This is the best healthy cranberry sauce recipe! It's so easy to make with just 4 ingredients and this low sugar cranberry sauce uses orange juice, vanilla extract, and apple instead of sugar. With hints of cinnamon and vanilla it's perfect for the holidays.
I love making my own homemade sauces and dips like sugar free blueberry chia jam, healthy teriyaki sauce and sugar free bbq sauce because they taste so much better and are usually so much healthier than store bought sauces, and the cranberry sauce recipe I am sharing with you today is no exception. I can't wait for you to try it.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe:
- It's so easy to make and only requires 4 ingredients!
- This healthy cranberry sauce has such an amazing flavour and is so much better than canned cranberry sauce.
- It's made without sugar and without sugar substitutes like monk fruit, stevia, Splenda or Truvia. It's sweetened naturally with fruit!
- This is cranberry sauce recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar free, paleo, vegan, SCD, GAPS, plant based, and Whole30 compliant. It's also safe for diabetics to eat.
- It is the perfect side dish to serve with turkey dinner and you can use this cranberry sauce to make other dishes like cranberry turkey meatballs.
If you love cranberry recipes you also need to make my healthy lemon cranberry bars and maple cranberry Brussels sprouts.
Ingredients and substitutions:
For the full ingredient list and exact measurements refer to the recipe card later in this post.
Jump to the Recipe Card.
- Fresh or frozen cranberries - either will work for this homemade cranberry sauce recipe. If you use frozen cranberries just note that it will take a little longer to cook.
- Apples - apples are used to help naturally sweeten this sauce. You can use any type of sweet red apple that you like. I like to use either pink lady, gala or honey crisp apples.
- Oranges - for making the fresh orange juice that is used to help naturally sweeten this cranberry sauce.
Recipe variations and add ins:
- To make this cranberry sauce a little sweeter: add 2 tablespoon of honey or maple syrup. I like to taste the sauce once it has finished cooking and decide if I need to add any sweetener.
- If you don't feel like grating apples you could use 3/4 cup of applesauce instead.
- If you like a stronger orange flavour: add 1-2 tablespoons of orange zest or a little orange extract.
- If you are serving a crowd feel free to double or triple this recipe.
How to make healthy cranberry sauce:
Step 1
Add all the ingredients to a medium saucepan or pot and place it on the stovetop.
Step 2
Turn the burner onto medium heat and allow the ingredients to come to a boil.
Step 3
Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and let the sauce simmer for 10-15 minutes, until it reaches the consistency you prefer.
Step 4
Transfer the sauce to a bowl and serve and enjoy!
Top tips:
- You don't need to worry about peeling the apples before you grate them. You can't taste the peel if it ends up in the cranberry sauce.
- To make this recipe even easier you could buy freshly squeezed orange juice, rather than squeezing your own.
- Be sure to stir the sauce occasionally when it's heating so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.
- To break up the cranberries even faster you can use a potato masher to mash the cranberries when they are cooking.
- If you prefer to have a super smooth cranberry sauce use your immersion blender to blend the sauce when it's done cooking, or blend it in a blender.
- Storage: store any leftover cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. This cranberry sauce also freezes really well in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
How to serve:
This healthy cranberry sauce is delicious served with turkey at Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner. It can also be used as a sauce for other meats such as ham, duck, beef or chicken. You can use this sugar-free cranberry sauce recipe to spread on crackers or on sandwiches.
Healthy cranberry sauce FAQs:
Many cranberry sauce recipes use a lot of sugar so diabetics would have to be careful when consuming them and watch their sugars closely. However, this healthy cranberry sauce is lower in sugar than most cranberry sauce recipes so would be a better option for those with diabetes.
Absolutely. You can use either fresh or frozen cranberries to make this recipe.
You can thicken cranberry sauce without sugar by adding other ingredients such as shredded apple which will help it thicken as the sauce simmers. The longer you boil the cranberries, the thicker the sauce will get.
Despite not having any added sugar this is not a low carb or keto cranberry sauce recipe. Between both the cranberries and apples this sauce contains approximately 9 carbs or 7 net carbs per serving, making it too high in carbohydrates for the keto diet.
Yes it is!
Other holiday recipes you will love:
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Recipe
Healthy Cranberry Sauce
Equipment
- Pot or saucepan
Ingredients
- 227 grams cranberries, fresh or frozen (about 1 cup)
- 3/4 cup packed grated apple (use a sweet red apple such as gala or honey crisp)
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a pot and place it on the stovetop.
- Turn the heat to medium and bring the ingredients to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the cranberries are the texture you desire.
- Remove from the heat and serve and enjoy!
Notes
- This cranberry sauce makes great leftovers and can be stored in the fridge for up to 7 days.
- If you want to make it a little sweeter feel free to add a little honey or maple syrup.
- If you would like a stronger orange flavour add a bit of orange zest.
- Nutritional values are an estimate and will vary depending on the exact ingredients used.
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