Vegan Cranberry Sauce

A spoon sits in a bowl of plant-based cranberry sauce.

You won't believe how easy it is to make homemade plant-based cranberry sauce. Thanks to orange zest, this version is so much more favorable than any store-bought variety!

Course Sauce

Cuisine American

Diet Vegan

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Resting time 10

Total Time 30

Servings servings

Calories 103kcal

Author Marly McMillen

Ingredients

4 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup light brown sugar (substitute maple syrup, agave nectar or vegan honey)
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
¼ cup water
1 fresh orange

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Place a saucepan over medium heat. Add the cranberries, brown sugar, ground nutmeg, cinnamon stick, and water to the pan. Zest the orange and add around 1 teaspoon of loosely packed orange zest. Then juice the orange and add around 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice. Some oranges produce more or less juice. Just use whatever your orange delivers.
Stir and bring it to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for up to 10 minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat and use tongs to remove the cinnamon stick.
Let this mixture come to room temperature. Then transfer to a lidded container and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. It will thicken as it chills.

Notes

Sugar

I tried reducing the sugar content, but cranberries are on the bitter side, and without adequate sugar, they will make you pucker. You may get away with reducing it to 3/4 cup of sugar, but I prefer the sweeter full cup. I enjoy using light brown sugar because of the hint of caramel flavor it adds.

Nutrition