Homemade crockpot cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries! The combination of orange juice, fresh cranberries, cinnamon and sugars create delicious flavors – and your house will smell amazing!
Cranberry sauce was not a part of our Thanksgiving growing up. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever bought fresh cranberries. Sure, I’ve thought about stringing them by a fire at Christmas, but slow cooking them in a crockpot? Last year our church had our annual Thanksgiving meal together. I received the email with my instructions to make “cranberry sauce”. Do you just buy the can of the stuff?
I decided to do a little digging and decided to make a fantastic Cranberry Sauce Slow Cooker Recipe. It was so easy to make and it looks just beautiful. What I loved about this recipe is that I could make it with my kiddo. He helped me prepare it and then we turned on the crockpot. And the smell. Who needs Yankee when you can make homemade cranberry sauce?!
Combine all ingredients except for the cranberries in your slow cooker.
Rinse the cranberries with water. Let’s just talk about how pretty cranberries are. I mean, really. They are fun to photograph because of the rich red color.
Add the cranberries to the crockpot and give it a good stir. Turn on high.
Stir the sauce with the cranberries after one hour on high in the slow cooker and every hour after that until you get to three hours. Your house will smell amazing!
The sauce will be thick and delicious. If you like your cranberries cooked down even more, you can leave them in the crockpot for longer, just keep an eye on them!
Can you make cranberry sauce ahead of time?
This cranberry sauce can be made the day before and served on your holiday table. There is such a difference between homemade cranberry sauce and the canned stuff. Make your own! You won’t regret it! 🙂
Enjoy!
More Crockpot Recipes
Here’s my FAVORITE crockpot I use all the time in my home! Purchase it HERE.
Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe
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Crockpot Cranberry Sauce
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Prep Time: 10 mins -
Cook Time: 3 hours
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Total Time: 3 hours 10 mins
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Yield: 6 -
Category: side -
Method: Slow Cooker -
Cuisine: American
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Pin RecipeDescription
Homemade crockpot cranberry sauce combining orange juice, fresh cranberries, sugars and cinnamon.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup brown sugar
- 1/2 Cup white sugar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 Cup orange juice
- 1/2 Cup water
- fresh cranberries (12 oz)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except the cranberries in the crockpot. Stir well.
- Add cranberries and evenly coat.
- Turn on the crockpot to high for 3 hours, stirring the cranberries every hour.
- After three hours on high, mash the cranberries. Continue to heat on high with the lid off, for 45 minutes.
- Let cool and transfer to serving dish.
Notes
Make this the day before Thanksgiving. The house will smell amazing and you’ll have something finished!
Keywords: crockpot cranberry sauce, slow cooker cranberry sauce, best cranberry sauce
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I plan on making this for Thanksgiving, but I know I will have extra. Is it possible to freeze this for later?
Hi Jen, I have never tried to freeze and reuse, but it’s always worth a try! Let me know how it goes.
Hi. Just made this and I doubled the recipe. It turned out kinda runny. Will it thicken if I refrigerate it for tomorrow?
Hi Rachel, You might have needed to double the cook time with the doubling of the recipe. You can continue to cook it in the crockpot until it becomes the consistency you want. You can also try to put it on the stove top on low with no lid tomorrow and see if it will thicken up that way.
This recipe is AMAZING! We’ve made it for three different family gatherings over the past year and are making it again tomorrow for this year’s Thanksgiving. Thank you so much for sharing it with the world!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it Jessica!
Making for our fest at school. Can I use a small crock pot or does it have to be standard?
Hi! I’m not sure what size you mean by small. However, any size that can fit all the ingredients will work.
After making this the day before, i assume i would refrigerate it. Do i then warm it at all the next day?
You can warm the cranberry sauce the next day if you wish, but I typically serve it room temperature. And yes, I keep it refrigerated until I need it. Enjoy!
Little confused by your description and ingredients list. Am I to use dried cranberries (as the description states) or resh cranberries (as the ingredients list).
