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The most delicious no sugar cranberry sauce! It is sweetened with apple juice concentrate and orange juice – the perfect pair for cranberries that are naturally tart. Add in spices and you’re left with a healthier cranberry sauce to bring to your thanksgiving table!
Table of Contents
Cranberry sauce with no added sugar
Do you find most cranberry sauce recipes are loaded with sugar? I do!
Cranberries are naturally tart on their own, so they do need a little sweetness added in. But what if instead of loads of sugar, we used apple juice concentrate and orange juice? The pair go SO well with cranberries!
This will become your go to cranberry sauce recipe because it is easy to make, and so good!
Is it a very sweet cranberry sauce?
If you’re on the lookout for a traditionally sweet cranberry sauce, this may not be the one for you.
If you’re used to naturally sweet, lower sugar treats, you will love this. The apple juice concentrate adds just the right amount of sweetness to contrast the tart cranberries.
If you’re serving it to a crowd that likes more sweetness, add 1/4 cup honey right at the end!
What you’ll need for cranberry sauce with apple juice
- fresh cranberries
- frozen apple juice concentrate
- orange
- cinnamon sticks
- clove
- allspice
How to make no sugar cranberry sauce
- In a medium pot, over medium heat combine the cranberries, apple juice concentrate, zest and juice from the entire orange, cinnamon stick, clove and all spice. Bring to a simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. You’ll hear the cranberries popping as they cook.
- After 20 minutes most of the cranberries should have opened up. You can leave any whole cranberries as they are, or mash them. Your preference. Serve the cranberry sauce warm or chill it in the fridge and then serve at room temperature.
How to use leftover cranberry sauce
- Add it into your yogurt and granola bowls
- Add it into cranberry stuffed oatmeal breakfast cake
- Make cranberry jalapeno meatballs with the extra sauce!
- Swap out fresh cranberries and use leftover sauce in my cranberry orange coffee cake
Looking for more festive recipes? Try these!
- Cranberry hazelnut kale salad with turmeric vinaigrette
- Pumpkin herb whole wheat dinner rolls
- Maple cinnamon roasted butternut squash
- Bacon and brussels sprout farro salad
No Sugar Cranberry Sauce with Apple Juice
Ingredients
- 2 lb fresh cranberries
- 12 oz apple juice concentrate, (frozen, but defrosted is okay)
- 1 orange, (zest and juice)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/8 tsp clove
- 1/8 tsp allspice
Instructions
- In a medium pot, over medium heat combine the cranberries, apple juice concentrate, zest and juice from the entire orange, cinnamon stick, clove and all spice. Bring to a simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. You'll hear the cranberries popping as they cook.
- After 20 minutes most of the cranberries should have opened up. You can leave any whole cranberries as they are, or mash them. Your preference. Serve the cranberry sauce warm or chill it in the fridge and then serve at room temperature.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you try this cranberry sauce with apple juice recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
*Originally published in November 2010. Updated November 2020.*
Love this recipe! Cranberry sauce is always a favorite of mine during the holidays, but I hate how much added sugar goes into most. Thank you for creating a recipe that has all the flavor, none of guilt!
You’re welcome, Ashley! So glad you enjoyed it and found a winner!
We made this sauce for thanksgiving this year and it was delicious! Perfectly tart and sweet!
Awesome, glad you loved it, and thanks for sharing Chelsea!
If I only have apple juice (Not concentrate) and orange juice, how much apple juice would you recommend?
Hey Suzanne! I’d use 1.5 cups – it may not be as sweet but should still be dellicous!
I like how you put apple cider in this cranberry sauce. YUM!!
Cranberry sauce looks great! We did about 25 of your burpees blast challenge as part of our workout today. They were killers, haha!! Loved it!
~Lori
Nice Lori!
I love homemade cranberry sauce! Your looks delicious! Can I ask what sucanat is?
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Sucanat stands for sugar cane natural. It’s sugar is the most natural form. Sucanat still has some molasses flavor to it so you could actually substitute brown sugar for it or white sugar.
I have never made cranberry sauce. I hate at admit but my family always uses the canned cranberries. I grew up eating them so I don’t know any different i guess.
This sounds just delicious though!
We have never had cranberry sauce at our Thanksgiving. I do like dishes with cranberries in them that I have had elsewehere though. I agree there needs to be a little sweet to balance out the tart, so this recipe sounds really good!