Easy Crock-pot Cranberry Orange Sauce

This Crock-pot Cranberry Orange Sauce is sure to please during your holiday feasting and or add a little zing to simple piece of toast.  

In the recesses of my earliest Thanksgiving childhood memories is the beautiful Thanksgiving feast alternating between my grandparents’ and my Great Aunt Della’s house, adorned with a big, fat turkey, a mountain of creamy mashed potatoes topped with a river of gravy, homemade dinner rolls, and the like. And for whatever reason, nestled between the lovely display, on a little salad plate sat the can-shaped cranberry sauce. The lonely just-ploppled-out-of-the-can cranberry sauce. No efforts to make it look homemade. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t bring myself to even take a teeny-tiny taste of it. And I didn’t dare contaminate my turkey or slather it on my dinner rolls. E-VER. I wasn’t a food snob by any means, just picky. I avoided that sauce for over three decades. It just seemed too weird to eat something in the shape of a tin can. Anyone with me?

Then last year for the very first time, I decided to make some. What was the inspiration? I really don’t remember. I just know that my family all really likes cranberries. And we like jam. And isn’t cranberry sauce like jam? Well it was divine time to tackle making homemade cranberry sauce.

Slow Cooker Days

I was sure glad I made it. There is nothing like fresh cranberry sauce. And then to have the tart complimented by the sweet and the citrus of orange. Oh yes! I ended up making it several times over the holidays last year. And then my dad gave me some more fresh cranberries after the holidays, and I ended making even more and freezing it. We ended up using the extra on toast just like a jam once the holiday leftovers were long gone.

And of course, if you know me, I had to throw it in the crock-pot. The slow cooker makes this recipe seriously easy. And I had to make it healthier, so I used coconut sugar. I think I even tried it with honey once. But you can use any granulated sugar, though. You have to try it! You can make it days ahead of your Holiday feasting and still enjoy homemade cranberry sauce. Yum!

And did you know that cranberries are a super food? Not only do they help with UTIs, but they contain fiber, vitamin C, and have more antioxidants than even strawberries, spinach and raspberries! (source) I can’t wait to make some more soon!

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Easy Crock-pot Cranberry Orange Sauce

Author Sonja

Ingredients

• 12 oz. cranberries
• 1 cup coconut sugar or granulated sugar of choice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1 T orange zest

Instructions

1. Place everything in the crock-pot and stir.
2. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.
3. Remove the lid, stir and have fun popping some of the cranberries.
4. Cook uncovered for another 45-60 minutes or until thickened and most of the cranberries have popped.
5. You can make this 3 days in advance and keep it in the refrigerator. Freezes well.

Do you need other Thanksgiving or feasting inspiration? Here are some great Thanksgiving Crock-pot Recipes complete with a meal plan.

GO HERE FOR THE COMPLETE LIST OF RECIPES.

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