Hi Emma, it’s fresh cranberries that you’ll find in the produce section of your grocery store. I’m sorry about the confusion. I’ll update the recipe right now.
Hi! I haven’t tried any yet,
But sounds yummy!
Thank you for posting these Thanksgiving recipes. I haven’t been using my crock pot much, lately, because I’ve been using pressure cookers. They are really useful. But this sounds good, because my son has a Thanksgiving party at his Vocational/Technical School & the Crock-Pot is a handy tool for that!
wow! I can’t believe that your Thanksgiving had been void of cranberry sauce for so long. It’s good that your church tasked you with making the cranberry sauce last year as I can’t even imagine Thanksgiving without it. I’ve made all kinds of variations. . .but never in a crockpot. Such a good idea. . .and you are totally right in that it makes a far better substitute to candles.
Thank you for this super easy cranberry recipe, I never thought to use a slow cooker, what a great idea! Definitely going to try this before the big day, one less dish to prepare the day of:)
★★★★★
Yes! Exactly. One. Less. Dish. 🙌
I love homemade cranberry sauce but have never tired it in the slow cooker. What a great idea!
★★★★★
sauce looks so amazing! i love to have cranberries but now need to try this.
I like recipes done in the slow cooker and this cranberry sauce is definitely easy to make and the result so delicious and smooth!
I have always made my cranberry sauce on the stove top. I love the idea of using a slow cooker. It frees up your time and stove making your holiday cooking so much easier. Definately going to give this a try this year!
I am getting all the smells from this post. I love homemade cranberry sauce, never did it in my slower cooker though. It looks great.
There is definitely nothing like homemade cranberry sauce. I love that you used the slow cooker. I’ve got to try your recipe for sure! We love cranberry sauce in my family!! Looks delicious!
★★★★★
Homemade cranberry sauce is the BEST. I often wondered what the bid deal was. Once I made it for the first time (many years ago), I have never bought it again!! Great way to make it too.
★★★★★
I need to plan out which dishes I should use my slow cooker for this year before Thanksgiving creeps up on me! This sauce looks fantastic – such a key part of the holiday meal!
I didn’t grow up on cranberry sauce either, and I thought I didn’t like it. Well, it turns out I do! Fresh cranberries are amazing!
They are! And so pretty as well. 🙂
We have 25-30 guests for Thanksgiving so I want to double this recipe.
Have you ever doubled it before? How will the cooking time change?
Everyone loved this last year and it went fast. I want to make sure I have enough. Thanks!
★★★★★
Can I make this in advance? How far in advance can I make this?
Yes, you can make it in advance. I made it the night before and kept it cool in the refrigerator overnight.
I made your recipe over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was a crowd pleaser. I added a little extra sugar than what you had in your recipe. Thanks, I’ll make it again next year.
I don’t think you need to cook it in a crock pot that long.. the recipe is just fine but for a simple 20 mins cooking on the stove in a pot … the sauce turns very nice and chunky with still bright colors and fantastic taste …
Is this suppose to be served cold?
Thank you, looking forward to making this and letting it make my life easier on Thanksgiving day!
★★★★★
Definitely want to make this for Thanksgiving! Can I make it a few days ahead of time and freeze?
Is the final product runny? The picture looks a little watery. Otherwise sounds delish!
Do you have any Weight Watcher friendly recipes?
How many servings does this recipe make?
Hi Catt, it serves 6 generously.
This sounds wonderful! I can’t wait to make it – I have a bag of cranberries right now so maybe I will try this out tomorrow. I love eating the cranberry sauce with my oatmeal in the morning.
And this cranberry sauce makes your house smell so good! Enjoy!
Hello,
I would like to can this recipe and am wondering, once I remove this from the slow cooker, would I still have to do the hot water bath?
Thank You
Hi Sami, I’ve never canned this recipe. I would consult canning resources for that answer.