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Cranberry sauce orange juice recipe with cinnamon best homemade jam or topping without sugar perfect for healthy breakfast, snack or dessert idea

Best Cranberry Sauce Without Sugar (5 ingredients!)

Marinela Malcheva
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.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Breakfast, dinner, Sauce, Snack
Cuisine dairy-free, Gluten-free, Mediterranean, Vegan
Servings 8 servings
Calories 63 kcal

Equipment

  • Saucepan

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups frozen cranberries rinsed, fresh cranberries would work too
  • ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • cup agave syrup
  • 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

Calories: 63kcal
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