Bourbon Cranberry Sauce
Serve this easy, bourbon cranberry sauce on your next Thanksgiving dinner table. Real cranberries are simmered with bourbon and a whole vanilla bean for amazing flavor.
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I’ve always wanted to try making my own cranberry sauce. I figured a homemade version has to be better than the traditional cranberry sauce you get from a can. I was right. This Thanksgiving cranberry sauce is juicy, with hints of vanilla and a smoky aroma from a hint of bourbon. It’s the perfect side dish to accompany your Thanksgiving turkey, sweet potatoes and green beans.
Don’t worry, the alcohol from the bourbon burns off as it cooks, so there should be no issues with you getting any underage family members intoxicated.
Ingredients and tools you will need
The process for making this amazing cranberry sauce is so easy, you will never purchase the canned stuff again. To make this bourbon cranberry sauce recipe, you will need:
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon whiskey – There are tons of varieties of bourbon on the market, some more expensive than others. Keep in mind, this recipe only calls for 1/4 cup of bourbon, which means you are going to have a leftover bottle of bourbon in your cabinet. If you enjoy sipping bourbon, then pick something you could see yourself drinking later, such as Knob Creek, Maker’s Mark, or Four Roses. If you’re not a bourbon drinker, a less expensive brand such as Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Old Crow, and Heaven Hill are fine for this recipe. Afterwards check out some of my other recipes for ideas on how to use up the rest of that bottle.
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup cranberry juice
- 1 (12-oz package) fresh cranberries or frozen tart cranberries – One 12-ounce package measures out to be three cups.
- 1 whole vanilla bean pod, halved and seeded
- Medium saucepan
- Blender or food processor
How to seed a vanilla bean
You should be able to find whole vanilla beans in the spice aisle at your grocery store. If you’ve never seeded a vanilla bean before, simply lay the pod flat on a cutting board. Take a sharp knife and run the point along the center of the bean, allowing the blade to cut all the way through.
Pull the two halves apart. Lay one-half flat on the cutting board. Holding one end of the pod in place, take the dull end of a knife or a spoon gently scrape the seeds out and set them aside. Repeat with the other half. Don’t throw the scraped bean away, though. I like to throw it into the pan as well and let it simmer with the sauce
How to make fresh cranberry sauce
- Combine the sugar, bourbon, orange juice, cranberry juice, cranberries, and vanilla bean seeds and pod in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until it starts to boil.
- Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer it for 7-10 minutes. You may hear the cranberries pop as they cook down and get soft. Cranberries contain a lot of pectin, which is a natural thickener. The pectin, combined with the sugar, will thicken the liquid.
- Once the sauce is finished cooking down, remove it from the heat.
- Strain out the two vanilla bean halves and throw them away.
- I like my cranberry sauce a little chunky, so at this point, I spoon out about one cup of the sauce and puree the rest. You can do this by transferring everything to a traditional blender or food processor or using an immersion blender like I did. If you don’t like chunks, just puree the entire batch.
- You can eat the fresh cranberry sauce warm from the pan. But at this point, it will be the consistency of syrup instead of a thick sauce. It will continue to thicken as the sauce cools; therefore, I like to let it come to room temperature and then chill it for 4-8 hours before serving.
Storage, freezing and canning instructions
Storage. Transfer the cooled leftover bourbon orange cranberry sauce into an airtight container and refrigerate within two hours. Consume within one week.
Freezing. Transfer the cooled leftover cranberry sauce into an airtight container, leaving room at the top for expansion. Freeze for up to three months. Allow the sauce to thaw completely before reheating.
Canning. Cranberry sauce can be canned using the water bath canning method. Simply fill clean and sterile pint or half-pint jars with the hot sauce and leave ¼-inch of headspace. Process for 15 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can make this cranberry sauce recipe several days in advance. It does need to be transferred to a lidded container and stored in the refrigerator. Fresh cranberry sauce will last up to seven days in the refrigerator with no change in the texture or flavor.
Cranberry sauce can be canned using the water bath canning method. Check out my post on the basics of water bath canning for a step-by-step tutorial. Since cranberries are naturally acidic, there is no need to add additional acid such as lemon juice or citric acid. Simply fill clean and sterile pint or half-pint jars with the hot cranberry sauce and leave ¼-inch of headspace. Process for 15 minutes.
Yes, you can use the same amount of brown sugar as a replacement for the white sugar.
Yes, you can use one tablespoon of vanilla extract in place of one vanilla bean.
Cranberries do release extra juice after they have been frozen. Heat the thawed sauce over medium heat until it starts to thicken. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to cool. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
Yes. Replace the 1/4 cup of bourbon with extra orange or cranberry juice.
Yes. Whisky, Scotch, cognac or even a full-bodied red wine would make excellent substitutions.
Pair fresh cranberry sauce with:
More cranberry recipes:
Bourbon Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup cranberry juice
- 1 12 ounce package, about 3 cups, fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 whole vanilla bean halved and seeded
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan, including the seeded vanilla bean pod. Heat over medium high heat until it starts to boil.
- Cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium low. Continue to simmer for 7-10 minutes until the cranberries begin to soften and pop and the liquid thickens.
- Remove the cranberry sauce from the heat.
- Remove and discard the vanilla bean pod.
- Remove one cup of the cranberry sauce from the pan and set aside.
- Puree the remaining sauce. Add the reserved cranberry sauce back to the pan and stir.
- Allow the cranberry sauce to chill for 4-8 hours before serving. Sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
