Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce
Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce is the perfect Thanksgiving dinner side dish. Tart cranberries, sweet orange, and Amaretto team up for this delicious fall recipe.
Fall is here and so is cranberry season. I am lucky to live a few miles from acres and acres of fresh-picked cranberries. When I think of the Jersey Pine Barrens, I don’t think of a scene from The Sopranos, but rather the acres and acres of beautiful cranberry bogs that add to the beauty of the Pine Barrens.
These tart red gems get a bad rap sometimes. Yes, they are tart, but not only do they have a lot of health benefits, it’s not Thanksgiving without them!
Have you started to make your Thanksgiving dinner preparations yet? Let’s face it, the holidays are a lot of work to make everything perfect for family and friends. All the cooking. planning and organizing is all worth it though because it means time spent with those we love. I’m here today to help you get one of those Thanksgiving meal preparation items checked off your “to-do” list.
In my opinion, homemade cranberry sauce is da-bomb! No Thanksgiving feast should be without it! After all, these fruity fall gems are symbolic of Thanksgiving. The turkey would be very sad without it. Cranberry sauce is one of the easiest dishes to prepare.
I have such an aversion to that canned stuff. I love the fact that homemade cranberry sauce can be made several days ahead of time, allowing you to focus on other parts of your meal preparation. Once prepared, store in an airtight mason jar or plastic storage container. in your refrigerator for up to one week.
How To Make Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce
How To Freeze Cranberries
Did you know that cranberries can be frozen? I always buy in bulk and freeze enough to last me through the winter. When I am ready to bake or cook with them, I just pop a bag out of the freezer.
Cranberries will last about four weeks in the refrigerator. You can extend their use by freezing them. Freezing fresh cranberries will not only extend their use, but allow you to use them for up to a year after freezing.
Freezing cranberries is easy peasy!
- Rinse cranberries and let them drain thorougly in a collander. Sort and remove any bad cranberries.
- Spread cranberries out on a dishtowel and let them airdry for 30-minutes.
- Spread dried cranberries out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place cookie sheet in the freezer for four hours. This is called flash freezing.
- Remove cranberries from the freezer. Transfer frozen cranberries into food storage containers or freezer bags, in whatever portion size you like. I like to add at least one cup of cranberries to each bag.
Whether you are in charge of the entire Thanksgiving meal or just the cranberry sauce, skip the blobby, wiggly stuff in the can. Give this Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce recipe a try. Trust me, it is so delicious.
Ingredients Needed To Make Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Fresh cranberries
- Sugar
- Fresh orange juice
- Amaretto liqueur
- Grated orange rind
- Fresh Orange Zest
How To Make Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce
Step 1
Rinse cranberries and add to a large saucepan.
Step 2
Add sugar, orange juice, orange rind and water. Bring to low boil for 3-4 minutes. Lower heat to a simmer. The key here is to cook down the cranberries.
Step 3
Add amaretto and continue to simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened. Cranberry sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce recipe keeps very well in the refrigerator. It can be made a few days in advance too so you can mark some things off your Thanksgiving to-do list.
Can You Freeze Cranberry Sauce?
The short answer is YES! Homemade cranberry sauce freezes beautifully. After the sauce is cooked and cooled, place in an air-tight food storage container to freeze. Frozen Cranberry sauce will last up to three months in the freezer. To defrost, I like to let the container sit overnight in the refrigerator.
What To Eat With Cranberry Sauce: Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes
Rosemary Parmesan Sweet Potatoes
Pan-Seared Brussels Sprouts With Bacon
What Is The Difference Between Cranberry Sauce and Cranberry Relish?
I get this question all the time, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to address it here. Cranberry sauce is cooked and often sweeter. Cranberry relish is uncooked and often more tart. The Relish ingredients are blended together in a food processor.
Save this easy Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce recipe for later. Pin the image below to your favorite Pinterest Board.
Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce
Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce is the perfect Thanksgiving dinner side dish. Tart cranberries, sweet orange and amaretto team up for this delicious fall recipe. This easy cranberry sauce recipe is a family favorite. It's not Thanksgiving without this delicious cranberry sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh cranberries
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup fresh orange juice
- 3 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
- 2 tablespoons grated orange rind
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Rinse cranberries and add to a large saucepan.
- Add sugar, orange juice, orange rind and water.
