This time of year I love having a few cans of cranberry sauce on hand to use in several ways. You can just open a can and pour into a dish to slice and eat along with your holiday meal. It is also good for making a sauce for cocktail lil’ smokies or meatballs. I have also made cranberry chicken or cranberry pork roast in my crock pot.

Some years ago I started making my own cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries when I saw how easy it is to make. I prefer the taste of it over the canned version so now I take the time to make the homemade version every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here is how I make it:

Crockpot Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
1 12oz. bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup of sugar (I like using 1/2 c. white and 1/2 c. brown sugar)
1 cup water or orange juice (I like doing 1/2 c. orange with 1/2 cup cranberry, apple, or Cranapple juice)

Directions:
Spray a small crockpot (under 5 quarts) with cooking spray.  Put clean cranberries in crockpot.  Pour the sugar and juice of choice on top.  Cover and cook on High for 1 hour. Stir and continue cooking another hour. Stir every 15 minutes as the cranberries will soften and pop. Once it is the consistency you want turn off and cool down. Pour into a container and refrigerate over night for the flavors to blend.

Note: This tastes even better made a day or so in advance so that the flavors will have time to sit and blend together. I do a mixture of white and brown sugar to give it an extra flavor boost. Using juice instead of water enhances the flavor as well.

© Content Being Home 2025. All Rights Reserved. All photos, text, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the blog author.