Classic Cranberry Sauce

Sweet, tart cranberry sauce is the unsung hero of the Thanksgiving table. It can brighten up the flavors of any turkey, and it brings out the best in side dishes like stuffing. Leftover cranberry sauce is also the key to a well-rounded turkey sandwich, adding that bit of acidity that brings all the other ingredients together. (In fact, leftover cranberry sauce can be used in a variety of ways: you can spoon it into the batter of an easy cake, mix it into softened butter to dollop on pancakes, or even shake it into a holiday cocktail.) While we know that canned cranberry sauce has its jiggly merits, the real thing is so easy to make that you can whip it up with almost no effort at all.

A good homemade cranberry sauce recipe doesn’t have to be complicated. All you need is the berries (fresh cranberries and the frozen kind both work equally well), sugar, and some orange juice or orange zest. As the cranberries cook, they release natural pectin, thickening up the mixture. This recipe is the simplest version you can make, and it lends itself well to additions and swaps. You can use some brown sugar or even maple syrup in place of the white sugar, add a cinnamon stick to the mixture as it boils, add fresh orange juice in place of some of the water—or even spike your sauce with gin. Fresh cranberry sauce takes minimal prep time, but it can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a few days while you prepare the rest of the dishes for your Thanksgiving dinner. Just let it come to room temperature before serving.