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Home » Recipes

Homemade cranberry sauce with pears | No refined sugar

Published: Nov 23, 2015 · Modified: Dec 15, 2022 by Rose McAvoy · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

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Homemade cranberry sauce recipes frequently call for full cups of sugar so you wind up making more of a super sweet jam than a sauce that tastes like the fruit you used. I much prefer to taste the ingredients I went to the trouble of preparing. The tartness of cranberries provides an essential juxtaposition to the heavy richness in the rest of the Thanksgiving meal.

no sugar cranberry sauce recipe

I know you grew up sliding your cranberry sauce out of a can. Jellied cranberry sauce with, its iconic ridges, was proudly displayed on my family's Thanksgiving table too. I'm also sure, by now you have gotten the message, homemade cranberry sauce is the best cranberry sauce. It is by-far the easiest traditional Thanksgiving side dish to make yourself. In its most basic form all you need a few cups of cranberries, some liquid, and something to sweeten the tart berries. From there you have a blank canvas to put your own stamp on the recipe.

Homemade Cranberry-Pear Sauce

One of my favorite ways to personalize cranberry sauce is by adding another fruit to the mixture. Fresh cranberries are very assertive. Their flavor will shine over almost any other fruit you might use, but the second fruit can still play a big part.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

From the perspective of a healthy eater aiming to keep her same pants size through the holidays, the addition of another fruit to cranberry sauce is a easy way to stay on track. Fruit gives homemade cranberry sauce more body and texture so it can hold its own along side the other side dishes on your holiday plate. More fruit also adds volume, making this lower calorie item more filling to help you eat a little less of the high calorie items. Finally, and this is my favorite reason, fruits like apples, oranges, or pears in your homemade cranberry sauce provide a natural sweetness reducing or eliminating the need for additional sugar - thus increasing the nutritional value.

Homemade Cranberry-Pear Sauce

This cranberry sauce recipe ticks all of the boxes. The cranberries are allowed to be tart but the tanginess is softened by the subtle sweetness of pears, orange, and a touch of agave. Fresh ginger gives the finished sauce a bit of celebratory spice to perfectly compliment any holiday roast from turkey to lamb to prime rib. Go a little more savory and festive and include some fresh rosemary to really make the sauce sing.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Sauce with Pears

Rose McAvoy
The tanginess of this homemade cranberry sauce is allowed to shine balanced by the subtle sweetness of pears, orange, fresh ginger, and a touch of agave.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings
Calories 68 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb 2-3 ripe pears, diced
  • ½ cup liquid see notes
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cup fresh cranberries
  • 2 tablespoon agave may substitute honey, from bees, or maple syrup, from trees
  • optional: 1 tablespoon of finely minced fresh rosemary

Instructions
 

  • In a medium sauce pan, combine the pears, water, ginger, orange zest and salt. Simmer over medium heat until the pears begin to soften, approximately 15 minutes, stir frequently.
  • Add the cranberries and agave and continue cooking and stirring frequently, until the cranberries have softened and most have popped. The mixture should look like a crimson applesauce, approximately 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low to prevent boiling. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
  • Once cooled store refrigerated, in a sealed container. The sauce may be made several days in advance and should keep for more than a week.

Notes

You can try several combinations to make up the ½ cup of liquid in this recipe. I recommend using the juice of an orange (the one you zested) then add water to equal a ½ cup.
To give your sauce a little more zing, add a few tablespoons of apple cider or white wine vinegar to the mixture just make sure to keep the total amount of liquid to ½ cup.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 68kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 0.3gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 98mgFiber: 3.3gSugar: 12g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

more homemade cranberry sauce ideas:

Cranberry Quince Sauce on Blue Kale Road

Clean Eating Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce on The Gracious Pantry

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jane, The Heritage Cook

    September 04, 2017 at 8:02 pm

    5 stars
    What a beautiful, delicious, and creative take on cranberry sauce Rose! This is a keeper!!

    Reply
    • Rose McAvoy

      September 26, 2017 at 3:03 pm

      Thanks Jane!

      Reply

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