Author: Made from whole berries that have been pureed and strained, this jellied cranberry sauce has a smooth texture and is a lovely way to complement a holiday meal.
This recipe includes instructions for how to water bath can your cranberry jelly, but you can also make and enjoy it fresh, without canning!
When I was a kid, my favorite part of the holidays was the jellied cranberry sauce… and the green bean casserole… and the rolls. Well, you know what, I might have just loved all of it!
But I really enjoyed the canned jellied cranberry sauce – probably because it was a little like getting to eat jello for dinner. Ha!
Years ago I started making homemade cranberry sauce with whole berries, port wine, and cinnamon sticks. It is a fabulous, grown-up take on cranberry sauce that I absolutely adore!
My sister-in-law however, didn’t love it.
So, I started making her the jellied cranberry sauce instead! Now we have two types of cranberry sauce to enjoy at the holidays, which is fine by me!
Plus, since I can them both well in advance, it’s as easy as opening a jar!
How to Make Jellied Cranberry Sauce
This is a water bath canning recipe, which means you don’t need any special equipment to have homemade cranberry sauce sitting on the shelf, ready and waiting for your next craving!
However, if you don’t want to can this recipe, you can also just make it, store it in the fridge for up to a week, and eat it fresh!
Here are a few more holiday recipes you might enjoy:
Homemade Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups water, filtered
Instructions
- Wash cranberries, removing any bad ones. Drain in a strainer for a few minutes to remove excess water.
- In a large pot, combine water and cranberries. Cover and bring mix to a boil. Boil until cranberry skins pop.
- Add mixture to a food processor (or use an immersion blender) and puree well.
- OPTIONAL: Strain mix through a strainer, food mill, or cheesecloth to remove skins and seeds. You can also leave the pulp if desired.
- Add mixture back to the pot and mix in the sugar. Bring to a boil and boil to gelling point (or until the mix coats the back of a spoon well).
WITHOUT CANNING:
- Pour mixture into the desired container and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold.
TO CAN:
- Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove bubbles and add lids and rings. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.
PIN THIS FOR LATER
Can you use sure gel for this and how much does it make??
I made this tonight in preparation for Thanksgiving. I love the canned cranberry jelly but don’t love the high fructose corn syrup so I tried this and it was really easy and really good. It gelled (spelling?) really well and my picky kids loved it.
Yay, that’s amazing! Thank you for the feedback, it’s definitely a favorite here too!