Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce is a Thanksgiving classic with a little extra flair. Fresh cranberries cook down with orange juice and Grand Marnier for a sauce that's tangy, sweet and full of fresh flavor. The citrus gives it a bright pop, while the Grand Marnier adds a cozy depth that makes it feel a bit more elevated. It's an easy upgrade that takes your holiday table up a notch.
I grew up with canned cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. I'm not even sure anyone liked it, yet it was always on the table. But once I was old enough to make homemade cranberry sauce, I gave it a try and never looked back. And watching cranberries burst as they simmer is surprisingly fun. Cranberry sauce is truly a Thanksgiving classic, but it deserves to be more than just a canned afterthought. Fresh cranberries with a touch of citrus and Grand Marnier take cranberry sauce to a whole new delicious level. Sure, stuffing and mashed potatoes will probably still be everyone's favorite side dishes. But maybe, this year, an elevated cranberry sauce might just move up a few spots.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Fresh or frozen cranberries
- Grand Marnier
- Oranges or orange juice
- Water
- White sugar
- Cinnamon stick
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Step 1: Bring the water, orange juice, ¼ cup of Grand Marnier and sugar to a boil. Add the cranberries and the cinnamon stick and return to a boil.
Step 2: Reduce to a simmer. The cranberries will start to burst, and the sauce will start to thicken.
Step 3: Continue simmering until most of the cranberries have burst and the sauce has thickened. Then remove the pan from the heat and remove the cinnamon stick from the pan. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
Substitutions
- Gluten free - this cranberry sauce is naturally gluten free, so no substitutions are needed.
- Vegan - this cranberry sauce recipe is naturally vegan, so no substitutions are needed.
- Cinnamon stick - you can substitute ground cinnamon for the cinnamon stick. Substitute ¼ teaspoon of high quality strong cinnamon or ½ teaspoon of regular, grocery store cinnamon for the cinnamon stick.
- Orange juice - if you have concentrated or not from concentrate orange juice on hand, you could use that in place of fresh squeezed orange juice.
- Grand Marnier - you could substitute Cointreau, Triple Sec or Curacao for the Grand Marnier as they are all orange flavored liqueurs. For non-orange flavored liqueurs, you could substitute cognac or brandy as Grand Marnier is a type of cognac. And finally, you could use bourbon. Bourbon is my favorite all purpose hard liquor for cooking as it has sweet, vanilla and caramel notes. Try my Bourbon Sweet Potatoes for a yummy Thanksgiving side dish made with bourbon. For a alcohol free version, replace with Grand Marnier with half orange juice and half water.
Equipment
A sauce pan on a stove or hot plate is the only equipment needed to make this recipe.
Storage
Store the cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 to 7 days.
Next Level Tips
- I grew up up with canned cranberry sauce. But homemade cranberry sauce is easy and worth the effort! It tastes so, so much better than canned cranberry sauce.
- The historic ratios for homemade cranberry sauce are one fresh bag of cranberries, 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar. I'm pretty sure that's always been the recipe on the side of the bag. I've reduced the sugar, because that recipe has always been a bit too sweet. You could even go down to ½ cup sugar.
- We simmer the cranberries in the Grand Marnier, water and orange juice so that most of the alcohol of the Grand Marnier will cook off and we'll be left with just the added flavor depth. If you want a stronger Grand Marnier flavor, you can add another tablespoon at the end after you remove the cranberries from the heat.
- To reduce the stress of cooking on Thanksgiving day, this is a great recipe to make a day or two ahead of time.
- Make a double batch and serve half as a side and use the other half to make an easy cranberry brie crostini appetizer!
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce:
Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fresh or frozen* cranberries
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup orange juice fresh squeezed
- ¼ cup Grand Marnier
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan, bring the water, orange juice, Grand Marnier and the sugar to a boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the fresh or frozen* cranberries and the cinnamon stick to the sauce pan. Return to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Continue to simmer until most of the cranberries have burst and the sauce has thickened, about 8-12 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat, and remove the cinnamon stick from the pan. Poor the sauce into a serving bowl. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Once the sauce is at room temperature, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
Notes
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Don't worry! We won't spam you!
Ingrid S. says
I love this recipe! Used to do something similar to my cranberry sauce and it was always a hit. Glad to have found a precise recipe, thanks!
Tracy @ Next Level Baker says
Thank you! I'm happy you loved it!