17 Delicious Cranberry Sauce Recipes

Spritzed Cranberry Chutney
Photo: Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

There are just a few staple dishes that every Thanksgiving table needs, and no turkey or ham dish is complete without a side of sweet, tart cranberry sauce. Our Test Kitchen has been hard at work testing cranberry recipes, creating a cranberry dish to suit every palate. From classic recipes to anything but traditional, these cranberry dishes will add big, bold flavor to your holiday menu. With options ranging from spicy cranberry relishes to sparkling cranberry molds, you will surely find a way to incorporate the holiday berry into your Thanksgiving menu. If all else fails, you simply cannot go wrong with our classic Homemade Cranberry Sauce – it beats the canned stuff every time. Here's a big bonus: most versions of this condiment keep for a while. Enjoy on during the holidays with your turkey or ham, and then use the leftovers for a sweet sandwich spread.

01 of 17

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Jennifer Causey; Food Stylist: Torie Cox; Prop Stylist: Claire Spollen

We'd be willing to bet you'll never go back to canned sauce after giving this recipe a try. It's just tart and sweet enough to be the perfect people-pleaser.

02 of 17

Spicy Cranberry Orange Relish

Spicy Cranberry Orange Relish
Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Our Test Kitchen dubbed this spicy relish the "cool-kid cranberry sauce." Cranberries are blended with orange, lime, and a jalapeño for a bright take on the classic.

03 of 17

Cranberry Orange Sauce

Cranberry Orange Sauce
Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

The addition of orange gives this gorgeously vibrant sauce a zing of brightness that's a perfect pairing with its decidedly festive hue.

04 of 17

Cranberry Brie Bites

Cranberry Brie Bites
Southern Living

These bite-size appetizers are a perfect pre-dinner snack. They're layered with gooey brie and canned cranberry sauce and couldn't be easier to put together.

05 of 17

Slow-Cooker Cranberry-Pear Butter

Slow-Cooker Cranberry-Pear Butter
Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Torie Cox

As nice on the breakfast table as it is in a jar and given as a holiday gift, this cranberry-pear butter takes cranberries, pears, cider, and fall spices and combines them into something truly delicious.

06 of 17

Cranberry-Jalapeño Cream Cheese Dip

Cranberry Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip
Photographer: Greg DuPree, Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall Prop Stylist: Christine Keely

A dip with all the flavor of cranberry relish plus the irresistibly creamy addition of cream cheese, this pre-dinner treat is a must-make during the holidays.

07 of 17

Cranberry Sauce Meatballs

Cranberry Sauce Meatballs
Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Kathleen Varner

This recipe combines two holiday favorites, namely meatballs and cranberry sauce. It's a match made in heaven.

08 of 17

Cranberry-Citrus Parfaits

Cranberry-citrus parfaits in glass stemware

Antonis Achilleos; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell

This recipe involves creating a cranberry compote, which is then layered with a creamy lemon topping and crushed almond or ginger cookies.

09 of 17

Mini Cranberry-Cheesecake Pies

Mini Cranberry-Cheesecake Pies
David Malosh; Prop Styling: Robyn Glaser; Food Styling: Maggie Ruggiero

If you'd like to enjoy cranberry sauce flavors in dessert form, try this recipe for mini cranberry-cheesecake pies, which coats cranberries with sanding sugar and also cooks them with orange zest and orange juice to make a saucy filling.

10 of 17

White Cake with Cranberry Filling and Orange Buttercream

White Cake With Cranberry Filling and Orange Buttercream
Courtney West

Another dessert recipe that incorporates a saucy cranberry mixture, this cake jazzes up a classic with orange buttercream and cranberry filling.

11 of 17

Cranberry Dreamsicle Trifle

Cranberry Dreamsicle Trifle

Iain Bagwell

The first step in this delicious trifle recipe is to bring together orange juice, cranberries, and sugar to make a flavorful berry-foward blend.

12 of 17

Gingerbread Cake with Cranberry-Vanilla Frosting

Gingerbread cake with cranberry-vanilla frosting on white cake stand

Antonis Achilleos; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell

To put the finishing touches on this cake, you'll have to make a cranberry puree, which you'll whip into a gorgeously pink frosting, and then garnish with sugared cranberries.

13 of 17

Orange Chess Pie With Cranberry Gelée

Orange chess pie with cranberry gelée on white plate

Antonis Achilleos; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell

Chess pie gets topped with a different sort of cranberry mixture, a cranberry gelée, in this showstopping recipe that'll have the whole holiday dinner table talking.

14 of 17

Cranberry Apple Pie

Cranberry Apple Pie
Photographer: Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Karen Rankin; Prop Stylist: Claire Spollen

When you put this pie in the heat of the oven oven, its blend of apple, cranberry, and sugar makes its own saucy cranberry interior.

15 of 17

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

Southern Living

This upside-down cake gets a festive spin with the addition of a can of whole-berry cranberry sauce.

16 of 17

Molded Cranberry Salad

Molded Cranberry Salad (60s)

Hector Manuel Sanchez

Add a can of whole-berry cranberry sauce to the rest of the ingredients in this recipe, including crushed pineapple, raspberry gelatin, mandarin oranges, and orange zest, to make a classic salad mold.

17 of 17

Spice Cake with Cranberry Filling Recipe

Spice Cake with Cranberry Filling
Linda Pugliese, Hector Sanchez; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas, Buffy Hargett Miller

One of our best-loved holiday cakes has an infusion of bright cranberry flavor thanks to layers of cranberry filling stirred up in a saucepan with other ingredients including orange juice, sugar, cornstarch, and butter, among others.

Was this page helpful?

Related Articles