This Slow Cooker Cranberry sauce is tart with a hint of citrus. The amount of sugar can be adjusted to suit individual tastes. Since it’s made in a slow cooker, this cranberry sauce is an easy ‘set it and forget it’ Thanksgiving Day side dish.
You guys are going to think I’m crazy when I admit this… but I really love the jellied cranberry sauce. You know the kind I’m talking about… the deep red, can-shaped, jello-esq kind. It jiggles, it wiggles, it makes a weirdly satisfying gloopy plopping sound as it slides out of the can and hits the plate. As a kid, I shunned any cranberry sauce that had any kind of chunky berry in it. Give me the canned jellied stuff all day err day.Then I grew up and my tastes changed. I realized that whole berry cranberry stuff wasn’t so bad after all. And I also decided homemade whole berry cranberry sauce trumps the canned stuff. Growing up, we always had the canned whole berry cranberry sauce, the jellied cranberry sauce and a homemade one. Now, we stick with the homemade kind and we still include the jellied sauce for our Thanksgiving Day spread.
Yes, I still eat the jellied kind. There’s a special place for it right next to the homemade version. I feel like I’d be excluding an old friend. Or throwing out a favorite childhood memento if I no longer had the jellied cranberry sauce next to my turkey. So if you didn’t think I was crazy before, you probably most certainly do now. It’s cranberry sauce for crying out loud. To each their own, right?
Since the canned cranberry sauce is perfectly fine as is (for me), I wanted to make my own whole berry kind since I didn’t love the canned version of that. I’ve been making it on the stove top for a few years now but this year I wanted to test it out in the slow cooker. You guys, this slow cooker cranberry sauce is so easy it’s not even funny. There are only a few ingredients and you just mix them together in your slow cooker, set it, forget it and it’s done.
Actually, don’t forget it. You don’t want to burn your cranberries. Yes they will burn. I actually did set it and forget it one day. I had a well-deserved nap calling my name. My cranberry sauce cooked an extra hour and a few of the berries that were touching the edges of the slow cooker burned. So don’t be like me! Don’t literally forget about your cranberry sauce. Set your timer and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 12 oz fresh cranberries
- 1/2 C water
- 1/4 C orange juice
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 3/4 C granulated sugar
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
Directions
- Rinse cranberries and remove any mushy or dried up cranberries.
- Add cranberries and all of the remaining ingredients to a slow cooker. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 3 hours.
- When cranberry sauce is cooked, use a spoon to mash up the berries a bit. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe Notes
The cranberry sauce will thicken slightly when chilled.
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My grandpa prefers that canned kind too so I still have to serve it every Thanksgiving 🙂 I have made my own cranberry sauce in the past but it was too tart for everyone else (tried to be too healthy & I didn’t add enough sugar). Pinning your recipe so I can ensure it is a success this year, haha!
If your family likes it a bit sweeter, I’d use 1 cup of sugar. It’s still pretty tart with 1/2 a cup!
This is beautiful the color is so vibrant! and it looks totally delicious! … And good to know that burning cranberries IS possible 😉
lol I didn’t know until I did it. But my mistake can help out others!
I love me a good cranberry sauce! It looks so EASY too. I love to dip my turkey into the cranberry sauce instead of drowning it in gravy. It is so much brighter, instead of sleepy turkey covered in fat. I save all my gravy for the mashed potatoes!
I love my cranberry sauce on my turkey too. I also like to put it on turkey sandwiches 🙂
I love cranberry sauce but have always been lazy and store bought it. Definitely need to try out your recipe – I love that it can be made in a slow cooker especially!
Making it in the slow cooker is THE way to go! You can also make it one or two days before you need to serve it!
Beautiful cranberry sauce! I’ve never made cranberry sauce before, but I need to take some to the family dinner this year. Your slow cooker sauce is right up my alley – I’m gonna try it!
