Spiced Apple Cranberry Sauce
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5 from 3 votes

Spiced Apple Cranberry Sauce

This easy apple cranberry sauce explodes with flavor and texture that will perfectly accompany your favorite Thanksgiving dinner dishes.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Total Time1 hr
Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 (12oz) bag of fresh cranberries
  • 1+1/4 cups of granulated sugar (plus more to taste, if desired/needed)
  • 2-3 medium-sized Apple (diced) - I think ginger gold are the best for this sauce
  • 1+1/3 cups fresh apple cider (divided)
  • 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch

Instructions

  • Place cranberries, sugar and 1 cup of water into a large saucepan/dutch oven
  • Place diced apples, nutmeg, cinnamon and 1 cup of the apple cider in a medium-sized saucepan.
  • Cook the cranberry mixture over medium-high heat until water boils and cranberries burst open. Simultaneously, cook the apple mixture on a separate burner over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are softened.
  • Add the cooked apple mixture into the cooked cranberry mixture and leave the burner on medium-high heat.
  • Mix the cornstarch with the remaining 1/3 cup of apple cider until completely dissolved. Then, add the mixture in gradually, stirring after each addition, until sauce reaches the desired consistency.
    ***See Recipe Notes below regarding how cooking/stirring the sauce will affect the texture and consistency.***
  • Taste test the sauce and add additional sugar, if desired/needed. Serve the sauce however you'd like - hot, room temperature or cold. It's delicious all ways! Store leftover sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Notes

  1. For my sauce above, I used the entire cornstarch/cider mixture. While it was hot, it still seemed rather liquidy, but once it reaches room temperature it's quite thick.
  2. The longer you stir and cook the sauce, the more the cranberries and apples will break down, which will also add thickness. Plus, if you want the texture to be more like an applesauce (which is AMAZING), keep cooking and stirring until apples and cranberries fully breakdown. For my sauce above, I didn't do this but I have done it that way before and it's delicious, just with a different texture.