Best cranberry sauce recipe with orange juice without refined sugar. Simple fresh vegan sauce with 5 wholesome ingredients. Easy-to-make-ahead healthy breakfast or snack idea.
Cranberry Sauce Taste
Spiced with cinnamon, orange juice, and zest, sweetened with agave syrup, it's the perfect combination of sweet and tart. An amazing complement to your plant-based meals!
Actually, this homemade cranberry sauce is much better than any canned store-bought version. In fact, it doesn't compare with this sugar-free, bright, and light red dip.
Cranberry Sauce Health Benefits
In my recent post, I wrote about my love for this superfood. Whole cranberries are a POWERHOUSE of many nutrients, like vitamins and minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. These refreshing tart and tasty berries are so nutritious! They are especially rich in Vitamin C. Check out my favorite 5-minute immunity-boosting cranberry smoothie recipe that is antioxidant and super delicious!
What is cranberry sauce made out of?
You'll need a few common ingredients to make this special treat for yourself and your family:
- Frozen cranberries (you can use fresh too)
- Oranges (freshly squeezed orange juice and orange zest)
- Agave syrup
- Cinnamon sticks (or cinnamon powder)
- Fresh water
Best Recipe for Make-Ahead Cranberry Sauce with Orange Juice
Time needed: 25 minutes.
How to make homemade cranberry sauce without sugar?
Uniquely, this vegan DIY cranberry sauce with orange and cinnamon is naturally sweetened. Best no sugar dessert for all time!
- Rinse cranberries
First, put frozen cranberries in a colander, rinse well and drain off excess water. Pick out and remove any damaged cranberries.
- Combine the ingredients
Next, in a medium saucepan combine water, freshly squeezed orange juice, agave syrup, cranberries, orange zest, and cinnamon sticks. If you don't like the cinnamon flavor to be strong and prevail in the sauce simply put the cinnamon sticks at the end, approximately 5-7 minutes before the sauce is done. For the purpose of this recipe, I used frozen cranberries. But you can use fresh cranberries as well, the process of cooking is the same. Also, if you don't have cinnamon sticks, add cinnamon powder to your taste after you finish cooking the sauce.
- Cook it
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Because we don't use any sugar at all, and the sauce won't thicken after that, feel free to let the mixture simmer longer so the liquid can evaporate in order to achieve the desired thickness. While still hot, taste it and add more agave or any other sweetener to your liking. I find that this ratio is perfectly fine, not extremely sweet, and a little tart.
- Let it cool and enjoy
Finally, remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool completely at room temperature. I prefer to enjoy it immediately with some pancakes, muffins or combine it with some oatmeal as well. Transfer any leftovers of your cranberry sauce to a jar, cover it and refrigerate.
How to make cranberry sauce from frozen berries?
Absolutely! You can prepare this jam-like cranberry sauce up to 2 days in advance. Just cover and refrigerate, then let it warm at room temperature before serving it for breakfast, dinner, or snack. Since it doesn't contain additives and harmful chemicals, it's a delicious gluten-free kid-friendly option too.
This cranberry sauce is so versatile! It can have many uses! You can eat this amazing cranberry sauce combined with so many things. My favorite combination is to eat it with these fluffy pancakes or mix it with this wholesome high-protein buckwheat porridge for breakfast. Use any leftovers in baking fruit muffins, use it as a topping to your oatmeal or granola, or simply spread it onto toast or a slice of bread layered with peanut or almond butter. Literally, you can serve it as a jam!
Refrigerate any cranberry sauce leftovers for up to a week covered in a jar or a bowl with a lid. Since it’s surprisingly easy to make I recommend you to make as much as you need. You can simply halve, double, or triple this recipe to get the desired amount of this refreshing sauce.
Cranberry Sauce Health Benefits
Cranberries offer you a range of health benefits. These tasty berries are a rich source of important nutrients, especially Vitamin C. In fact, this powerful, natural antioxidant improves your iron absorption and boosts your immune system. Moreover, they abound in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants which makes them a great addition to a healthy, nutritious diet. Because fresh and frozen cranberries are low in calories and sugar they can be included in any weight loss diet.
This Cranberry Sauce Orange Juice Recipe is:
- Tart
- Comfort
- Fruity
- Lightly spiced with cinnamon and orange
- So uniquely delicious!
📖 Recipe
Best Cranberry Sauce Without Sugar (5 ingredients!)
Equipment
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 3 cups frozen cranberries rinsed, fresh cranberries would work too
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ⅓ cup agave syrup
- ⅛ cup orange zest
- 1-2 cinnamon sticks or use cinnamon powder to taste
- ¾ cup fresh water
Instructions
- First, put frozen cranberries in a colander, rinse well and drain off excess water. Pick out and remove any damaged cranberries.
- Next, in a medium saucepan combine water, freshly squeezed orange juice, agave syrup, cranberries, orange zest, and cinnamon sticks. If you don't like the cinnamon flavor to be strong and prevail in the sauce simply put the cinnamon sticks at the end, approximately 5-7 minutes before the sauce is done. For the purpose of this recipe, I used frozen cranberries. But you can use fresh cranberries as well, the process of cooking is the same. Also, if you don't have cinnamon sticks, add cinnamon powder to your taste after you finish cooking the sauce.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Because we don't use any sugar at all, and the sauce won't thicken after that, feel free to let the mixture simmer longer so the liquid can evaporate in order to achieve the desired thickness. While still hot, taste it and add more agave or any other sweeteners to your liking. I find that this ratio is perfectly fine, not extremely sweet, and a little tart.
- Finally, remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool completely at room temperature. I prefer to enjoy it immediately with some pancakes, muffins or combine it with some oatmeal as well. Transfer any leftovers of your cranberry sauce to a jar, cover it and refrigerate.
Notes
- If you don't like the cinnamon flavor to be strong and prevail in the sauce simply put the cinnamon sticks at the end, approximately 5-7 minutes before the sauce is done.
- If you don't have cinnamon sticks, add cinnamon powder to your taste after you finish cooking the sauce.
- You can use any sweetener of choice instead of agave, like maple syrup.
- Also, you can use fresh cranberries instead of frozen.
- Reduce the amount of water if you like your sauce to be thicker.
Nutrition
Looking for more easy-to-make breakfast ideas? Try these:
- Creamy Chocolate Avocado Smoothie
- Super Moist Spinach Banana Blender Muffins
- Fluffy Blueberry Muffins made with Spelt Flour
Loved this tart-sweet flavored cranberry sauce? Pin it for later!
Did you try this cranberry sauce orange juice recipe? If yes, please rate it, leave a comment below, and share your photo on Instagram with the tag @go_eatgreen and hashtag it #go_eatgreen. I would love to hear about your experience and your comments just make my day!
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Love, Marinela💚
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