This easy homemade vegan cranberry sauce is the perfect addition to any holiday meal! It’s sweet yet sour with a hint of orange and a beautiful red color that will brighten your festivities. Plus it only has a few simple ingredients and takes only minutes to make.

A top view of a bowl of vegan cranberry sauce with spoon in it.

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Why make this recipe

This plant-based cranberry sauce is the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas to serve along with vegan holiday main dishes like vegan turkey, vegan ham, tofu Wellington, vegan cottage pie, or a whole head of roasted cauliflower.

Is all cranberry sauce vegan?

You may be wondering, isn’t all cranberry sauce vegan? What makes this sauce vegan? Well, many brands of processed white sugar are filtered through bone char, so it’s not technically vegan. Use organic sugar, maple syrup, or agave to make the cranberry sauce vegan.

Ingredients and substitutions

  • Cranberries – whole fresh cranberries. You could also use frozen if that is all you have. You don’t want to use dried cranberries.
  • Orange Juice – for the liquid to cook the berries. You can swap this out with water or any other type of juice if you want.
  • Sugar – to sweeten the sauce since cranberries are very sour. You can use any type of sweetener that you want. I like to use organic cane sugar since it’s vegan and easy to use. You can also use agave nectar or maple syrup.
  • Orange Zest – optional, yet it gives your cranberry sauce a pretty color and more of an orange taste.
A close up of vegan cranberry sauce with sugared cranberries on top.
Cranberry sauce with sugared cranberries on top.

How to make vegan cranberry sauce

Step 1 – Add the fresh cranberries, orange juice, and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Step 2 – Simmer the cranberries for 10 to 15 minutes until most of them pop open.

A small red saucepan filled with cranberries cooked in orange juice until they have popped open and have made a sauce.

Step 3 – Serve warm or place in a heat-safe bowl and then store in the fridge. (The sauce will be thin at first but will thicken once it cools.)

Step 4 – Garnish with orange zest. (You can also stir a little orange zest into the sauce for more orange flavor.) Add a few sugared cranberries if desired.

Pro Tips

  • Add a few dashes of cinnamon and/or nutmeg for more flavor.
  • Garnish with sugared cranberries for a festive look.
  • To make just a few sugared cranberries to garnish your sauce, just scoop out a few cranberries just after you have added them to the pot and before they have popped open or cracked. Roll them in some granulated sugar to make them pretty and sparkly. Set them aside for later to garnish.

Storage

Refrigerate: Cranberry sauce will keep well in the fridge for 3 – 5 days in a sealed container. This makes it a great side dish to make a day or two before the holidays.

Freeze: This orange cranberry sauce freezes well too and can be stored in an airtight bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just be sure to let it cool completely before storing and freezing or the excess moisture will turn to ice.

More cranberry recipes

Vegan orange cranberry sauce with orange zest.

More holiday favorites

Vegan cranberry sauce recipe

A glass bowl filled with vegan cranberry sauce with orange zest on top.
Diet
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5 from 2 rating

Vegan Cranberry Sauce

Yield: 8
Prep: 2 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 12 minutes
Author: Monica Davis
A quick and easy homemade vegan cranberry relish.
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Ingredients

  • 2 cups cranberries
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 3/4 cup sugar, or up to 1 cup for sweeter cranberry sauce
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest

Instructions
 

  • Add the fresh cranberries, orange juice, and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
  • Simmer the cranberries for 10 to 15 minutes until most of them pop open.
  • Serve warm or place in a heat-safe bowl and then store in the fridge. (The sauce will be thin at first but will thicken once it cools.)
  • Garnish with orange zest. (You can also stir a little orange zest into the sauce for more orange flavor.)

Notes

  • Add a few dashes of cinnamon and/or nutmeg for more flavor.
  • Garnish with sugared cranberries for a festive look.
  • To make just a few sugared cranberries to garnish your sauce, just scoop out a few cranberries just after you have added them to the pot and before they have popped open or cracked. Roll them in some granulated sugar to make them pretty and sparkly. Set them aside for later to garnish.
Serving: 0.25cup, Calories: 99kcal, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 1mg, Potassium: 85mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 22g, Vitamin A: 80IU, Vitamin C: 20mg, Calcium: 7mg, Iron: 1mg
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