I didn’t like cranberry sauce, so I certainly didn’t think there could be a perfect cranberry sauce. But knowing I was having company for Christmas that did indeed love cranberry sauce, I wanted to at least try and be a good sport.

This richly spiced recipe takes just 4 minutes to cook! Toss everything into your Instant Pot, set it and forget it until it’s time to eat.

Orange

Use orange juice rather than water. One large orange will give you about 3/4 cup, but if it doesn’t quite make it there, don’t cut open another orange. The one I juiced was pretty large. Get as much juice as you can from one big orange, and add it to a measuring cup. Add as much water as it takes to get the total liquid measure to 3/4 cup.

Be sure to zest that orange and use it for the cranberry sauce, too!

More flavor

It’s all the other things in this recipe that truly make this the perfect cranberry sauce. A pinch of cinnamon and cloves and tossing a small sprig of rosemary in the pot while everything cooks together gives the sauce incredible flavor.

While it’s good to mash the cranberries as they cook down, be sure to leave some of them intact for a nice presentation and different textures within the sauce.

After the sauce is done cooking, leave the sprig of rosemary in the pot until you’re ready to serve. If you plan on making this cranberry sauce a day or two ahead, leave the rosemary in until you’re ready to eat.

above shot of a small bowl of cranberry sauce, garnished with fresh rosemary and orange slices.

Storage

This perfect cranberry sauce keeps well in the fridge. You can hang on to any leftovers for a month. You could probably keep it longer, but it’s never lasted more than that in our house!

Print
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above shot of a small bowl of cranberry sauce, garnished with fresh rosemary and orange slices.

Perfect Cranberry Sauce

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  • Author: Megan
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Pressure Release: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 4 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4 cups 1x
  • Category: Condiments
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

Description

This richly spiced cranberry sauce cooks in just 4 minutes in your Instant Pot!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
  • zest of one orange (the same orange you juiced)
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/8th tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8th tsp ground cloves
  • 12 medium sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 24 oz fresh cranberries

Instructions

  1. Combine the orange juice, zest, sugars, cinnamon, cloves and rosemary sprigs into the insert of a 6 quart Instant pot. Use a spatula or spoon to stir everything together until the cranberries are well coated in the sugar.
  2. Secure the lid onto the Instant pot and select the “manual” or “pressure cook” setting. Adjust the pressure to high and be sure that the valve is set to “venting” before setting the timer.
  3. Set the timer for 4 minutes. After cooking the cranberry sauce, allow the pressure to naturally release according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
  4. Remove the lid and discard the rosemary. Use a potato masher to crush the cranberries as desired for your sauce’s texture.
  5. You can serve the cranberry sauce at room temperature, or transfer it to a sealed storage container and refrigerate until needed. Refrigerate any leftovers and use within a month.


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/4 cup
  • Calories: 155
  • Sugar: 37.3 g
  • Sodium: 1.9 mg
  • Fat: 0.3 g
  • Saturated Fat: 0 g
  • Trans Fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 40.6 g
  • Fiber: 1.5 g
  • Protein: 0.2 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg