Cranberry Sauce from Dried Cranberries (without Cranberry Juice)

This recipe makes a delicious and easy Cranberry Sauce from Dried Cranberries without Cranberry Juice. Made with four ingredients in just 30 minutes, it’s the perfect accompaniment to turkey dinner or my cast iron pan-roasted chicken breasts when you can’t find fresh cranberries anywhere.

Read on to learn all about dried cranberries and the key recipe tips and tricks. Or grab a small pot, hit that Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make a cranberry sauce with dried cranberries!

small jar of cranberry sauce and spoon surrounded by dried cranberries.
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Ingredients

Dried cranberries, sugar, two small oranges, and cinnamon on a countertop.

This orange cranberry sauce has only four ingredients: dried cranberries, mandarin oranges or standard oranges, sugar, and a touch of cinnamon. Plus water, if you count that.

 

About dried cranberries

Cranberries are true berries that are grown primarily in North America and Chile and used by indigenous peoples for centuries as food and dyes. Dried cranberries or “craisins” are dehydrated like raisins. For craisins, sugar is often added because cranberries are not naturally sweet. Try to buy unsweetened or lower-sugar craisins, if you can.

Want more dried cranberry recipes? Use craisins in this cranberry pecan chicken salad, cranberry kale salad, homemade gourmet granola, or as a substitute for raisins in this raisin challah.

Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations and substitutions

  • Play around with other spices and add a smidge of allspice, cloves, ginger, or nutmeg.
  • Don’t have mandarin oranges? Sub in a quarter cup of orange juice.
  • Use lemon or lime instead of orange zest and orange juice.
  • Make an apple cranberry sauce with dried cranberries and apples.
  • Go spicy with a jalapeno cranberry sauce.

Recipe tips and tricks

This recipe for making cranberry sauce with dried cranberries is essentially the same way I make cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries.

Step 1: Reconstitute your craisins. This is how you can make cranberry sauce from dried cranberries without cranberry juice.

You can reconstitute dried cranberries either by soaking your cranberries in boiling water for 20 minutes, or microwave them. To microwave, put the cranberries in a microwave-safe dish, cover them with water, microwave on high for a minute, then let them soak for five minutes.

dried cranberries and cranberry seeds in water in a pyrex measuring cup.

Check out those cranberry seeds. The very first time I made this recipe, I didn’t remove those seeds. The texture of my cranberry sauce was unpleasantly gritty.

I’ve also made this cranberry sauce recipe with Ocean Spray dried cranberries. Not only did those cranberries have fewer seeds, but the 6 ounce package is the perfect size for the one cup of cranberries you need for this recipe.

Step 2: Use a small spoon to agitate and then skim off and discard as many of the cranberry seeds as you can without driving yourself crazy, keeping as much of the soaking liquid as possible. If your craisins don’t have seeds, consider yourself lucky!

dried cranberries after reconstitution and skimming off the cranberry seeds.

Step 3: Add your reconstituted dried cranberries, soaking liquid, sugar, orange zest and juice, and cinnamon to a small pot and heat over low heat, stirring occasionally.

dried cranberries, water, orange zest and other ingredients for cranberry sauce in a pot.

Step 4: Heat for about 10 minutes, until the liquid has reduced and is a syrupy consistency. Remove the pan from the heat.

You can stop here or puree the sauce using a food processor or blender. Cool to room temperature or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

bowl of chunky cranberry sauce.

How to serve this craisin cranberry sauce

Your cranberry sauce with dried cranberries is, of course, the perfect accompaniment to Thanksgiving dinner with roast turkey or Dutch oven turkey breast, stuffing, mashed purple sweet potatoes, cavatappi mac and cheese, and maple balsamic Brussels sprouts. But here are a few other ideas:

hand holding spoon in cranberry sauce with dried cranberries surrounding the jar.

Recipe FAQs

How should I store this cranberry sauce?

A cranberry sauce using craisins will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week. Or freeze it in an air-tight container for even longer storage.

Can I make my own craisins?

Sure you can make dried cranberries if you want to control the sugar, but since fresh berries freeze well, and dried cranberries are generally less expensive, I’ve never done it.

Can I make this cranberry sauce so it looks like it came from a can?

Laughs, yes. You’ll have to puree it really well until it’s perfectly smooth. You’ll need a safe edge can opener like this Oxo Smooth Edge, which removes the top of the can without sharp edges. Remove the cranberry sauce from the heat and let it cool in the can.

If you love this cranberry sauce using dried cranberries, check out other Ugly Duckling Bakery recipes

Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.

Recipe

Cranberry Sauce from Dried Cranberries

5 from 4 votes
Category: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 79kcal
This recipe makes a delicious and easy Cranberry Sauce from Dried Cranberries without Cranberry Juice. Takes 30 minutes and just 4 ingredients,
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Equipment

  • 1 small pot

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried cranberries one 6 ounce package
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • zest and juice of 1 medium orange or 2 small oranges
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

  • Put the dried cranberries in a Pyrex measuring cup and pour in boiling water to cover. Let sit for 20 minutes, then scoop out any seeds that have risen to the surface, keeping as much of the liquid as possible.
    1 cup dried cranberries
  • Add the cranberries and their soaking liquid, sugar, orange zest and juice, and cinnamon to a small pot over low heat and cook until the liquid has thickened.
    ¼ cup granulated sugar, zest and juice of 1 medium orange or 2 small oranges, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Remove the cranberry sauce from the heat, and, if desired, puree in a food processor or blender until smooth.
  • Pour into a small bowl and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, until ready to serve.

Notes

This recipe will make about one cup of craisin cranberry sauce.
Instead of reconstituting the dried cranberries for this cranberry sauce in boiling water, you can also put the cranberries in a microwavable bowl, cover them with water, and microwave for a minute on high.
If your dried cranberries have as many seeds as mine do, your cranberry sauce will taste gritty if you don’t remove them.

Nutrition

Calories: 79kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 0.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.02g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.05g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 38mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 38IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.1mg
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6 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I’m in Kazakhstan, and couldn’t find any fresh or frozen cranberries, but I wanted to make cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving abroad. This saved me! I used orange juice and cinnamon and it was perfect. Thank you so much!

    1. So glad my cranberry sauce could be part of your Thanksgiving dinner this year. Thank you for letting me know!

  2. 5 stars
    I had not imagined making cranberry sauce would be that easy. We don’t have fresh cranberries in India and I always have dried ones in my pantry! My daughter is a huge fan. Would try this amazing recipe soon! Thanks for sharing.

    1. Hi Deepti – it’s a great recipe, so feel free to add spices to the dried cranberry sauce to make it work with the flavors you’re using!

  3. 5 stars
    I’ve never used dried cranberries for cranberry sauce before but can’t wait to try it. Especially when sometimes fresh are all sold out during Thanksgiving!

5 from 4 votes (1 rating without comment)

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