Last Updated January 2nd, 2022 at 11:46 am by Lisa
A modern twist on Cranberry Sauce, this recipe has fresh pineapple and oranges. It has a wonderfully balanced sweetness with only 4 ingredients and is much lower in sugar than traditional recipes.
Since we never use it all up, I am sharing 8 creative ways to use your extra leftover cranberry sauce in delicious recipes like a Thanksgiving Casserole and many other ideas.
Serve this famous side dish with a modern twist on your table for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Every time I make this recipe, I get so many compliments. The pineapple adds a wonderful island vibe...
⬆Pineapple Cranberry Sauce Video ⬆
Why This Recipe Works
- Traditional cranberry sauce can be a bit tart and SWEET, this one is just right.
- Most recipes call for around 1 CUP OF SUGAR! That is a lot, and this recipe has just ¼ cup because the fresh pineapple adds just the right sweetness level.
- Only 4 ingredients, simple yet different.
What You Need...
Much like a traditional cranberry sauce recipe, this recipe is simple, easy, and requires minimal ingredients.
- 12 oz bag fresh (or frozen) cranberries
- 1 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple (canned is fine too!) and juice
- 3 washed oranges zested and juiced
- ¼ cup white sugar
Optional variations: chopped pecans, apple, pear, dried mixed fruit, orange zest, blood oranges, raisins, currants, cinnamon, nutmeg, or allspice.
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How To Make This Cranberry Sauce?
Step 1: Combine the cranberries, pineapple plus any juice, sugar, and 3 oranges zested and juiced in a medium saucepan.
Step 2: Bring up to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes.
To serve: Let cool completely before serving.
8 Ways to Use Leftover Cranberry Sauce
There is a 100% chance you will have extra sauce this year in your home, so let's get creative and try some new ways to use it.
Fresh cranberry sauce should never go to waste. Its tart-sweet flavor is so versatile and complements a wide variety of dishes. Here are a few ideas.
- Mix with plain Greek yogurt for breakfast
- Mix into a cranberry vinaigrette salad dressing
- Make cranberry compound butter for toast or bagels
- Use cranberry sauce as a glaze for chicken or meatloaf
- Mix into soft cream cheese and spread on bagels
- Pour over waffles and pancakes
- Make cranberry baked brie
- Make cranberry parfaits
You can also use some in my Christmas Tree Salad + Cranberry Vinaigrette recipe. Or add it to Thanksgiving Leftover Empanadas!
Cranberry sauce lasts up to two weeks refrigerated in an airtight container.
Cranberries are one of the few fruits both native to the US and as early as the 17th century. Cranberry sauce was first sold in the U.S. in 1912.
Ocean Spray created the "wet harvesting" process where the farmers are waist-deep of water and cranberries in the bog which is flooded with up to 18 inches of water the night before the berries are to be harvested.
The growers then use water reels, nicknamed “eggbeaters,” to churn the water and loosen the cranberries from the vine. Each berry has tiny pockets of air that allow the berries to float to the surface of the water.
Cranberry sauce is the most popular in the U.S. and Canada for Thanksgiving. In the United Kingdom, it's most popular for Christmas.
There are differences in the cranberry sauce, the U.K. recipe is typically sour and not a sweet as the U.S. recipes which are typically heavily sweetened with sugar.
Thanksgiving Side Dishes
More Cranberry Recipes
All these recipes use cranberries in creative ways. If you have leftover cranberry sauce, use it up in a Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole. It is delicious next to all the savory items leftover from the holidays. Toss some into a cranberry vinaigrette dressing, that's right, made in minutes.
I can't imagine making my Sausage Stuffing without dried cranberries and cherries. Make a sparkling Cranberry, Blue Cheese, & Pecan Cheese Ball that looks like an ornament for your next holiday party.
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Pineapple-Orange Cranberry Sauce ~ Plus 8 Clever Uses Of Leftovers!
Ingredients
Pineapple Orange Cranberry Sauce Ingredients
- 12 oz fresh cranberries
- 1 cup fresh pineapple and juice (fresh or canned)
- 3 oranges - zest and juice
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
prep pineapple and oranges
- Use canned or fresh pineapple, chop 1 cup of pineapple and juice. Set aside.
- Wash the oranges, zest the 3 oranges into a small bowl, then juice the 3 oranges. Set aside.
cook the cranberry sauce
- Combine the cranberries, pineapple plus any juice, sugar, and zest of 3 oranges and juice in a medium saucepan. Bring up to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes.
- Let cool completely before serving, it will set up more when chilled.
- You can prepare ahead and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week ahead.
Notes
leftovers:
- Mix with plain Greek yogurt
- Mix into a vinaigrette salad dressing
- Make cranberry compound butter for toast or bagels
- Use cranberry sauce as a glaze for chicken or meatloaf
- Mix into soft cream cheese and spread on bagels
- Pour over waffles and pancakes
- Make cranberry baked brie
- Make cranberry parfaits
storage:
Cranberry sauce lasts two weeks refrigerated.variations:
- chopped pecans, apple, pear, dried mixed fruit, blood oranges, raisins, currants, cinnamon, nutmeg, or allspice.
Hey Seanna! I am so glad to hear that, this has been a favorite for years. Just the right sweetness. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Love this cranberry sauce! I like the added pineapple and orange flavors. I used the leftovers to stuff into biscuit dough and baked them up for breakfast. It made the biscuits so much yummier.