- Bring to low boil for 3-4 minutes. Lower heat to a simmer. The key here is to cook down the cranberries.
- Add amaretto and continue to simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened.
- Cranberry sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
That sounds awesome with the added amaretto!
We LOVE cranberry sauce. In fact, some of my kids will eat it by itself. Though I wouldn’t share this recipe with them since they won’t appreciate it. 🙂
This looks delicious! Definitely pinning it for the festivities next week!
Great recipe. So simple, but looks delicious. Thanks for sharing.
This sauce looks so delicious! I love the addition of orange juice to cranberry sauce.
Hi Melissa, This looks so good, what a great spin on a cranberry sauce. I made a raspberry orange and love it but, maybe I’ll try this sometime.
I make and can my own sauce every year, but this sounds like a delicious spin! I’m going to try it this weekend, thanks for sharing!
Did you try this recipe and have you canned it? I can as well each year and would love to can this but I can’t find any information on whether or not alcohol would be safe to can.
I am wanting to do the same thing!
I make a cranberry chutney with raisins and apples- but this looks delish!
Ok, this looks and sounds amazing! My husband loves cranberry sauce this time of year. Never thought to add amaretto and orange! Love!
Looks delish. Pinning.
You had me at amaretto! Grandma’s cranberry sauce might need to take a rest this year so I can try this recipe out. Yum! Happy Thanksgiving!
Maren
http://www.mainlymaren.blogspot.com
My question on the recipe you state to boil for. There was no time listed for how long to boil before turning down for simmer?? also how many servings does this make?
Thanks for your recipe!
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. You can bring the sauce to a low boil for 3-4 minutes. The key is to get the cranberries to soften and cook down. Then lower to a simmer and add the amaretto.
Hello – I was wondering, do you mean Amaretto flavoring or Amaretto Liqueur (like Disaronno) ?
Hi there, I use Amaretto liqueur but you can certainly use flavoring.
How much orange juice do you use? Is it 2/3 of a cup, or 2/3 of the juice of one orange? Thanks in advance!
Hi there – it should be 2/3 cup of Orange Juice. Sorry about that. I hope you enjoy!
Im making it as I leave a comment. Everyone is excited to try it tomorrow. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I just tasted this as it is simmering. Fantastic!!
Can I use dried cranberries
I just made it and it is extremely tart! I love cranberry anything, but this is a little too much. Can I add more sugar after it has cooked or more amaretto to sweeten it? (I used Torani Amaretto)
Hi – Yes, you can absolutely add more sugar and / or amaretto too.
How far in advance can this be made?
I make mine three days ahead of time!
I used 1 cup of maple syrup instead of the sugar. I added about 1/3 cup of OJ and 1/3 cup of Cranapple juice with about 1/4 cup of water. It was delicious. I love the Amaretto almond flavor. It’s all ready for Thanksgiving.
I have been making your recipe for a few years now and love it. Only instead of doing this on the stove I use the crockpot. It hasn’t failed me yet.
I have NEVER liked cranberry sauce, but I like cranberry juice & craisins. I bought fresh cranberries from a cranberty fest this fall & decided to try making my own because homemade is ALWAYS better. I chose this recipe first. I will tell you I’m eating it by the spoonful, I could eat the whole batch. This cranberry sauce is totally AWESOME. I don’t think I will even try another recipe.
It makes a great topping for biscuits the next morning, too … 🙂
I love this recipe! Made it last year for ourselves at Thanksgiving, and then made up small jars of it for Christmas gifts at work. So tasty! I think I’m going to try it with Cointreau instead of Amaretto this time…. and maybe a tiny drop of almond flavouring… I’ll let you know how it goes! Thanks Melissa for a great recipe!
I am so glad you liked it. It is our favorite too.
Your cranberry sauce recipe is a staple
At our Thanksgiving table. I could never stomach the canned cranberry stuff but this is the bomb.com 💣!
My husband loved this! Thank you for sharing. It was really great.
This recipe is easy and wonderful. Use it as a topping for ice cream or cream cheese toast. Beware that cranberries come in a 2 pound bag, and this recipe calls for 1 1/2 pound.
You can definitely alter the sugar amount. We sell fresh cranberries at our farm market in 1 1/2 lb. bags so that is why the recipe calls for that amount.