syrup and apple cider. Use my recipe as a base and make it suit your tastes. You can sweeten it more, throw in some orange zest, increase the cinnamon, even stir in some chopped pecans. Whatever you like!
Of course, cranberry sauce is a Thanksgiving staple, but it is also great year round (pssst… throw some fresh cranberries in the freezer now). I love it on a turkey or ham sandwich or with roasted chicken. You can even add it to yogurt, oatmeal or a smoothie.
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Apple Cider Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- Two 12-oz bags fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (or replace with 1/2 cup additional granulated sugar)
- 1 small apple peeled and finely diced
- 3/4 cup apple cider plus more, if needed
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the apples are tender. If you'd like it sweeter feel free to add more sugar or maple syrup and cook a little longer.
- Cool slightly, then refrigerate. Once chilled the sauce will thicken up. If you'd like it thinner you can stir in additional apple cider (I added a couple tablespoons) to thin it out and increase the cider flavor.
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This apple cider cranberry sauce looks amazing. Perfect to serve with turkey in a sandwich or Christmas dinner
This sounds lovely! I wonder how it would be using hard apple cider?! Yum! I bet that’s good too!
I love the idea of adding apple cider in this recipe! Lovely! And that sandwich looks SO good!
This cranberry sauce is absolutely gorgeous and I love that you’ve used apple cider in it. My cranberry sauce calls for half a bottle of zinfandel, which doesn’t suck either, but I’ve got cider in the fridge and this would be a great way to use it!
This looks delish! The sandwich is particularly attractive ! Very inspiring recipe my dear!
Love homemade cranberry sauce! How far in advance can I prepare this?
Hi, Dianne. I have made it up to 3 days in advance. Just keep it tightly covered and refrigerated. Enjoy!
Can this be frozen? It looks wonderful for use throughout the year. I would love to make it and then freeze in small batches.
Hi, Tammi. Yes, it can be frozen, I actually make mine a week or two before Thanksgiving and freeze it until then. If you want to freeze it in small batches I would guess that it would keep for up to a couple months in the freezer. Enjoy!
Thanks! I’m going to try it this weekend!
Homemade cranberry sauce is one of my favorite foods EVER. I have never thought of adding apple cider, but I love the idea!
I can see this being really fantastic on top of some grilled fish or chicken. Yum!
I could eat cranberry sauce ANY time of the year!
You had me with the sandwich pic!!! Sounds perfect!
Oh God, what a tasty looking this Apple Cider Cranberry Sauce is! I am in love with the colors and how simple and short the ingredient list is. Yum!
your photos are gorgeous! This sounds like a yummy sauce that can be used on and with so many dishes!