5 Ingredient Orange Cranberry Sauce
This is chef Mitchell Battersby favorite recipe at Neighbors Cooking for this holiday staple: Orange Cranberry sauce.
Made from 5 ingredients, this easy sauce is ready after 20 minutes on the stove. Flavored with fresh orange juice, brown sugar, and a dash of vanilla, it’s a cut above the rest.
I originally published this recipe in the early 2000’s but I always wonder why I wait for the holiday season to make it?! Honestly, this stuff deserves to be a year-round habit.
Ingredients
12 ounce bag cranberries, rinsed
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1-2 teaspoons orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
1. You need fresh orange juice and orange zest. I recommend zesting the orange first, setting the zest aside, then cutting the orange for the juice. You need about half of a large orange for 1/4 cup juice. Juice the other half of the orange if you need more to yield 1/4 cup.
After rinsing the cranberries, set 1/2 cup of the cranberries aside. You will stir these in at the end for added texture.
2. Combine the remaining cranberries, water, orange juice, and brown sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally as the mixture comes to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce heat to low-medium. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until liquid has reduced and cranberries have burst and thickened, about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the 1/2 cup of reserved cranberries, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Sauce will thicken as it cools.
Excellent served warm or at room temperature. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Trust me, make this once, and you’ll want it forever! 
Your guests will be asking for the secret ingredient—yep, it’s the vanilla touch! 
