Last minute Thanksgiving recipe: homemade cranberry sauce

For most households, canned cranberry sauce is a staple on Thanksgiving. No muss, no fuss and it tastes like cranberries, so.. yeah.

I'm a believer in canned cranberries, until the other night when for kicks I made some from scratch. First off, it's super easy. Secondly, it turns out there's no comparison taste-wise to something homemade with fresh ingredients. And finally, it looks so pretty!

So for anyone willing to try something a little different this year, cook some basic canned/packaged essentials from scratch for your guests. You can even make this recipe ahead of time! 

Homemade Cranberry Sauce 

Ingredients:

One 12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries (frozen works too!)

1 cup sugar 

1 strip orange or lemon zest (optional)

2 tbs water

Preparation: Set aside about 1/2 cup of the cranberries in a small bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large saucepan over low heat, and stir frequently until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries soften (about 10 minutes). Increase the heat a bit to medium and cook until the sauce becomes pretty thick and the cranberries burst (still stirring occasionally). Lower the heat again, and add the reserved cranberries to the sauce - cook just until those berries soften, to give the sauce a chunky texture. Add more sugar to taste (and salt & pepper if you want!) and set aside to cool. Serve at room temp or make the night before & refrigerate in an air-tight container. 

I actually removed some of the cranberries from my sauce and added 2 handfuls of blueberries to balance out the tartness. I also added a drizzle of blood orange olive oil instead of using zest (a cooking oil I definitely recommend!). 

Easy & sweet. Nothing better. 

Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy your comfort food.

Love,

Amy