Cooked Cranberry Orange Sauce (Relish)

Cranberry orange sauce is a staple of Thanksgiving and holiday / fall recipes. Cranberry orange relish is UBER easy to make with 5 total ingredients: cranberries, orange, sugar, water, and salt.

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This cooked cranberry orange relish recipe is delicious on turkey or chicken but also amazing with a little goat cheese / chèvre and chopped rosemary on crostini (little toasts) as an appetizer.

Cranberry orange relish is also great as a jam and can be served on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

A Word on Cranberry Orange Sauce Sugar / Salt Amounts

Cranberries can be bitter.  The sugar mellows out their bitterness.  If you are sensitive to sweet, start with ½ to ¾ cup sugar first, taste, and add a little more. 

I end up adding at least 1 teaspoon of salt to my cranberry orange sauce, but recommend you start with ½ teaspoon of salt, especially if sensitive to sodium.

Different Spices with Cooked Cranberry Orange Relish

This cranberry orange sauce is a great recipe as written, but feel free to get creative with additional spices. 

Some additional ingredients to add could include:

• a cinnamon stick
• a bit of pumpkin pie spice
• all spice
• cardamom
• A hint of vanilla extract

Fresh or Frozen Cranberries for Cranberry Orange Relish?

Use fresh or frozen cranberries for this cranberry orange relish. Both work, but I prefer fresh cranberries.

Any orange variety will work for cranberry orange sauce but seedless navel oranges are the sweetest in my opinion.

How To Get Homemade Cranberry Sauce To Thicken

Cooked cranberry orange relish will naturally thicken as it cools, so keep that in mind.

To get the relish to thicken even more, cook it on low uncovered for 5-10 minutes more than the recipe calls for and re-evaluate.

If the cranberry sauce is super runny, add a little bit of cornstarch mixed with cold water - this is called a cornstarch slurry. I have never had to do this and find it generally unnecessary.

Can Cranberry Orange Sauce Be Made In Advance?

Yes sir! Yes ma'am! Cranberry relish can be cooked the day before or several days before.

Because of the sugar, cranberry and orange relish will last nearly two weeks in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen in an airtight container for a couple months.

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