The best Vegan Cranberry Sauce! Packed with sweet, tart flavours it makes the perfect accompaniment to your holiday feast. Make it in only 15 minutes using either fresh or frozen cranberries. (Includes stovetop and Instant Pot instructions).
If you have never made your own cranberry sauce before, this is your time! It is so easy and tastes way better than the canned kind.
My vegan cranberry sauce is packed with flavour thanks to the addition of orange juice, orange zest, rosemary, cinnamon and a splash of festive booze (which can be switched for orange juice if alcohol isn't your thing)!
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This is a vegan Thanksgiving recipe or vegan Christmas recipe that no holiday dinner table should be without!
Is canned cranberry sauce vegan?
Most canned cranberry sauce doesn't contain obvious animal ingredients, but of course, it has sugar in it and some brands of sugar are not vegan, so it's always worth checking with the manufacturer. I've also heard (although never seen myself) that some of the jellied kinds can contain gelatin which would make them non-vegan.
Worth a mention too is that some of the higher-end jars of cranberry sauce can sometimes contain honey or alcohol. Honey makes them automatically not vegan, and the alcohol again depends on what was used. Some wines, ports and sherries are vegan and some aren't.
So basically there is no straight answer, but making your own takes any doubt out of the equation though. And the added bonus is it tastes a million times better, and you avoid having to slide that unpleasant jiggly cylinder of sauce out of the can!
What ingredients and equipment do you need?
(For detailed measurements and instructions, see the printable recipe card).
The ingredients in my vegan cranberry sauce are:
- cranberries
- sugar (or sugar and maple syrup in the instant pot)
- orange zest
- orange juice
- cinnamon
- fresh rosemary
- and a little red wine or port to take it up a notch - It is the holidays! Don't worry though. If you don't cook with alcohol you can use orange juice instead.
How to make Vegan Cranberry Sauce
Making your own cranberry sauce is really easy and you can cook it in a pan on the stovetop or in an Instant Pot if you have one.
Here's how it's done in 2 easy steps:
Step 1 - Everything goes in, except for 1 cup of cranberries which you'll reserve until the end. Cook until the cranberries start breaking down.
Step 2 - 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.
The method is much the same whether you are making Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce or stovetop cranberry sauce. See the recipe card below for full and detailed directions.
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.
- If making Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce, I don't recommend subbing more sugar for the maple syrup 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.
- Don't reduce the sweeteners in this recipe. The finished sauce is slightly sweet and quite tart. Less sugar and 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 or orange juice and heat it over low heat.
How do you cut tartness in cranberry sauce?
Once the sauce has cooked and is still hot, you can very carefully taste the cranberry sauce to check how tart it is. Remember when tasting it that it should be quite tart and not sweet. The tartness is what balances the meal and cuts through the richness of the holiday food. If you think it is too tart for you though, while it's still hot, add some more sugar to taste. This should be done while it is hot because the sugar will dissolve easily.
How to store Cranberry Sauce
Once decanted into jars, this Vegan Cranberry Sauce will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge. I am sure you could can it too but I haven't tried.
Can you freeze cranberry sauce?
Cranberry Sauce freezes very well. First, allow it to cool completely in the pan, 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.
How to use cranberry sauce
There are no shortage of ways to use cranberry sauce, the most popular being with holiday dinners at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Here are some more ideas:
- with vegan roast and vegan mashed sweet potato
- with Vegan Meatloaf or Mushroom Lentil Loaf
- with leftovers of all the above
- with vegan sausages, roasted red cabbage, vegan mashed potatoes and gravy
- in vegan gravy to add extra flavour. Just a couple of tablespoons is all you need.
- add a few tablespoons to your barbecue sauce for a fruity twist
- in sandwiches
- in panini
- in burgers
- on bowl meals
- swirl through vegan yogurt
- as a glaze for seitan or tofu or tempeh
- in smoothies
- serve it with toast or oatmeal and some peanut or almond butter
- with vegan cheese. it works really well with my vegan feta cheese
- use in place of the raspberry jam in this raspberry walnut squares recipe
HUNGRY FOR MORE?
