Name: Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 3 min
Total time: 28 min
Ingredients: 24 oz / 680 g fresh or frozen cranberries; ½ cup / 100 g sugar (, granulated white or cane sugar is best); ½ cup / 120 mls maple syrup (, (real, natural maple syrup, not pancake syrup)); ⅓ cup / 80 mls red wine or port (, orange juice for an alcohol free alternative); 1 large orange (, zest and juice of); 1 medium cinnamon stick; 1 approx 3 inch piece of fresh rosemary

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Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce! Made in only a few minutes and you can use fresh or frozen cranberries. No stirring, no fuss and make it up to 2 weeks ahead. It's sweet and tart and makes the perfect accompaniment to your holiday feast. Stovetop instructions are included in the recipe notes.

If you have never made Cranberry Sauce in an Instant Pot Before, this is your time! It is so easy. Throw it all in, set and forget. One pot, 3 minutes cooking time, done.

It frees up space, because one less pan on the stove top, and it means you don't have to keep an eye on it or stir it either.

Want to know something interesting too? Cooking in an Instant Pot is the perfect method for creating a jam-like cranberry sauce because it extracts more pectin during the cooking process, which in turn means that less sugar is needed to create a jammy consistency.

How to make Cranberry Sauce in an Instant Pot

The basic Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce ingredients are:

cranberries
maple syrup
sugar
orange zest
orange juice
cinnamon
fresh rosemary
and a little red wine or port to take it up a notch - It is the holidays! ;O)

That's it.

And this is how it's going down:

Everything goes in, except for 1 cup of cranberries which you'll reserve until the end.

Out comes foamy, slightly strange looking cranberry sauce. It's normal, stick with me. It doesn't stay that way for long.

Add the reserved cranberries (hello pretty!) and give it all a good stir. At this stage it might look a little runny but don't worry because as it cools it will thicken up and become "jammy" and the residual heat will cook the newly added cranberries to perfection before it cools down.

Please note that this recipe has only been tested in a 6 quart Instant Pot. Despite the relatively low volume of liquid it comes to pressure just fine. This might not be the case in an 8 quart.

See the recipe notes for how to make this recipe on the stovetop.

Reasons I love this Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

It's low to no effort
You can use fresh or frozen cranberries
It's super quick to make
You can make it up to 2 weeks in advance
It's sweet and tart and delicious
It elevates any holiday meal

How to store Cranberry Sauce

Once decanted into jars, this Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge. I am sure you could can it too although I haven't tried.

Can you freeze cranberry sauce?

Cranberry Sauce freezes very well.

First, allow it to cool completely in the Instant Pot, then transfer it to freezer safe, airtight containers. It can be frozen for up to 4 months.

When you need it simply remove from the freezer and allow to defrost in the fridge overnight. At this stage you can serve it as it is, but if you feel it needs thickening, transfer to a saucepan and heat over a medium heat. Allow to simmer, stirring frequently until it has thickened to your liking. Remember though that it will thicken more as it cools.

Ways to use leftover cranberry sauce

There are no shortage of ways to use cranberry sauce.

Here are a few ideas:

With your vegan roast (see pic above for drool factor ..)
With your Vegan Meatloaf or Mushroom Lentil Loaf
With leftovers of all the above
in vegan gravy to add extra flavour
add a few tablespoons to your barbecue sauce for a fruity twist
sandwiches
panini
burgers
bowl meals
as a glaze for seitan or tofu or tempeh
in smoothies
with vegan cheese

Success Tips

Choose plump, firm cranberries with a deep red colour. Fresh or frozen are fine. No adjustments need to be made if you use frozen ones.
Don't forget to reserve the 1 cup of cranberries to add once the rest of the sauce has cooked. Doing this provides the perfect combination of jamminess and cooked, but slightly firm whole cranberries.
I don't recommend subbing more sugar for the maple syrup if you are making this in an Instant Pot because the liquid is necessary for it to come to pressure. If however you are cooking it on the stovetop, you can use sugar in place of the maple syrup.
I don't recommend switching the sugar for more maple syrup as the finished sauce won't end up jammy enough, especially when cooked in an Instant Pot.
I don't recommend reducing the sweeteners in this recipe. The finished sauce is slightly sweet and quite tart. Less sugar and maple syrup and it will be too tart. Also using less sugar will affect the consistency.
Use white or light cane sugar. Darker sugar will affect the colour and taste of the sauce.
If the cranberry sauce gets a little too thick, simply add a tablespoon or two of water and heat it over a low heat, stirring as you go.

Can I double this recipe?

You can double the recipe but do not fill your Instant Pot more than half way. The cranberries create a lot of foam for some reason and if you fill the Instant Pot too much that foam will start escaping through the vent as it cooks.

Can I make it alcohol free?

The wine or port adds a lovely richness to the cranberry sauce, but if you don't consume alcohol, simply replace the wine with more orange juice or water.

HUNGRY FOR MORE?

If you love cranberries then you might also enjoy my Cranberry Topped Mushroom Lentil Loaf, Cranberry Apple Pear Vegan Crumble and my Walnut Apple Cranberry Smoothie.

And if you love this recipe, please do check out my cookbook, and subscribe to my email list for a fabulous FREE eCookbook featuring my top 10 recipes. Being on the list means you will be first to see my new recipes and you’ll be kept in the loop on all things new and exciting too!

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce