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Homemade Cranberry Sauce

By Samira Kazan

updated March 27, 2025

Pass the cranberry sauce! Made with fresh or frozen berries, this easy cranberry sauce recipe is a staple Thanksgiving side dish and an extra treat at Christmas.

Of all the holiday side dishes, a classic cranberry sauce is usually the most maligned. And who can blame them – especially when it comes from a can. Luckily, I’m always on hand to bring out my fresh cranberry sauce recipe whenever the holiday season rolls around.

Cranberries recipes for Thanksgiving are a dime a dozen – and increasingly inventive. But I’m sticking with the staple and creating cranberry sauce from scratch that’s both delicious AND great with Thanksgiving turkey or roasted turkey breast .

If you’re looking to complete your holiday table, check out my other Thanksgiving side dishes for easy, crowd-pleasing recipes that pair perfectly with turkey, stuffing, and all the fixings.

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Ingredients for Cranberry Sauce
How to Make Cranberry Sauce
How Long Does Homemade Cranberry Sauce Last
What Is Cranberry Sauce Used For
FAQs
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Ingredients for Cranberry Sauce

This delicous homemade sauce requires just a few staple ingredients.

Fresh or frozen cranberries: Fresh cranberry sauce doesn’t have to be made with fresh cranberries. Use whatever you have to hand.
Sugar: I prefer to use granulated or caster sugar so it dissolves faster, though you can use brown sugar, cane sugar, or even maple syrup.
Water: filtered or tap water is fine.
Orange juice: You can substitute this with more water. But I love the citrus sweetness that cuts through a tart Thanksgiving cranberry sauce.
Orange zest (optional): Go for the zest from larger, eating oranges – you buy less but get more zest!
Cinnamon: I like to use ground cinnamon. Though you can also use mixed spice or nutmeg if you don’t have cinnamon or cinnamon stick.

Can I Use Frozen Cranberries for Cranberry Sauce

Yes! Making cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries or frozen doesn’t really change the taste of the finished product. You don’t even have to thaw your frozen fruit too much either. The best cranberry recipes (including mine) can be made with the fruit in any state.

How to Make Cranberry Sauce

For this fresh cranberry sauce recipe, start by zesting and juicing your orange.

For more tips, check out how to zest citrus and my 3 methods for how to make orange juice .

Place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a soft boil over medium heat. Stir to allow the sugar to dissolve. Boil for 10- 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The Thanksgiving cranberry sauce will begin to thicken as the berries start to pop, creating the texture of a cranberry jam.

Taste test before removing from the heat. The homemade cranberry sauce will continue to thicken even after it’s been removed from the heat.

Transfer to a serving bowl and let cool down.

Is Cranberry Sauce Served Hot or Cold

Traditionally, cranberries for Thanksgiving are served cold or at room temperature. This orange cranberry sauce makes a nice palate cleanser amongst all the hot food at a holiday dinner.

How Long Does Homemade Cranberry Sauce Last

Like most simple cranberry sauce recipes, this one is not designed to last very long. If making cranberry sauce ahead of time, it will keep for up to 2 weeks in an unopened, sterilized container in the fridge. Once opened, useit within 4 days.

Can You Freeze Cranberry Sauce

Yes! Thanksgiving cranberry sauce freezes very well. First, make sure the cranberry sauce cools to room temperature. Store in an air-tight freezer-friendly container for up to 4-6 months. You can even store in ice cube trays for small portions of this cranberry sauce recipe.

To use, simply defrost in the fridge overnight and enjoy.

What Is Cranberry Sauce Used For

Homemade cranberry sauce isn’t just for the holidays! Here are some of my favorite ways to use my fresh cranberry sauce recipe:

Serve with Thanksgiving or a Christmas dinner roast, where turkey is traditional. Though it pairs well with other white meats, like chicken.
For a festive, vegan alternative dinner, drizzle cranberry sauce over this delicious Stuffed Butternut Squash – which uses fresh cranberries inside too.
You can also use it as a drizzle over a Christmas Mushroom Wellington .
Add it as a zingy dip or jam to a Cheese Board . Homemade cranberry sauce is a beautiful compliment to creamy cheeses like brie, goat (chevre), and even cheddar cheese.
Whip up a festive bread pudding. But swap out the traditional currants or sultanas and replace them with fresh cranberries and plenty of Thanksgiving cranberry sauce.