Love cranberries? You might also enjoy my:
- Cranberry Topped Mushroom Lentil Loaf
- Cranberry Apple Pear Vegan Crumble
- Walnut Apple Cranberry Smoothie
- Quinoa Cranberry Salad
- Cranberry Pecan Brussels Sprout Salad
📖 Recipe
The Best Vegan Cranberry Sauce
Author:Ingredients
- 24 oz / 680 g fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 cup / 200 g white or cane sugar , if using an Instant Pot use ½ cup (100g) sugar & ½ cup (120 mls) maple syrup (the liquid is necessary for it to come to pressure)
- ⅓ cup / 80 mls vegan red wine or port , or 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
INSTRUCTIONS
To make on the stovetop
- Wash the cranberries and pick out any soft ones. Reserve 1 cup of them and add the rest along with everything else to a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until the sauce is thickening and becoming jammy and the cranberries are breaking down. Usually about 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and discard the rosemary and cinnamon stick. Have a quick taste but be very careful as it will be super hot. Now is the time to add more sugar if you want to because it will dissolve in the heat. Remember though that it is supposed to be tart. It's job is to cut through the richness of your holiday food.
- Add the reserved cranberries and stir them in. The residual heat will cook them enough before it cools down and give the sauce good texture.
- Allow to cool completely before decanting into jars or freezer-safe containers.
To make in an Instant Pot
- Wash the cranberries and pick out any soft ones. Scoop out about 1 cup and reserve until the end. Put the rest in the Instant Pot.
- Add the sugar, maple syrup, red wine, orange juice and zest and give it a stir. Put the cinnamon stick and rosemary on top.
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot and seal the vent. Cook for 3 minutes on high pressure and leave the pressure to release naturally. Once the pin has dropped, open the lid. It will look foamy and unappetizing but don't panic. Discard the cinnamon stick and rosemary, and add the reserved cranberries. The residual heat is enough to cook them. Stir well. Now it looks good. Have a quick taste. Be careful as it will be very hot. If you find it too sour, now is the time to add a little more sugar because it will dissolve in the heat. Keep in mind though that a little tartness is good as it works really well with your rich festive foods.
- Allow to cool completely. The lid can be on or off at this point but it will cool more quickly with the lid off. Once cool, decant into jars or freezer safe containers.
NOTES
- 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.
- If making Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce, I don't recommend subbing more sugar for the maple syrup because the liquid is necessary for the pot to come to pressure.
- If using an Instant Pot, don't switch the sugar for more maple syrup as the finished sauce won't end up jammy enough.
- Don't reduce the sweeteners in this recipe. The finished sauce is slightly sweet and quite tart. Less sugar or 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 or orange juice and heat it over low heat.
- Use orange juice instead of wine if you want to
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
This recipe was originally published on December 3rd 2019. I've changed the name, added stovetop directions instead of just Instant Pot, and now I am republishing it for you. The actual recipe remains the same. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for following A Virtual Vegan!
Recipe FAQs
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.
You can easily double the recipe but be aware that if you are using an Instant Pot you should not fill it more than halfway. The cranberries create a lot of foam and if you fill the Instant Pot too much that foam will start escaping through the vent as it cooks.
Roz says
Hi, haven't made this cranberry sauce yet but can I use 'White Port'? If not I'll just use Orange juice.
Many thanks
Roz
Melanie McDonald says
I have actually never tried white port. I'm thinking it's probably not as thick, rich and sweet as red port though. Without having tried it I wouldn't like to say how it would turn out but my gut feeling is that it would be ok but not quite as good as when made with red. Personally I'd rather some alcohol than none though so if it were me I'd give it a go. You could always scale the recipe right down to make a smaller amount and see what you think before making another batch. Hope that helps!
Patricia G. says
Made it - it was great, and enough left over for sandwiches this week - all gone now. Cooked it on the stove a few days early - seems too much of a hassle to haul out the Instant pot for a relatively short time saving - imho.
Heard of someone who uses Grand Marnier in theirs, which sounds interesting as orange is a very good complement to cranberries....
elisabetta says
This is divine! Made it with ground cinnamon as didn't have a cinnamon stick. It was so yummy the first batch got eaten all and making some more now for Xmas dinner.