Easy Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce Recipe

How to Make Cranberry Sauce in the Instant Pot!

Hmm. How many Thanksgiving recipes can I make in my Instant Pot? Well, I at least want a favorite cranberry sauce recipe for it. And now – 5 different recipes and 6 bags of cranberries later – I have one!

Cranberry sauce is for more than just turkey! Warm it up and serve on pancakes, rolls, or biscuits. Add it to smoothies, sandwiches, or oatmeal. Basically, you can use cranberry sauce in almost any of the ways you can use jam or fruit spread!

Basic instructions for how to make this recipe in a slow cooker and on the stovetop are included below as well.

The Many Variations of Cranberry Sauce

Different people have different preferences for cranberry sauce – thick or thin, chunky or smooth, sweet or tart, canned or homemade. I like it homemade and on the sweet side! Feel free to adjust or alter to your tastes.

How to Make a Thicker or Thinner Sauce

This sauce is the perfect consistency for me once it cools. However, for a thicker sauce, set the Instant Pot to the sauté setting and cook longer.

For thinner, set to sauté and stir in water, until desired consistency is reached. Remember that it will thicken as it cools though!

How to Make a Chunky or Smooth Cranberry Sauce

For a chunkier sauce, reserve 2 ounces or so of cranberries and add them in with the sugar at the end of pressure cooking.

For a smoother sauce, use an immersion blender after cranberries are cooked.

Final Tips

My Instant Pot only takes 7 minutes to come to pressure with this recipe! Then it’s just 1 minute cooking and 7 minutes natural release. Not bad, especially since it is completely hands-off during that time!

Now, I do realize that most Instant Pot recipes call for more liquid, so feel free to double the recipe to take care of that. But I promise it totally works as written too.

Recipe adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe and Pressure Cook Recipes.

More Thanksgiving Side Dish Ideas:

• Quick One-Hour Dinner Rolls
• Easy Pumpkin Cookies Recipe
• Amazing Bacon Cornbread Stuffing Recipe
• Easy Special Potatoes Recipe (Funeral Potatoes)
• Easy Brown Sugar and Honey Glazed Ham Recipe

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Easy Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Super easy instant pot cranberry sauce that can be also cooked in a slow cooker or on the stovetop.

4.50 / 5 ( 2 Reviews )

Print Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes minutes

Total Time: 13 minutes minutes

Serves: 5

Adjust Servings: 5

US CustomaryMetric

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker
• Slow Cooker

Ingredients

• 12 ounces fresh cranberries
• ½ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 ½ teaspoons orange zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh juice from orange
• ½ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Instructions

• Rinse cranberries and pick through to remove any stems and soft, discolored, or wrinkled berries.
• Instant Pot: Add syrup, orange zest, orange juice, and cranberries to pot. Stir to combine. Close lid and cook at high pressure for 1 minute, plus 7 minutes natural release. Then quick release remaining pressure and open lid carefully. Mash some of the berries with a spoon, potato masher, or immersion blender, if desired. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar. If needed, add 1 more tablespoon of sugar.
• Slow Cooker or Stove Top: Add ingredients to a small slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Or combine syrup, sugar, orange zest, orange juice to saucepan and bring to boil. Stir in cranberries and reduce heat to medium or medium-low to simmer. Stirring often, let simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until cranberries soften and burst.
• Sauce will thicken as it cools!

Recipe Notes

You can double this recipe. Keep refrigerated for up to 14 days or freeze for up to 2 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 199kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 5mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 43g