Thanksgiving is a time for old family traditions and for making new ones. We all have that one special side dish that makes the meal and for me it was Cranberry Sauce at Thanksgiving. While I always looked forward to gathering with family and friends to enjoy a wonderful turkey dinner and delicious homemade pies, it was the cranberry sauce with it’s sweet, tart fruity flavor that seemed to pull it all together.
So how do we choose between the convenient canned version and the fresh?
Growing up we typically had the canned version. As I look back, this was very unusual for my family as my mother cooked almost everything from scratch, so canned to us (as a child) seemed special? As I would learn later, fresh cranberries weren’t always readily available so canned became the habit in our family.
Fast forward to years later, I discovered the ingredients in most canned cranberry sauces were not the healthiest, with most high in sugar and containing high fructose corn syrup! Knowing I had to give up this childhood favorite I started experimenting with cranberry sauce recipes only to discover that it’s one food item that is so easy to make, takes little time, and you can control the sugar and other tasty spices to make it your own!
The taste isn’t the only thing special about cranberry sauce and fresh cranberries. This tasty side dish is also packed with vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants, not to mention that it’s main ingredient, cranberries, have been known for many years to help prevent urinary tract infections among other benefits found in studies on this amazing fruit (just another reason to include in your Thanksgiving dinner).
After playing with different ingredients each year, I wanted to share this version which has become one of my favorites! I’ve also included some suggestions that will help “make it your own” if you’d like to experiment more… My little lesson learned; don’t be intimidated by making things from scratch thinking it may take too long or be too involved, it usually seems more difficult than it is and the rewards can be amazing!
Cinnamon Orange Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
1 bag (12 oz) fresh cranberries (remove stems)
¼ cup fresh orange juice (from orange)
1 TBS orange zest (grated orange rind)
1 cinnamon stick
½ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 cup water
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar or organic granulated sugar (usually brown in color)
Directions
- Stir together in saucepan the cranberries, orange zest, cinnamon stick, ginger, water and sugar, reserving the orange juice for later.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes until cranberries burst open.
- Stir in orange juice and turn off heat. Discard the cinnamon stick.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes & Other Options
- You can add 1/8 cup cabernet sauvignon wine (replacing 1/8 cup of water) if desired for different added flavor. This would be added in the beginning with other ingredients.
- For a “sugar free” version, leave out the sugar for a more tart, sugar free version. You can add a little more orange juice to substitute for the sugar, if desired.
Healthy Notes:
Cranberries have antioxidants that may help increase HDL levels and help in cancer prevention.
Cinnamon can reduce the levels in blood sugar, has anti-inflammatory benefits, and has an anti clotting effect on blood platelets and the aroma has been known to boost brain function. It is also an excellent source of the trace mineral manganese, dietary fiber, iron & calcium.
