Bourbon Cranberry Sauce

Forget buying jars of super sweet cranberry sauce this Christmas and make your own, boozy bourbon cranberry sauce. You won't regret it!

Boozy berries

Cranberry sauce isn't just for Christmas, in fact tonnes of the sweet yet sour sauce is eaten every year at Thanksgiving. When it comes to cooking up a feast for the family, us Brits can learn a lot from the way American's do thanksgiving.

Now, I'm not suggesting we start putting mini marshmallows on our mashed potato but a swig of bourbon in our cranberry sauce wouldn't be such a bad thing. Traditional cranberry sauce is often made with port, but this year I've decided to replace it with a more American tipple.

Bourbon isn't too dissimilar to Scotch whisky. So if that's all you've got to hand, don't worry, pour a decent helping into your pan as the cranberries simmer.

The harsh alcohol of the bourbon is mellowed as the sauce cooks and then cools. The festive spices all add warmth and depth of flavour to this tasty side!

Make ahead

You can easily make this recipe ahead of time. I've noticed that cranberries (both fresh and frozen) are appearing in supermarkets earlier and earlier. This year I found them in mid October!

I'm a little bit dubious about how they are ripe and ready by then but on this occasion I'm not going to ask too many questions! I'm just happy that it means I can make big batches of this boozy bourbon cranberry sauce ahead of time.

I like to store it in small jars so that we can almost portion control ourselves and avoid a large jar going bad because it's been open too long.

If unopened you can easily store the sauce for months, the alcohol and all that sugar are fantastic preservatives! But, once opened I'd recommend using within 3-5 days.

The recipe

Don't have lots of time to prep in the run up to Christmas? Don't worry, this recipe doesn't take long so can easily be made on the day.

Bourbon Cranberry Sauce

Emma

Make Thanksgiving and Christmas extra boozy this year with my Bourbon Cranberry Sauce.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 8 portions

Calories 149.27 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 350 grams cranberries fresh or frozen
• 150 grams jam sugar
• 100 grams brown sugar
• 200 millilitres bourbon
• 1 orange zest only
• 2 star anise
• 2 cloves
• 1 pinch nutmeg ground
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon ground

Instructions

 

• Place all of the ingredients into a heavy bottomed pan.
• Place on a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
• Reduce the heat slightly and allow to simmer until most of the cranberries have begun to burst (roughly 10-15minutes) and a thick, sticky liquid has formed.
• Transfer to a steralised jar and place the lid on tightly.
• Allow the sauce to cool in the jar - you will hear a "pop" when the jar has created an air tight seal and the sauce is cool.
• Store until required (up to 3 months).

Nutrition

Calories: 149.27kcalCarbohydrates: 23.01gProtein: 0.41gFat: 0.19gSaturated Fat: 0.05gSodium: 6.84mgPotassium: 125.54mgFiber: 2.55gSugar: 18.63gVitamin A: 64.45IUVitamin C: 14.59mgCalcium: 26.59mgIron: 0.36mg

Keyword bourbon, cloves, cranberry, nutmeg, orange, star anise, sugar

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

There are so many uses for this stuff and I love it alongside this mushroom and walnut tart, or in a turkey sandwich once Christmas day has been and gone.

More sumptuous side dishes

If you're planning on hell of a roast dinner then why not serve up some of these other delicious dishes.

Truffled Root Vegetable Gratin

Sourdough Bread Sauce

Braised Red Cabbage

Winter Wild Rice Pilaf

Crispy Roast Potatoes

Sautéed Tenderstem Broccoli

THE ULTIMATE VEGAN CHRISTMAS DINNER

If you have been following this blog for a while you'll know I am now vegan. Of course you can enjoy this cranberry sauce with turkey if you want but if you'd like to know how to have the best plant based Christmas ever, check out my post on the Ultimate Vegan Christmas Dinner. We’ve got everything from starters to desserts, cheese course and cocktails!

Just click the image above!