What to Do with Leftover Cranberry Sauce

Is it just me who thinks the leftovers are better than the meal itself?

Make festive leftover turkey sandwiches using leftover turkey (or chicken) and using homemade cranberry sauce in place of butter or mayo.
Replace the jam or sauce in a yogurt parfait with a drizzle of cranberry sauce.
Top your pancakes with it alongside some forest fruits.
Stir into a vinaigrette for a tart, zesty salad dressing.
Drizzle over some fresh Christmas cookies. Or even incorporate cranberry sauce and the fresh berries into the recipe, like with my Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies .

Try cooking it for longer – this will encourage it to thicken. If it doesn’t, use a little tapioca or cornstarch.

No. Just store it in a clean, sterilized jar/container in the refrigerator, unopened. Once opened, it will be good for up to 4 days. It can also be frozen if you’re making it in advance.

Yes, but the texture will be different and cooking times may change. There may also be a lot more sugar in canned cranberries.

More Thanksgiving Side Dishes

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Quick Dinner Rolls

IngredientsUS CustomaryMetric1x2x3x

▢ 7 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
▢ 1.5 cups white sugar
▢ 1 cup orange juice
▢ 1 orange zest
▢ 1 cup water
▢ 1 cinnamon stick
▢ 1/8 tsp salt

This will yield about2.5 cups (25 oz/710 g)

Instructions

Rinse the cranberries and remove any damaged ones.
In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, water, orange juice, sugar, cinnamon stick, orange zest, and a pinch of salt.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium-low.
Simmer for 10-15 minutes , stirring occasionally, until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens.
Remove from heat and let cool completely—it will continue to thicken as it cools.
Discard the cinnamon stick before serving.

Storage Instructions

Fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 10 days . Freezer: Freeze in a sealed container for up to 3 months . Thaw in the fridge overnight. Make-Ahead: Tastes even better after a day or two as the flavors develop. Reheating: Enjoy cold, at room temp, or warm it gently on the stovetop.

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Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Recipes › Desserts

Almond Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

By Samira Kazan

updated September 21, 2020

Delicious gluten-free, vegan bite-size almond & pistachio thumbprint cookies. Not only are they easy to make- they can either be baked or kept as a no-bake cookie recipe!

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These almond pistachio thumbprint cookies are a delicious vegan and gluten-free cookies recipe using almond flour and pistachio butter. Unlike your generic shortbread thumbprint cookies, these vegan bite-size snacks have a delightful crumbly almond base and can be cooked or kept as a no-bake cookie recipe.

Depending on whether you want these as raw snacks or baked cookies, they are delicious. However, it’s worth noting that there will be some textural difference.

For the raw version, these pistachio thumbprint cookies are a little more gooey and moist. In comparison, when baked, these cookies are more crumbly.

Delicious gluten-free, vegan bite-size snacks; almond & pistachio thumbprint cookies recipe. Not only are they easy to make- they can either be baked or kept as a no-bake cookie recipe! - 9

I always love to switch up classic recipes and decided that rather than using the usual choice of jam filling for this thumbprint cookie recipe, I used some homemade pistachio butter .

Pistachio butter is one of the most delicious, decadent version of all nut butters and yet can be made at home with just pistachios, salt and a blender or food processor. Plus the pistachio flavour compliments the flavour of the gluten-free almond cookies.

These cookies are then an excellent healthier cookie snack option. They can also be displayed in mini cupcake cakes, in a gift box, for a delicious homemade edible gift at Christmas (or any time of the year!).

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you’ll know that I’ve been cooking up a storm this festive period, with a new recipe posted every day. Honestly, I couldn’t wait for the day to share these pistachio thumbprint cookies though because they are one of my favourite treats so far.

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I’ve very recently compiled a post for the ultimate guide to homemade nut & seed butters, so I have spent a LOT of time this year in the kitchen blending up delicious nut butters and nut butter recipes. As much as I have a soft spot for good old almond butter, pistachio butter has taken my heart.

