How to Make Cranberry Orange Sauce

Cranberry sauce has long been a tradition at Thanksgiving tables across America. Here's a mouthwatering recipe that will kick-start the flavor and provide a nice complement to your holiday bird.

Things You'll Need

• Stove
• Medium sized saucepan
• Wooden spoon for stirring
• Storage container with lid
• One 12 oz bag of frozen cranberries
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons orange zest
• 1/2 orange juice (w/o) pulp

Instructions

How to Make Cranberry Orange Sauce

1. Empty bag of thawed cranberries into a medium-sized saucepan. Pour in orange juice and add sugar and orange zest.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Continue to gently stir until the consistency is similar to that of jam. (This will take about 20-25 minutes)

3. Transfer the mixture to a storage container with a tight lid. Place in the refrigerator. The ingredients provided will yield approximately 2 cups of cranberry orange sauce.

4. Serve cold. For a warmer version, reheat by pouring the sauce into a heat resistant bowl. Place the bowl in a stove-top pan with about 2 inches of simmering water.

Tips & Warnings

• Orange zest is a wonderfully convenient invention because it keeps your fingertips from being chewed up if you're using a regular grater on the skin of an orange. If you're a glutton for such punishment, however, you can substitute a medium-size orange and stop when you've reached 4 tablespoons.

• Fresh cranberries from a local farmers' market will work just as well as frozen ones. Preparing them for cooking, however, takes a tad longer because you'll need to rinse them thoroughly in a colander first to make sure you've removed all the stems.

• Any holiday meal is going to take lots of preparation and the more things you can do in advance, the easier your life will be. This cranberry-orange sauce can be prepared 3-4 weeks in advance and seems to absorb even more of the orange flavor while it's biding its time in the refrigerator.

• In the event you have some of this sauce left over after Thanksgiving (and there's a good chance you probably won't), dollop a bit of it on top of some cream cheese spread on a cracker. It's a great marriage of flavors.