Homemade cranberry sauce is the perfect complement to holiday meals, and it’s easy to make and preserve at home. Canning cranberry sauce is easier than you think, and once you’ve made your own, you’ll never go back to storebought.
Jellied cranberry sauce was a staple of my childhood holiday memories, and I loved watching my mom carefully open the can and slide the whole thing out in a single piece. There was an even split across my family, half jellied cranberry sauce devotees and the other half would only eat whole berry cranberry sauce. While I loved jellied as a child, now that I’m an adult, I’ll admit that I’ve gone over t0 the dark side and now I prefer the chunky whole berry stuff.
Though I’ve been canning for years, it just never occurred to me that you could make your own cranberry sauce. A few years ago we were invited over to a friends house for Thanksgiving, and when we arrived the cranberry sauce was just finishing up on the stove.
We’ve butchered our own hogs, cured meats, and even grown our own chocolate, but somehow seeing someone make their own cranberry sauce surprised me. Old habits die hard I guess, and in my mind, cranberry sauce still came out of a tin can.
One bite of homemade cranberry sauce, and I’ll never go back to canned stuff. It had so much flavor! Nuanced layers of tart, sweet, orange and cinnamon danced across my tongue. The turkey that year was so juicy that it really didn’t need it, but I still slathered it on with abandon.
It seemed strange though, Thanksgiving day is such a busy time and the kitchen is jam-packed with activity. Wouldn’t it make sense to cook the cranberry sauce ahead of time? Surely it only improves with a few days in the jar with time for the flavors to marry.
Cranberry sauce is really no different than a jam or jelly when it comes to canning, and it can be made a week, a month or a year ahead of time if you choose. If you’re storing it in the refrigerator, it’s best to make it no more than a week before it’s needed. If you’re canning cranberry sauce, the sky’s the limit.
How to Make Cranberry Sauce for Canning
Whether you’re making whole berry sauce or a smooth jar of jellied cranberry sauce, it starts out the same. Bring equal parts sugar and water to a boil in a pan and allow it to simmer on medium high for about 5 minutes. This creates a hot syrup that will help quickly pop the cranberries open. Once the syrup is good and hot, add in the cranberries.
The first time I did this it caught me off guard a bit. The skin on the cranberries pops open and it’s surprisingly loud. It’s like making popcorn, and I regretted making it when my infant son was sleeping. Keep that in mind, and don’t let the loud cranberry pops scare you. It’s all part of the process!
Once the cranberries pop and begin to release their juices the cranberry sauce will begin to come together. At this point, if you’re making jellied cranberry sauce, the Ball Book of Home Canning suggests straining out the cranberries and putting them through a blender before returning them to the pan. I think it’s easier to turn the heat off right after they all pop and allow the mixture to cool a bit before blending it up with an immersion blender right in the pan. Be careful of splattering!
If you’re making whole berry sauce, just skip that step, but either way keep on boiling the sugar, water and cranberries until it begins to thicken. Like any jam or jelly, watch the fire carefully and beware boiling over. I had to stir down frothy bubbles every minute or so until the sauce was almost ready, and there’s really no walking out of the kitchen when cranberry sauce is cooking.
After about 15 minutes of simmering, the nature of the bubbles will change and you’ll see the syrup quickly begin to thicken. Once the mixture sheets off the back of a metal spoon it’s thickened and ready. You can also test it for texture on a plate that’s been in the freezer. Simply spoon a bit onto the frozen plate and give it a moment to cool to make sure it’s thick enough.
At that point, pour the hot cranberry sauce into canning jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and center 2 part canning lids on top of the jars. Either store in the refrigerator, or process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. Turn off the canner, and wait another 5 minutes before removing the jars.
Allow the cranberry sauce to cool for at least 12 hours before checking seals. Any unsealed jar should be stored in the refrigerator for immediate use. The others can be stored in the pantry at room temperature. Ball canning lids are now guaranteed for at least 18 months, but in practice, they last much longer than that.
For whole berry cranberry sauce, just pop open the jar and give it a stir when you’re ready to serve a meal. Jellied cranberry sauce will slide right out of the jar, just like those old metal cans I remember from my youth. Just be sure to use a smooth sided canning jar, like wide mouth pints, and then run the sides of the sealed jar under hot water in the sink before opening it and gently sliding it out onto a plate.
This recipe is adapted from my go-to canning cookbook, The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.
Cranberry Sauce
This simple cranberry sauce recipe will make either whole berry or jellied cranberry sauce. Canning cranberry sauce allows it to be stored at room temperature, but it can also be stored in the refrigerator for immediate use.
Ingredients
- 4 cups sugar
- 4 cups water
- 8 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cinnamon stick optional
- 1 tbsp orange zest optional
Instructions
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Bring water and sugar to a boil over medium-high heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
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Add cranberries and cook them in the sugar syrup until they pop open. If making jellied cranberry sauce, turn off the heat and allow it to cool slightly before blending with an immersion blender. Skip this step for whole berry sauce.
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Add in the cinnamon stick and simmer the cranberry sauce for about 15 minutes, until it begins to thicken and sheets off the back of a metal spoon. Add the orange zest (if using) in the last few minutes of cooking.
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Ladel the cranberry sauce mixture into canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and seal with 2 part canning lids.
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Either store in the refrigerator for immediate use, or process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. Turn off the canner and wait 5 minutes before removing the jars. Allow the jars to cool to room temperature and check seals before storing at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
Fresh cranberries yield the best cranberry sauce. Previously frozen cranberries also work, but they don't thicken as well for cranberry sauce. Jellied cranberry sauce especially, will have a much softer set if the cranberries were frozen.
