A holiday dinner is not complete without cranberry sauce. At our house, we almost never make the regular cranberry sauce. It is always amped up with spices or citrus flavors. This Jalapeno Cranberry sauce is our favorite kind of cranberry sauce – a mix of sweet and spicy flavors. It pairs perfectly with literally any holiday dish – turkey, ham, goose, duck, chicken, pork, cornish game hens, and so on. It’s so good you wouldn’t want to wait for it to be Thanksgiving, Easter or Christmas to make this! I make it during the rest of the year as well!
Do we use fresh, frozen or dried cranberries?
You can use fresh or frozen cranberries to make this Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce. But, dried cranberries is a no-no! It just won’t come out right with dried cranberries. You need all those juices to burst out of the cranberries for the sauce be yummy yum!
Cranberries are usually harvested in fall. You can always buy fresh cranberries when in stock and freeze them for later. Many stores sell frozen cranberries throughout the year. You don’t even need to defrost the berries to make this sauce. Fresh or frozen, just place them in a colander, rinse to remove any debris, discard any damaged or bruised cranberries, and start with the recipe right away.
Why make cranberry sauce from scratch?
Homemade cranberry sauce made from scratch is THE BEST cranberry sauce! It tastes way better than the canned stuff. Moreover, the texture is incomparable and the consistency is perfect to spoon onto your plate! I find the canned jelly-like cranberry sauce boring and a tad too sweet. I also find homemade cranberry sauce prettier to serve – a valid reason when I have spent so much time making a grand feast for holiday celebrations! It really takes only about 15 – 20 minutes to make this sauce from scratch, so it doesn’t need a whole lot of extra effort.
I am not saying I never buy canned cranberry sauce. If for some reason I don’t get fresh or frozen cranberries, I do buy canned cranberry sauce. But never do I eat it right out of the can. I always add flavors and modify the canned sauce to add textures and more flavors. Drop me a comment below if you’d like me to write a post on how I perk up canned cranberry sauce.
Can Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce be made ahead?
Absolutely! This jalapeno cranberry sauce can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. It can also be frozen in airtight containers or freezer storage bags for up to 6 months. Who doesn’t like make-ahead recipes, especially for the holidays, right?!
Variations of Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce Recipe
- If you love spicy food and can take heat, leave the seeds in the jalapenos. I personally love it with the seeds, but generally stick to this recipe if I’m entertaining guests or have to serve it to kids. If I make it for just my husband and me, I also add some freshly chopped jalapeno in the end to bite into 🙂
- You can add grated ginger for a zesty freshness in taste.
- For a festive flavor, you can add a cinnamon stick while boiling the ingredients for the sauce, and discard once the sauce is ready.
- Citrus flavors pair so well with jalapeno cranberry sauce. Orange, lemon or lime zest is a great addition to this sauce.
Ideas to use leftover Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce
- Spoon some jalapeno cranberry sauce onto deli meat or leftover thanksgiving or Christmas turkey, ham, beyond meat, etc. Add some cheese, mustard and salad leaves, and you have a super-awesome sandwich!
- Jalapeno cranberry sauce is delicious on toast, pancakes, and waffles.
- It is a great topping for yogurt, cottage cheese or icecream.
- Mix jalapeno cranberry sauce with mayo to make jalapeno cranberry mayo that you’ll want to spread onto every sandwich you make, or to use as dips for French fries.
- It is a great sauce to accompany meatballs, mashed potato and gravy to recreate a plate of Ikea-style Swedish meatballs.
So, what are you waiting for? Go on whip up this jalapeno cranberry sauce! If you are looking for more cranberry recipes for the holidays, check out my Mince Pies! Happy Holidays!
More Holiday Recipes:
- Mulled Wine
- French Roast Chicken with Truffle Oil
- Cajun Roasted Carrots
- Louisiana Seafood Boil
- Overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole
- Bourbon Cherry Bombs
- Finger millet / Ragi Gingerbread Cookies
- Nutella Hot Chocolate
Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 340 g Cranberries (Fresh or Frozen)
- 3 nos Jalapeno Peppers, deseeded and chopped (Refer to notes)
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Orange Juice (Refer to notes)
Instructions
- Place cranberries in a colander, rinse to remove any debris, discard any damaged or bruised cranberries.
- In a sauce pan, mix jalapeno peppers, brown sugar and orange juice.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Add cranberries and simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries pop and release more juices. Keep stirring at intervals.
- Remove from heat and bring to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container and chill. The sauce thickens on cooling.
Notes
- Jalapeno Peppers: If you like more heat, leave the seeds in.
- Juice: You can substitute orange juice with other juices like apple juice, peach juice, etc. Just add a few teaspoons of lemon or lime juice as well for a citrus twist.
I love cranberry sauce but I have never tried one with jalapeños! It sounds so good. Cannot wait to make this!! I have a feeling it will become a fall staple☺️
Oh you should definitely try with jalapenos! It’s delish!
Such an easy recipe for the sauce and delicious
Thank you so much Sadia! You’re right, it’s super easy and so flavorful!
Simple, delicious and positively bursting with flavour. A truly GREAT cranberry sauce!
Thanks a tonne Yvonne! So happy you liked it! 🙂
Oh yum. I make a spicy cranberry preserve for my cheeseboard at Christmas so I know I’m going to LOVE this. Goodbye boring ‘ol cranberry sauce and hello cranberry sauce with a kick!
Thanks so much! Oh wow spicy cranberry preserve must be fantastic with cheese! Cranberries and spice go so well together, right?! I bet you’ll love this sauce as well 🙂
Such a delicious twist on regular cranberry sauce. I love the spice and the richness from the brown sugar, thanks!
So glad you love this recipe! Thank you! 🙂