This Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce is an amazingly delicious Thanksgiving or Christmas dish! And you can quickly throw it together from fresh or frozen cranberries in less than 30 minutes! Sweet-tart flavor to complement your turkey!
Traditional Cranberry Sauce?
Are you tired of the traditional Cranberry sauce? This simple delicious sauce made from frozen cranberries will be a game changer for your Thanksgiving Dinner. Let’s turn the mundane classic into a different kind of the cranberry sauce this holiday season!
I don’t know why we haven’t made it this way before. This year I made the most of what fall has to offer. Use frozen, fresh or canned cranberries to create tart and sweet flavors that complement each other beautifully! This cranberry sauce is truly a winner!
I love tart cranberries so much I also made this Cranberry Pecan Dessert from fresh cranberries.
Grand Marnier cranberry sauce
I’m not sure about you, but in my family cranberry sauce has always been an afterthought kind of thing. Of course, we always had it on our holiday table. But we sort of jammed it onto our plates after they were already full with all the other good stuff. As a result, the cranberry sauce was always more of a runner up to all the other dishes on the table. Now it’s the star of the show!
In this Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce, you simmer fresh berries with orange juice and Grand Marnier. And within 15 minutes they become a jammy sauce full of tart, juicy berries. Just beautiful!
Substitutions and variations that work
Cranberry sauce can be so much fun! Because you can play around with adding various other flavors and nuances, besides Grand Marnier.
Sweet: Remember that cranberries are very tart by nature, and need sugar to balance their tartness. You can always substitute the sugar with these sweeteners to balance cranberries’ tartness.
- Honey
- Blue agave syrup
- Maple syrup
But keep in mind that these sugar substitutes will produce slightly different flavors and textures in the final sauce.
Non-sweet: If you like to add additional flavors to the tart/sweet combination, I would recommend to experiment with the following.
- Cinnamon
- Walnuts
- Crystalized ginger
Storing, making ahead and freezing
Storing: For storage, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 months. That’s right! The sugar serves as a preservative and your cranberry sauce can be safely kept in the fridge just like a cranberry jam! It’s the same idea.
Making ahead: You can make Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce up to three days ahead. I actually found that it tastes much better if I made it ahead. Especially if I allowed it to sit in the refrigerator for at least one day.
Freezing: For longer storage, freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Transfer to the refrigerator to thaw before serving.
You just made a cranberry cocktail cleverly disguised as a holiday table side dish! By the way, you will really like the taste of liquor in this sauce. You can definitely taste Grand Marnier and orange flavors against tartness of cranberries.
More delicious dried cranberry recipes
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Cranberry Walnut and Spinach Salad
More holiday recipes
Not only did I try a different cranberry sauce, but also a different kind of turkey. I made Garlic Butter Roasted Turkey Breast instead of the traditional turkey this year!
I cooked a couple more amazing holiday recipes this year. All are delicious and easy to make.
Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Gratin
Brussels Sprouts Cranberry Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing.
Here are some Thanksgiving Side Dishes suggestions 🥗
Ultimate Green Bean Casserole in a Skillet
Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Gratin
Spicy Maple Glazed Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Ultimate Green Bean Casserole Skillet
Thanksgiving Casseroles here:
Broccoli Cheese Rice Casserole
Ultimate Green Bean Casserole Skillet
Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows and Cinnamon Streusel
Asiago Cheese Chicken, Ham and Potato Casserole
Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows and Cinnamon Streusel
Here are some Thanksgiving Desserts suggestions
Almond Flour Cookies with Cranberries
White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cranberries (Gluten Free)
Cinnamon Roll Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Tarte Tatin with Brandy Caramelized Apples
And if you like pinning, follow me on PINTEREST to get more recipe ideas!
Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 bags cranberries, fresh or frozen, (12 oz each)
- 1.5 cups cane sugar
- ½ cup orange juice
- 4 tablespoon Grand Marnier or Cognac
- 1 tablespoon zest of fresh orange
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, and orange juice.
- Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring often until syrupy, about 10 minutes.
- Add 4 tablespoon Grand Mariner and orange zest. Continue to cook on low heat for 10 more minutes.
- Remove from heat and serve with freshly grated orange zest.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
I’ll definitely try this out.
It’s delicious even outside Thanksgiving:)
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I tried skimping on the sugar as we enjoy tart with our turkey. It was perfection!
Perfection is amazing word! thank you
I have made this sauce, from this recipe, for several years. It is so good. I use it as an appetizer over goat cheese with honey and it is gone so fast. My mother likes to take any leftovers of the sauce home and warm it and put it over vanilla bean ice cream. She loves it!
Thank you for a great recipe.
What a sweet review! I love that she warms it up and eats it over the ice cream! Perfect combination.
I have made this for thanksgiving for the past 5+ years. It’s the best recipe. Simple and outstandingly delicious. I’ve gotten more than a few people addicted to it. It may be made at more than a few other families thanksgiving because of me. Thanks for such a AMAZING creation!
Thank you Angela for making your friends addicted to this recipe! I am so glad you are personally enjoying it!
Thank you so much… making on Tuesday night before Turkey day…
Enjoy!
I make this every year, it is hands down the best cranberry sauce I’ve had!
Thank you for being so loyal to this cranberry sauce!!! Love cranberries here too.
Yummy!!! Everyone loved it. My new go to. Thank you.
Yay!