Feel free to add more sugar if your family doesn’t like it tart. Let me know how it goes!
This looks delicious! I normally make a jello salad and Thanksgiving, but I enjoy making turkey throughout the year. This may need to accompany my next meal!
Jello salad for Thanksgiving sounds like a fun side dish 🙂
Thank you so much for attending week 8 of #PureBlogLove and linking your fantastic blog post. This cranberry sauce looks wonderful! And using the slow cooker makes it even better. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for our party next week Thursday 8 PM EST- Sundays at midnight. Your post has been added to the #PureBlogLove Pinterest board for all to see 🙂 Have a great day!
Nicole
http://picnicnz.blogspot.co.nz/
Thanks Nicole!
This recipe for cranberry sauce looks delicious, and I love that it’s made in a slow cooker! What a great idea…thanks for sharing!
The slow cooker is the way to go! Plus you can make it a day or two before you need to serve it!
Love finding sides you can make in the slow cooker!! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!
Oh YUM! This cranberry sauce will be on my holiday table, for sure. Thanks for sharing at #theWeekendSocial. Hope to see you again Thursday 9:00 PM EST. Pinned. http://www.theKitchenChopper.com 🙂
To date, I’ve still never successfully made anything with fresh cranberries! I may venture out and try this–I love crockpot recipes, and this would be awesome for Thanksgiving! :]
Homemade cranberry sauce has such great memories for me! It’s one of the few things my mom cooks, and she always makes it for Thanksgiving. I think the addition of some orange sounds like a fantastic idea! Visiting from SNF. =)
Cranberry sauce is one of the best parts of both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner…and should be a part of my life more regularly.
This approach is genius in its simplicity 🙂
Thanks for coming and linking up at #TheWeekendSocial. Please be sure to come back this week starting Thursday at 9PM EST on KitchenDreaming.com ! I hope to see you there! Pinned
Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays Party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you share next time!
-Cindy
What size slow cooker did you use for this amount of cranberries?
I have a 6 qt slow cooker but a smaller one would work fine.
My husband prefers the jellied kind, too! I always have to make sure I have a can on hand for him! It would be great if you’d share this recipe on freedible.com too! We have a community of almost 200 bloggers sharing their recipes and posts, and you’d be a great fit! Plus, we’re getting ready to launch into our Thanksgiving campaign this Fri! We’d be thrilled if you’d join us!! 🙂
Your Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce looks so good and is just in time for the season. Hope you are having a great day and thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Thanks for linking this to the happy holiday linkz part, this looks AWESOME. I love the color.
This might sound cray- but I don’t think I’ve ever had the jelled cranberry sauce! This looks so much better, plus it uses a crock-pot with is golden!
I’m thinking I’ll need several slow cookers this Thanksgiving! Sounds perfect and I bet it smells divine!
What a great way to free up stovetop space on Thanksgiving – will be trying this this year!
You can make it a few days ahead of time too 🙂
one of the best dishes a t Thanksgiving!
It’s the unsung hero I think 🙂
This looks really good Sharon! I love cranberry sauce at the holidays.
Thanks Kristi! I love it too 🙂
What a perfect dish to use the slow cooker on for Thanksgiving Day! This looks great!
Thanks Jaren, I’m all about making things a little easier!
Wow this looks SO good! Vibrant and the flavors are on point! And making it in the slow cooker is a great way to avoid using stovetop space!
Thanks Lynn! We can use all the stove top space we can get!
This looks really good and I love that it can be made in the slow cooker!
Thanks Alyssa!
Making this on my little crockpot for sure!
I always stock up on cranberries so I can make the sauce any time of the year. Love it so much! This slow cooker version sounds fantastic!
Thanks Anna! Stocking up is a great idea, wish I had more freezer space!
Definitely your cranberry sauce is awesomeness! This is a great recipe Sharon, as you know I made it a short while ago and it was lovely, in fact have made it again since. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jill!!