Some things are just meant to go together – snow and mittens, babies and snuggles, and of course Thanksgiving and cranberry sauce.
Since the store-bought stuff I loved as a child is pretty much just high fructose corn syrup with a couple of cranberries mixed in, I’ve been experimenting with different homemade options for years now.
This jellied cranberry sauce recipe balances the tartness of fresh red cranberries with the sweetness of juicy oranges and a touch of honey. It’s so easy to put together, and makes a beautiful addition to any table. I love pouring mine into a mini-bundt pan mold that I picked up one locally, but this one looks like a good option.
If you prefer sauce that incorporates fresh whole berries instead of a jellied puree, I’ve got you covered here.
Also, make sure to check out my gluten-free homestyle stuffing, turkey and pumpkin pie. And gratitude!
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~ Melody Beattie
Jellied Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh cranberries (about 12 ounces)
- 2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
- ⅔ – 1 cup raw honey (start with 1/3 and add 2 tbsp if it is still too tart. How much you need will vary depending on the sweetness of the oranges used in the recipe)
- 8 tsp grass-fed gelatin
- ½ cup cold filtered water
Instructions
- Blend cranberries, 1/3 cup honey and orange juice in a food processor until mixture is very smooth. Add additional honey if needed.
- Place liquid in a pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove liquid from heat and set aside. Add the gelatin to 1/2 cup water and let sit one minute, then add it to the cranberry mixture and stir until dissolved. Check for sweetness and add more honey if needed.
- Pour into your mold and place in refrigerator until well chilled.
Borrowed the quote. Love it. Thanks!
Great idea! One question though: I don’t cook with honey, do you think this would work as well with another type of sweetener? Also what kind of molds did you use?
Thanks!
I don’t cook with honey either, so I use pure organic maple syrup and it comes out AMAZING!!!
I have never tried cranberry sauce…can you believe that? I think jelly in a can grossed me out. I have been searching for a homemade recipe for a while… I will have to try this!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Thank you for the recipe, this looks so pretty!
How far in advance can you make these? Have you tried freezing them?
Thanks! Can’t wait to try them!
I have the red can gelatin. Should I put it in the hot mixture since it’s not the cold kind of gelatin?
I hope you figured something out and made this delicious sauce! But–in case you are waiting for a reply–I used the Great Lakes Unflavored Gelatin which comes in a red can. I made the sauce according to the recipe. It did clump up at first, but then dissolved in the hot liquid and turned out just fine!
Did this replace the cranberry sauce recipe that used to be on your website? I’ve been making it for several years, and now all links are taking me to this one, which is different 🙁
Hi Mary, yes it did. The recipes are virtually identical except this one uses freshly squeezed orange juice and the other one used the whole orange. I found the texture was better with just the juice. Here’s the original just in case you prefer it, though. 🙂
Ingredients:
3 cups (12 oz) fresh cranberries
4 cups oranges slices (Note: last year I tried this with apples, pears and oranges. The orange sweetened sauce won hands down with the family taste test)
1 cup honey (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons grass-fed gelatin (Great Lakes is a good brand. Order it here.)
1/2 cup cold filtered water
Instructions:
Blend cranberries and fruit in a food processor until mixture is very smooth.
Place in a pot, add honey and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and continue to stir for 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
Add gelatin to water and let sit one minute, then add it to the cranberry mixture and stir until dissolved. Check for sweetness and add more honey if needed.
Place in refrigerator until well chilled
Thank you! I’m going to print this one. I’ve been making this one with apples instead of oranges, and we prefer it. I made the one with OJ for Thanksgiving, and it wasn’t as popular, although still good 🙂
I love this one with the orange slices and thought it was lost forever! Just made it with some on sale cranberries and it tastes so good I can barely wait for it to “jell.” I didn’t get enough cranberry sauce this holiday season to satisfy the craving and I bet this takes care of it!
…served this yesterday for Thanksgiving and it was delicious. Thank you, Heather! I did end up using a full cup of honey to sweeten. The amount of gelatin made the sauce very firm, which is a great attribute for using a mold (not to mention great for your gut!) But I made mine in a serving dish and will probably use a bit less gelatin next time. Thank you!
Thank you for this recipe. It was a huge hit at our Thanksgiving table.
How many servings would you say this makes? Could I use one large bundt mold or would I need to double the recipe to fill a large mold?
Thank you!! I love all your recipes and am looking forward to adding this to our Christmas dinner this year!!
Would blood oranges be good in this? I love the taste of them and think they’d probably add some more colour! 🙂 Great recipe.
Mine has been chilling for over 2 hours and is showing no signs of firming up. Should I be worried?
Did you use GELATIN, made for use with boiling or hot liquids, or did you use COLLAGEN, which will NOT firm up? They are pretty similar looking and the packaging can be confusing because some brands say gelatin on both.
Gelatin will jell but COLLAGEN will NOT firm up or jell.
Hi Heather,
Just tried the kale lemon salad, and it was fab! So my question for the new cranberry sauce…in the photo, it looks nice and smooth, which is how I happen to love it, but I would think you strained them to get it that smooth, or is it the blending/processing of those pesky cranberries?
Thanks,
Karen
So glad you liked it! For this recipe, it’s the blending plus the cooking that makes it smooth. I do use a high powered blender, which I’m sure helps. If you don’t have one available, you might try blending after cooking as well if it doesn’t seem smooth enough.
Hi Heather :0)
I grew up with my mom’s cranberry orange jello mold, which contained walnuts and some canned pineapple. Could I add them to this recipe, or would I need to add more gelatin?
Thanks!
Annie
How fa in advance can this be made? Trying to get ahead for Thursday! Can’t wait to try it!! Happy thanksgiving!!
It tasted too orangey, so I added some cinnamon and nutmeg – but terrific otherwise!
I made this for thanksgiving. It turned out gorgeous. I used a mini bunt pan to make a mold and everyone was impressed. I swirled in some whole cooked cranberries that were spiced with cinnamon and all spice just for some added texture. I also used 5 teastpoons of great lakes gellatin and it was plenty firm.
Thanks for the recipe.
The top says 1 hour cook time but the instructions say 10 minute simmer. Which is right? I’ve made it before, but I can’t remeber what I did.
The “cook time” includes the minimum amount of time it takes to chill in the fridge. The actual cook time over heat is the 10 minute simmer.
Can you please send a link to the Molds that you used in the image above. Also, how far ahead can this recipe be made.
So sorry, I don’t remember where I bought them! It can be made a day or two in advance.
We love cranberries. Mostly I just boil and sweeten them. It can’t get much easier. On Thanksgiving, we have the whole sauce, a cold relish with at least an orange added, and a jello style with nuts, fruits, and celery. Sometime I use a mold, but often we keep adding something else until we don’t have enough gelatin to make it hold together by the time we’ve added a little more apple, or celery, or pecans, etc.
Hi. How long does this keep in the refrigerator after it’s made?
I’m wondering the same thing 🙂
Came out terrible. I make gummies every week, but have never tried with cranberries or any purree. There wasn’t enough gelatin or something, it was more of a pile of mushy goo than gummies. Wouldn’t hold shape even after 24 hrs in fridge
I think someone asked but I didn’t see the answer: how much does this recipe make? What size container, small mini bundt pans or larger?
Hi Carol, I had a newborn when I published this recipe and apparently I forgot to include that info! I have a set of four mini-bundt pans that I distribute the mixture between and unfortunately I’m traveling so I can’t measure the volume right now, but I think they are 4 inches wide. Any mini-bundt pan set like this or this should work beautifully.