I will keep this short and sweet, just like this five ingredient cranberry sauce recipe. If I were you, I’d appreciate it, because there are likely 300 things you still need to buy, make and do before four o’clock on Thursday.
The best part about this recipe is that it can be made up to a week ahead of the big day and no one will know (or care). But forget to make the cranberry sauce and someone will definitely notice (and complain). I know in my house, if there isn’t cranberry sauce on the table then it’s basically Christmas dinner. And that’s just boring.
So here it is, the most simple, beautiful cranberry sauce in all the land. Flavor it how you like – add ginger if you must, or pecans if you’re strange, but do me a favor – don’t leave it off the table.
Five Ingredient Cranberry Sauce (makes around 2 1/2 cups)
1 cup sugar (you can use half a cup if you prefer a more tart sauce)
1 cup water
Juice from 1 lemon
4 cups fresh cranberries (or a 12oz bag)
1-2 cinnamon sticks OR 2-3 3inch shavings of orange peel
Rinse cranberries.
Place water, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon OR orange and 2/3 of the cranberries in a pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer for 10 minutes until all cranberries burst (don’t you love that popping sound).
Add the remaining 1/3 of cranberries and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes, until the first few newly added cranberries burst. The point is to keep a few of the cranberries in whole-ish form, so there’s some texture in your sauce.
Remove pot from heat and let cool completely. Transfer to the fridge. Cranberry sauce can be made up to a week in advance.
