Cranberry Sauce Recipe (Vegan and Gluten Free)

This Cranberry Sauce Recipe (Vegan and Gluten Free) is so easy – all you need are three ingredients and it only takes ten minutes to make.

Cranberry sauce is popular among Americans for Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas among the British. It takes only 10 minutes making it the best combination of sweet and tart. It complements mashed potatoes very well as well as turkey.

The cranberry sauce often gets overlooked and people opt to buy canned cranberry sauce, which truly doesn’t compare to homemade! I love serving this cranberry sauce chilled but you could serve it right away – whatever floats your boat.

If you love this recipe, feel free to try my Cranberry Whiskey Sour and my Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins.

Jump to:

• Why you will love this recipe
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top tip
• How to make Homemade Cranberry Sauce
• Food safety

Why you will love this recipe

Full of flavor: Using fresh cranberries gives the sauce such a great taste because they burst while you are cooking them. It is better using fresh cranberries than dried cranberries.

Kid Friendly: I looked forward to the cranberry sauce as a kid and I loved adding them on my turkey.

Great for cold weather: I love making this in the fall, especially making leftover turkey sandwiches.

Serves a crowd: It is easy to double the batch to serve for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:

• Water
• Brown sugar
• Fresh cranberries
• Salt

See recipe card for Cranberry Sauce Recipe (Vegan and Gluten Free) quantities.

Instructions

In a saucepan on medium heat, add the water and sugar, stirring constantly, waiting for the sugar to melt. Once fully melted, add the cranberries and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, until the cranberry sauce has a jelly-like consistency.

Let the cranberries cool at least 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Substitutions

• Sugar: I used light brown sugar although feel free to use cane or granulated sugar.
• Cranberries: You need to use fresh cranberries in order to make this recipe.
• Salt: Salt should not be confused with savory flavor. Salt is used to enhance flavor, and this will make the sweet and tart flavors pop!

Variations

Cooking is a chance to be creative! Have fun with it and feel free to make your own variation.

• Spicy - add chili pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish.

Check out this Homemade Stuffing with Italian Sausage.

Equipment

Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides. You can use a medium saucepan for this recipe and you don’t need a lid.

I love using my Caraway pots, pans and baking sheets for best quality.

Storage

This will be good in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

These ingredients can be frozen for up to three months.

Top tip

Keep temperature low and watch closely.

Print

Food safety

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.