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Joanna Gaines Holiday Cranberry Sauce

Joanna Gaines holiday cranberry sauce is made by simmering fresh cranberries with a blend of sugar, orange juice, and warm spices until the berries burst and the sauce thickens. Finish with orange zest and fold in toasted pecans right before serving for a chunky, bright bite.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Calories: 190
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cranberry base
  • 12 oz fresh cranberries
  • 0.5 cup sugar
  • 0.5 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 tsp orange zest
  • 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp ground ginger
  • 0.05 salt Pinch
Crunch topping
  • 0.5 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

Equipment

  • 1 saucepan

Method
 

Cook the cranberry sauce
  1. Combine the sugar, brown sugar, orange juice, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Watch for rapid bubbling across the surface.
  2. Add the fresh cranberries and simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the berries burst and the sauce thickens. You should see the mixture become glossy and more syrupy.
Finish and chill
  1. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the orange zest. The sauce should smell brighter and look slightly speckled.
  2. Cool the sauce, then chill until serving. Move it to the refrigerator after it reaches room temperature.
  3. Stir in the toasted and chopped pecans just before serving so they stay crunchy. Mix briefly until the nuts are evenly distributed.

Notes

Pro tip: For the chunkiest texture, keep the simmer at a steady bubble rather than a hard boil so the berries burst but the sauce still thickens. Store in the refrigerator up to 4 days; for best crunch, wait to add the pecans until serving (or freeze pecan-free sauce and stir nuts in after thawing). Dietary swap: use a 1:1 brown sugar substitute or your preferred sugar-free granulated sweetener to reduce added sugar while keeping the same method.