Low sugar cranberry sauce with pears

Low sugar cranberry sauce in a bowl next to Bartlett pears, on a thanksgiving board

5 from 1 vote

Low sugar cranberry sauce with pears

Pears add sweetness and texture to this whole cranberry sauce, so added sugar can be reduced

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Servings: servings (½ cup each)

Calories: 65kcal

Ingredients

1 bag whole cranberries 12 ounce bag
1 large pear or 2 medium
¼ cup apple juice or apple cider
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon or ground ginger
½ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Prepare fruit

Rinse cranberries, then add to a non-reactive pot (non stick, stainless steel, or enamel coated dutch oven). Dice pear(s) into a size similar to the cranberries. Leave the skin on.

Cook cranberry sauce

Add all ingredients except vanilla to the saucepan. Heat over medium until it simmers and maintain that simmer. Cook until the cranberries burst open and the sauce starts to thicken. About 15 minutes.
Taste: taste the sauce. If it's too tart, add more sugar. Add more ginger, or even cinnamon if you'd like at this point.
Remove from heat, then stir in vanilla extract. (Adding vanilla while cooking loses its flavor).

Store

Let the cranberry sauce cool, then store it in the fridge. It will continue to thicken as it cools. It is thickest if allowed to cool overnight in the fridge. Sauce will easily keep 5-7 days.

Notes

How to test cranberry sauce thickness

Cranberry sauce thickens as it cools - and you can test how much it will thicken with a little trick.

Place a plate in the freezer before you start cooking. Once the cranberry sauce looks ready, take the plate out of the freezer. Use a small spoon to scoop some sauce onto the plate and spread it out a bit (like a swipe of jam). Wait 1 minute. If it starts to thicken, the sauce is ready. If it is really runny, continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Only ¼ cup liquid? That's correct - you only needed added liquid to keep the cranberries from scorching on the bottom of the pan. Once heated, they release their own liquid. This means you cook it less and can use less sugar (see post for more info!)

Bitter cranberry sauce? See post for details on how to fix it.

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Nutrition