If you want to get creative, you can also can up most other homemade cranberry sauce recipes. Cranberries are very acidic, with a pH around 2.5. Anything under 4.2 is safe for water bath canning, and assuming your recipe is mostly cranberries then it should still be well under the safe threshold. Use your best judgment though. Here are a few more recipes to try:
- Apple Cider Cranberry Sauce
- Mulled Wine Cranberry Sauce
- Very Berry Cranberry Sauce
- Spicey Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce
- Bourbon Cranberry Sauce
- Roasted Cranberry Sauce
- Instant Pot Cranberry Orange Sauce
- Ginger Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Orange
Lisa
Hello Ashley,
I just recently came across your web site and Absolutely Love It!
I will be canning some cranberry sauce in the next day or two and was just wondering if the size of the jar matters?
My Ball canning book is MIA at the moment and it has been a long time since I have done any canning.
I will be using quart sized jars.
Thanks So Much,
Lisa
Ashley Adamant
Hi Lisa, This recipe is only tested by the national center for home food preservation in half-pint or pint jars. That said, it’s wicked acidic and full of sugar and I rationally see no reason why you couldn’t can it up in quarts. Just know it’s not a “tested” way to can it and that you should use your own best judgment.
I do plenty of thick, sugary preserves in quart jars (ie. apple pie filling) and just so long as you’re extra careful to get the air bubbles out it should be fine. The recommendation is 15 minutes process time for both half pint and pint jars, and personally, I’d add an extra 5 minutes (or 10 to be extra safe) for quart jars and process them for 20 to 25 minutes. The extra time in the boiling water won’t hurt this preserve.
The main thing I’d watch out for is siphoning, which can happen if you change the temperature too rapidly taking the jars out. Once canning time is over, turn off the heat and leave the jars in there for 5 more minutes before removing them to cool to room temperature. Siphoning can also be an issue with thick liquids if the headspace is wrong or if there are too many air bubbles. Watch the headspace, bubbles and let them sit before removing them.
This all is likely totally overkill, but better safe than sorry.
Lisa
Hi Ashley,
Thanks so much for getting back to me so soon! I did some research about canning jar sizes and decided the quart is probably too big. I did see Ball sells pint and a half (24 oz) jars that I think would be perfect but could not find them locally.
I have decided to use the wide mouth pint jars that I already have for now and just order the pint and a half size later.
I’ll be cooking and canning the cranberry sauce tomorrow while it rains away outside! It will be excellent therapy for a dreary day.
Enjoy your weekend,
Lisa
LaTonya Williams,
Hi Ashley,
I would like to make and give this for gifts. I wanted to know how many 8oz jar will this recipe yield? And can I add blueberries to this recipe?
Thank you
LaTonya
Ashley Adamant
If you’re making whole berry cranberry sauce this recipe will make about eight 8-ounce jars. For jellied cranberry sauce, most the bulk is filtered out and it makes quite a bit less. The jellied cranberry sauce variation should yield roughly four 8-ounce jars.
Yes, you can add blueberries to the whole berry cranberry sauce variation, and that’s totally safe for canning. Be aware that cranberries are a high pectin fruit, and blueberries are a low pectin fruit. That means if you add too many blueberries it’ll take much longer to set up into a jam, and it may be runnier as a result. The yield will also be lower.
With blueberries in it, the pectin concentration might not be high enough to make jellied cranberry sauce. That’ll depend on how many you put in, but I don’t believe it’ll set properly as a jellied sauce. That said, I’ve never personally tried it. Hope this helps and good luck!
Linda Slagle
I just finished making this and it turned out Awesome ,I was given 4 pounds of Dried Cranberries ,I soaked them for a half hour 8 cups for each recipe made , I finished with 23 Pints , Most of witch will go in Christmas Baskets for my Very Large Family along with other things I have Grown here in my Huge Garden ,Thanks so Much for sharing these Recipes for Canning with all of us. You are Greatly Appreciated around Here 🙂
Ashley Adamant
Wow, it never occurred to me to try making this with dried cranberries. Lovely!
Melanie
What do you do with the seeds in the cranberries? Like how do you get them out the most efficient way?
Ashley Adamant
Cranberry seeds are so small that you’ll never notice them in the sauce. They’re literally the size of a pin, and they’re really soft after they cook. If you can see or taste them, I’d be impressed. They really disappear. If it really bothers you though, make jellied cranberry sauce instead of whole berry. With jellied sauce, all the solids are completely filtered out (skins, seeds, etc).
Linda Miller
This recipe is very easy and good. However, we prefer our sauce a little more tart. Can I cut the sugar back to 3 cups? Would I use 3 or 4 cups of water?
Ashley Adamant
Yes, you can definitely cut down the sugar as much as you’d like. When you lower the sugar, I agree lowering the water sounds like an excellent idea, otherwise, you’ll have a much longer cook time. I wouldn’t lower the water below 2 cups for this recipe, because you still need something in there to create the “sauce” part of the cranberry sauce, but changing it up to 3 cups sugar and 3 cups water should work well. (Keep in mind your yield will be lower) Enjoy!
Melanie Gallie
Love the recipe! What really caught my eye was those jars! Would you mind sharing what brand they are? Thank-you!
Ashley Adamant
Of course! They’re Anchor Hocking 8 oz canning jars.
Jeanette
Hi Ashley,
I am about to use your cranberry recipe and was wondring if I can use 1/2 the aount of white and the other 1/2 brown sugar. I am so excitedto try so manyforyou recipes.
Thanks
Ashley Adamant
Yes you can, brown sugar (or honey, maple, etc) are all fine substitutions.