Can’t find fresh cranberries for your holiday spread? No worries, you can make my homemade cranberry sauce from dried cranberries recipe using a handful of simple ingredients for a delicious side dish or topping for Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner. Your guests won’t know the difference!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Here is an easy recipe for delicious cranberry sauce that requires basic ingredients, making it an ideal addition to any holiday table.
- It’s that time of year, and you can make the best cranberry sauce using dried cranberries (or craisins) when you don’t have access to fresh cranberries or don’t feel like eating store-bought sauce from a can.
- Dried cranberries hold their shape while cooking, unlike fresh ones, which can become mushy.
- It’s hard to find fresh cranberries in the grocery store outside of the fall and winter. With this recipe, you can enjoy homemade cranberry sauce all year round.
- Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Can You Make Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cranberries?
- What You Need to Make this Recipe
- Additions and Substitutions
- How to Make Cranberry Sauce from Dried Cranberries
- Expert Tips
- Serving Suggestions
- What to Do With the Leftovers
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Cranberry Sauce from Dried Cranberries
Can You Make Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cranberries?
Yes, you can! Making cranberry sauce is a great way to use the dried cranberries in your pantry or leftover from baking my sourdough scones. Just rehydrate the dried cranberries and simmer them with sugar, fresh orange juice, orange zest, fall spices, and a pinch of salt to make my easy dried cranberry sauce recipe.
What You Need to Make this Recipe
- Dried Cranberries: Dried cranberries, also known as craisins, have had the moisture removed from fresh cranberries through a drying process, either sun-drying or dehydrating the fresh cranberries. The preservation method intensifies the fruit’s naturally tart flavor, making for a flavorful cranberry sauce from dried cranberries.
- Orange Juice and Zest: Fresh orange juice and orange zest brighten and refresh the side with a subtle hint of orange.
- Sugar: Including sugar balances the natural tartness of the cranberries and thickens the sauce as it cooks down. I use brown sugar for a deeper, more caramelized flavor. You can also use white sugar, maple syrup, or honey.
- Fall Spices: Balance the sweet and tart flavor of the other ingredients with sea salt and ground ginger.
Additions and Substitutions
- Incorporating dried or fresh fruit like apricots or figs is a lovely addition to the sauce. You can also experiment with fruit juices and replace the orange juice in the recipe with apple juice, pineapple juice, or cranberry juice.
- Season the delicious homemade cranberry sauce with fall-flavored spices like ground cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, cloves, or cinnamon sticks.
- Simmer the sauce with fresh herbs such as rosemary and thyme.
- My recipe is sweet, but if you prefer a tart cranberry sauce, use unsweetened dried cranberries or reduce the amount of sugar.
- Stir in cornstarch for a thicker sauce, or add more orange juice to achieve your desired consistency.
How to Make Cranberry Sauce from Dried Cranberries
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Soak the dried cranberries at room temperature in water to rehydrate them for at least 10 minutes or up to an hour.
Step 2: Add orange juice, water, sugar, salt, and ground ginger to a medium saucepan and stir until the sugar and spices dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
Step 3: Then, lower to medium heat and add the dried cranberries and orange zest. Gently simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Step 4: Transfer the cranberry sauce to a serving dish.
Expert Tips
- Dried cranberries make a delicious, easy homemade cranberry sauce! The key is to rehydrate them first before using them in the sauce. Rehydrate or plump the dried cranberries by soaking them in water for at least 10 minutes (or up to an hour for the best results).
- If you enjoy a smooth sauce, use an immersion blender, food processor, or blender to process some of the sauce until it has the right consistency.
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Serving Suggestions
- Entrees: Tandoori Turkey, Boneless Leg of Lamb, Bison Steak
- Sides: Mashed Potatoes, Air Fryer Fingerling Potatoes, Keto Green Bean Casserole, Keto Yorkshire Puddings
- Appetizers: Thanksgiving Butter Board
- Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
What to Do With the Leftovers
- Refrigerate – Store leftover cranberry sauce in an airtight container like a mason jar for 3-4 days.
- Freeze – Once the sauce cools, transfer it to a freezer-safe container or bag. Cranberry sauce from dried cranberries will freeze for three months.
- Thaw – Defrost the sauce in the refrigerator overnight.
- Reheat – Warm the leftovers on the stovetop until they are heated through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are dried cranberries craisins?
Craisins is a brand name for dried cranberries. They are made by dehydrating fresh cranberries to shrink them into a chewy, raisin-like texture. Although Craisins is a specific product, the term is often used interchangeably with dried cranberries.
How can I use leftover cranberry sauce?
• Cranberry Glaze: Use warm cranberry sauce as a glaze for roasted chicken, pork chops, or ham.
• Cranberry Dip: Mix cranberry sauce with cream cheese or goat cheese to make a dip for crackers, bread, or fruit.
• Breakfast Porridge: Stir cranberry sauce from dried cranberries into morning yogurt, oatmeal, or chia seed pudding.
• Filling: Use the sauce as a filling for crepes or fold into pancakes with whipped cream for stuffed pancakes.
• Topping: Spread leftovers on toast and English muffins, or add it to vanilla ice cream for a tasty dessert.
Should I use sweetened or unsweetened dried cranberries?
I use sweetened Craisins because I usually buy the family-size bag from Costco to make homemade trail mix for my family. If you prefer to control the sugar content, use unsweetened cranberries instead and adjust the sweetness to your liking. You can also use monk fruit as a sugar-free alternative.
More Fall Recipes:
Cranberry Sauce from Dried Cranberries
- 2 cups dried cranberries
- ½ cup orange juice and zest, from 2 oranges, (2 teaspoons zest)
- 2 cups water
- ¾ cups brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- Soak the dried cranberries at room temperature in water to rehydrate them for at least 10 minutes or up to an hour.
- Add orange juice, water, sugar, salt, and ground ginger to a medium saucepan and stir until the sugar and spices dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Then, lower to medium heat and add the dried cranberries and orange zest. Gently simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Transfer the cranberry sauce to a serving dish.
- Dried cranberries make a delicious, easy homemade cranberry sauce! The key is to rehydrate them first before using them in the sauce. Rehydrate or plump the dried cranberries by soaking them in water for at least 10 minutes (or up to an hour for the best results).
- If you enjoy a smooth sauce, use an immersion blender, food processor, or blender to process some of the sauce until it has the right consistency.
- The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional advice.
Melissa Wagner
Wednesday 8th of November 2023
This dried cranberry sauce recipe is my new holiday go-to! I was so impressed with how the craisins plumped up after soaking and made such a flavorful sauce. It had the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors. This sauce will be a huge hit at our family Thanksgiving dinner this year, I can already tell.