Ginger Orange Cranberry Sauce

Name: Ginger Orange Cranberry Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: North American
Ingredients: 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (1 – 12-ounce bag); 1 1/2 cups of white sugar (can sub coconut sugar for paleo); 6 tablespoons grated ginger; The zest and juice from two large oranges

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Gluten Free Vegan Vegetarian

This delicious Ginger Orange Cranberry Sauce is the turkey dinner side dish I've been making for years. Every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter dinner I make a batch and it's always met with rave reviews. The subtle orange flavor and gingery kick make this the best cranberry sauce recipe around!

I've been making this Ginger Orange Cranberry Sauce for so many years that I don't even know where the original recipe came from. I remember that the original was too sweet for my taste, so I reduced the sugar. I'm also pretty sure I upped the ginger by quite a bit.

This recipe (honesty here!) doesn't get many people looking at it, and it's really a shame. It's the best cranberry sauce I've had, and I want you guys to be able to enjoy it, too.

It's got that perfect combination of tart and sweet, a beautiful gingery kick, and a subtle orange flavor in the background. Whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving (or Friendsgiving!) this weekend or coming up in November, can you promise me you'll make this?

I remember when I first started to realize that I could make the things that I had always thought only came in tin cans, or plastic bottles or tetra packs. It felt like a revelation. Prior to this, I never gave any thought as to where these ‘food' substances came from. I would simply walk to the store, buy a can, go home, open it with my can opener and … shloop, out it came. I grew up thinking that the cranberry sauce on the family dining table to the left of the bird had to be a short, thick, jello-like log. I thought it had to be ribbed. Turns out I was (thankfully) wrong.

I was never a big fan of cranberry sauce. In fact, the first time I made it it was only because I knew other people would want it. And, don't tell anyone, but I might have wanted to try and impress them, too. While I can't speak on behalf of anyone else at that dinner party, I can say that there was at least one person I impressed. That's right, me. Does that make me sound like I'm bragging? I hope not because it's certainly not my intention to come across that way. It's just that this orange cranberry sauce was really really good!

This is no jello-like ribbed log. This is as rich and hearty as Scottish porridge. The duet between sweet and tart is balanced out by a spicy kick from a ton of grated ginger. And then somewhere in the background, a little citrus pops by to say hello. This cranberry sauce deserves a good chunk of your Thanksgiving dinner plate real estate.

And did I mention that it is super easy to make?

Save the leftovers, if you're lucky enough to have any, to smother on turkey sandwiches, dollop on a chicken breast, coat a piece of salmon with or serve on a cheese plate. This year I doubled the recipe in hopes that I'll be able to enjoy it for more than one evening.