Last Updated on February 10, 2025 by Megan Jones

A recipe for a tart, tangy cranberry sauce, balanced with wintery spices and naturally sweetened with dates. Perfect alongside roast veggies, Thanksgiving dinner, swirled into dips, and even on top of winter porridge or Christmas Day pancakes.

this recipe

Made from 5 ingredients, this sauce is ready after 15 minutes. Flavoured with fresh orange juice, dates, cardamom and star anise – my secret ingredients– it beats store bought sauces.

Ingredients needed for Cranberry sauce

• Cranberries: Fresh or frozen
• Dates: to naturally sweeten
• Cardamom: To add a nice warmth to the sauce
• Cinnamon Sticks: aka THE spice of winter
• Fresh orange juice: Freshly squeezed! Don’t use bottled, it won’t be as good.
• Star anise: My secret ingredient
• Cloves: All you need is a pinch!
• Nutmeg: What cranberry sauce would be complete without it?!
• Fresh Ginger: To add a little fire to the sauce

A better-for-you version of the classic cranberry sauce, home made and refined sugar free.

Cranberry sauce is one of those classic sauces that is on everyones table at Christmas or Thanksgiving, but store bought versions are full of sugar and stabilisers, preservatives. YUCK! This recipe for Refined sugar free cranberry sauce one only takes about 20 minutes to make, it fills the house with the smell of Christmas and freezes really well too!

How to store Homemade Cranberry sauce:

This sauce freezes really well, I have used cranberry sauce about 6 months after I made it!

• Freeze in ice-cube trays for individual portions – perfect for porridge!
• Freeze in re-usable silicone bags.

Cranberry Sauce | Refined Sugar Free

Megan Jones

A recipe for a tart, tangy cranberry sauce, balanced with wintery spices and naturally sweetened with dates.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 4 Dates Pitted
• 1 5 cm piece Ginger Fresh
• 3 Cardamon pods – de shelled
• 2 Cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 tsp Cloves ground
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg ground
• 1 Star anise
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 350 ml Water
• 1 Orange – juiced and zested
• 300 g cranberries – fresh or frozen

Instructions

 

• Blend the pitted dates with the ginger and cardamon seeds in a blender with the water. This ensures a smoother sauce.
• Add all of the ingredients to a pot and simmer over a med – low heat for 15 – 20 mins. Until the cranberries have cooked down. *See notes for another cooking method.
• Once sauce has cooled slightly, mash to desired consistency with a fork or potato masher. 
• Divide out into ice cube moulds or freezer proof pots. 
• Freeze until ready to use!

Notes

Alternative method of cooking (and my preferred way). Add all the ingredients to a oven safe casserole dish and cook in oven for 20 mins at 180°C  or 356°F

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!