Cranberry Sauce

I am going to share two cranberry sauce recipes with you. I originally was going to do the recipe I found in my pressure cooker book, but then I found one that was less calories for the crock pot. So I decided to use the crock pot, until my week got really busy. I have no time to sit around for a 7 hour recipe, especially since the last two hours of cooking are a little more hands on than most crock pot recipes. I decided to combine the two, using the ingredients for the crock pot but the time instructions for the pressure cooker. Doing this blindly and hoping for the best, basically.

Pressured Cranberry Sauce:

• 12 ounces fresh cranberries (about 3 cups)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tsp orange zest

Combine all ingredients in pressure cooker and stir. Securely lock on lid an cook on high for 6 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes before performing a quick release. Stir sauce, smashing cranberries until the sauce is your desired consistency. Let sit an additional 5 minutes to firm slightly before serving warm. Refrigerate a few hours or overnight if you prefer to cold cranberry sauce.

Skinny Crocked Cranberry Sauce:

• 12 ounces fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low 4 to 5 hours, until berries are soft. Remove lid and cook on high 2 to 3 more hours. Removing the lid allows the cranberries natural juices burn off. Stir occasionally. Chill in fridge overnight.




I used the ingredients for the crock pot recipe and used the instructions for the pressure cooked recipe. I also added 1/2 cup of water, because more liquid is usually needed to cook in the pressure cooker. I doubled the recipe, because I love cranberry sauce and I wanted to make sure there was enough for me to have some leftovers! We will also be having the jelly kind from the can, because I do love that as well! I don't think I have ever actually had real homemade cranberry sauce.

The texture of the sauce looks great. It was way too tart though! Real cranberry sauce is supposed to be tarter than the canned stuff, but this was too much for me. I had to add about 4 tbsp of sugar. Lesson learned: Thanksgiving is not the time to be worried about "skinny" recipes!