Homemade Cranberry Sauce and How Long It Keeps

Ocean Spray publishes a fresh cranberry sauce recipe with three ingredients that makes 2¼ cups, with 5 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cooking plus cooling. It is a simple stovetop sauce for Thanksgiving on 26 November. This page summarises the recipe and what the source says about keeping it. We have not cooked it; the quantities and times are the source’s, so use the original page when you cook.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 package (12 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries

Method

1. Put the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring them to a boil.
2. Add the cranberries and bring the pan back to a boil.
3. Turn the heat down and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
4. Cover the pan and leave the sauce to cool completely at room temperature.
5. Refrigerate it until you are ready to serve.

How long does it keep?

The page for this recipe says only to refrigerate the sauce until serving time and gives no number of days. Two other Ocean Spray cranberry sauce recipes do state one. The low-sugar version with orange zest says to serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 week, and the version sweetened with honey or maple syrup says up to 5 days. Those are different recipes, so treat them as a guide rather than a rule for this one. If you want one number to plan around, the shorter figure of 5 days is the cautious choice.

Cranberries and freezing

Penn State Extension says fresh cranberries are usually good in the refrigerator for two weeks. Bags of cranberries can go straight into the freezer for up to twelve months; use them without thawing and rinse them under cold water first. The same page says a major cranberry company advises against freezing cranberry sauce ahead of time, because the cell walls break down and the sauce turns watery when thawed. It gives no freezer time for the sauce. The page notes that some people freeze it anyway and stir it together after thawing.

Adding orange

Orange is not in the basic recipe above. In Ocean Spray’s low-sugar and honey or maple versions, 1 teaspoon of fresh orange zest is stirred in off the heat, and orange juice is optional. Those recipes also use less sugar, so check them before you change this one.

Serving it with turkey? See our guide to turkey roasting times and safe temperature.

Sources

• Ocean Spray: Fresh Cranberry Sauce
• Ocean Spray: Low-Sugar Cranberry Sauce (storage up to 1 week)
• Ocean Spray: Naturally Sweetened Cranberry Sauce (storage up to 5 days)
• Penn State Extension: Preserving Cranberries