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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THANKSGIVING FAVORITES:
Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows & Streusel
Coconut Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Pumpkin Pie Bars with Pecan Praline Topping
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
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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.
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!