While it’s not a nut butter you’d want to eat by the spoonful every day (or rather you would – but your hips wouldn’t like it!), pistachio butter has an incredible luxury element that works well in so many different recipes. Check out my pistachio butter post for some inspiration.

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Variations on these thumbprint cookies
How To Make The Thumbprint Cookies
Other great snack recipes you may like
Pistachio Almond Cookies Recipe

Variations on these thumbprint cookies

Obviously, my filling of choice is my homemade pistachio butter. However, you can experiment with various fillings including a delicious vegan homemade Nutella , the classic choice of jam, or even some vegan chocolate chips (that will melt from the heat and be heavenly!).

For a sweeter pistachio creme style filling, melt some white chocolate in a heatproof bowl then mix in some pistachio butter with a dash of homemade vanilla powder .

You can also make a delicious chocolate version of these pistachio thumbprint cookies by adding some cocoa powder into the base almond cookies recipe. If the biscuit mix feels too crumbly after adding the powder, add another tsp of coconut oil to offset the powder.

Plus, you can experiment with additional toppings for the pistachio thumbprint cookies. For example, a drizzle of melted white chocolate is a lovely dessert-like touch.

Note* For vegan cookies use dairy-free white chocolate and chocolate chips.

How To Make The Thumbprint Cookies

This pistachio thumbprint cookies recipe is super simple and can be made in just five minutes if you’re keeping them raw. Or around 20 minutes, if baking- which means they’re an excellent option for a last-minute edible gift idea or to whip up on busy days when you don’t have much time to spare.

the ingredients for vegan, gluten-free thumbprint cookies - 13

The almond cookies base is made up of almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, coconut flour and cardamon.

Don’t fret if you don’t have almond flour to hand though as this can be whizzed up in a couple of minutes. Blitz some raw almonds in a high-speed food processor for a couple of minutes and you’ll get homemade almond flour, which is a great gluten-free flour to have to hand at all times.

This recipe is also a great way to use leftover almond pulp after making homemade almond milk . Simply allow the pulp to dry out, and it’s ready to use as almond flour.

Note* For this particular recipe the ground almonds don’t have to be too fine, which is why any of the above options will work fine for the almond cookies recipe.

The method

To begin, mix the almond flour with the other base ingredients and then form small, one bite-sized cookies. If you want you can measure these out and use around 1tbsp per cookie. However, I eyeballed it and made 14 of them.

To make them into thumbprint cookies, the process is precisely what it says. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, and then you can use a finger/ thumb to make the indentations. You could also use the rounded back of a spoon. In fact, I used a small 1/2 tsp measuring spoon for an even indentation in each cookie.

If you’re in a hurry to enjoy these delicious cookies, then you can have these as a no-bake cookie recipe by simply adding some pistachio butter to them now and decorating with some pomegranate seeds and chopped pistachios.

Note* Due to the gluten-free nature of these cookies and the lack of dairy, these cookies are more crumbly than general cookie dough so cracking around the edges when pressing your indentation is perfectly normal.

However, if you want to bake the cookies, then you can now bake them in the oven either in mini cupcake cups or on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

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These only take ten minutes to bake in the oven and will turn a lovely golden colour around the edges.

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If you want to use some chocolate chips as a filling, you’ll want to add these to the cookies while they’re still warm, so they melt into the thumbprint.

For the pistachio butter-filled cookies, allow the cookies to cool down a bit before filling them.

homemade two ingredient pistachio butter - 18

Again you can decorate the pistachio cookies with pomegranate seeds and ground pistachios or even a sprinkle of desiccated coconut. Also, feel free to experiment with other fillings and toppings of your choice.

For a sweeter, dessert-like version you can drizzle some white chocolate over the cookies at the end. Or, for a chocolate thumbprint cookie version, you can add some cocoa powder into the base almond cookie recipe.

Other great snack recipes you may like

For another delicious no-bake snack recipe, you may like these healthy cacao & almond protein balls or these coconut bliss balls . These 4-Ingredient Stuffed Dates: with home-made almond butter & Chocolate are always a winner too!