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Best Homemade Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Sauce

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This slow cooker cranberry orange sauce with fresh ginger is a revelation—bright from the orange, warm from the ginger, and just sweet enough. It practically makes itself and steals the show every single time.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries (about 3 cups)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 large oranges)
  • Zest of 1 large orange
  • 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely grated
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
  • 1/4 cup Grand Marnier or orange liqueur (optional)
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Instructions

  1. Prep your ingredients: Wash the cranberries and pick through them to remove any stems or soft berries. Zest your orange before juicing it. Grate your fresh ginger using a microplane until it is almost like a paste. Measure out your sugar, orange juice, and water.
  2. Combine everything in the slow cooker: Add the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, orange zest, grated ginger, cinnamon stick, salt, and water to your slow cooker. Give everything a gentle stir to combine.
  3. Cook on low: Set your slow cooker to low and cook for 4 to 5 hours. The sauce is ready when the cranberries have burst and the mixture has thickened slightly. You’ll know it’s done when you can run a spoon through the sauce and it leaves a trail that slowly fills back in.
  4. Check and adjust: After about 3 hours, give the sauce a gentle stir and taste it. Adjust sweetness or ginger level as desired.
  5. Remove the cinnamon stick: Once the sauce has finished cooking, fish out the cinnamon stick and discard it.
  6. Cool slightly: Let the sauce cool in the slow cooker for about 15 to 20 minutes. It will continue to thicken as it cools. If you prefer a smoother sauce, use an immersion blender to pulse it a few times, leaving some texture.
  7. Transfer and store: Spoon the sauce into clean glass jars or airtight containers. Let it come to room temperature before sealing and refrigerating. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Notes

This sauce is good on day one but transcendent on day two. Make it at least a day ahead for best flavor. If sauce is too thin after 4 hours, cook on high uncovered for 30 minutes. If too thick, stir in a tablespoon of orange juice or water.

Nutrition

Keywords: cranberry sauce, slow cooker, orange, ginger, holiday, Thanksgiving, easy, make-ahead

Find it online: https://willarecipes.com/best-homemade-slow-cooker-cranberry-orange-sauce/