For a truly last-minute cranberry sauce: bag o’ cranberries + jar o’ marmalade + 20-minute simmer = Thanksgiving cranberry perfection!
If you have a jar of marmalade that set like a rock (like mine of last year), check out my recipe below. If yours came out a bit loose, check out Shae’s version, a cranberry-marm-apple relish. Either way, you can’t go wrong; cranberries are always good.
Enjoy the day, everyone!
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Cranberry Marmalade Sauce
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
- 1 cup marmalade (I used orange cranberry marmalade)
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup sugar (optional)
METHODS
- Combine cranberries, marmalade and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until many cranberries have burst and sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes. Taste and add sugar if desired: simmer for another few minutes to dissolve sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Yields 3 cups.
OPTIONS
- This is a great way to use that not-so-perfect marmalade you made last year. Marmalade too runny? Use 1/2 cup water instead. Rock hard like mine? Use the full cup, or more. Too sweet? Don’t add any sugar to the sauce. Too tart? Up the sugar to 1/2 cup. With only 2 ingredients, it’s easy to modify so it’s perfect for you.
- This cranberry sauce has a lot of whole berries in it; if you like to make sure all the berries burst, hit them with a potato masher after about 15 minutes of cooking, then continue to simmer until the sauce is mostly smooth. For a completely smooth sauce, blend with an immersion blender, regular blender or food processor.
- Replace the water with wine or liqueur for a fancied-up sauce. I like a fruity white, like Riesling or Chardonnay, with cranberries, or also a tawny port or bourbon.
STORE
Refrigerated for weeks. This sauce could also be canned in a boiling water bath: fill hot jars to 1/4 inch headspace and process for 10 minutes.
SEASON
Late Fall through early Winter. Year round with frozen cranberries.
localkitchenblog.com 
In all of my years I have never seen this suggestion, but it is simple and brilliant. Thank you. I have a jar of ginger marmalade that might be delicious this way.
It seems so obvious, no? But I agree: I’ve never seen the suggestion. Then Shae & I did it on the same day! 🙂 I brought a pint of this to Thanksgiving dinner and it disappeared in short order. Quite tasty, if I do say so myself.
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Love love love love it, really. But why the hell we dnt’ we have cranberries here in Italy?!!!?
Love your labels! Care to share how you did it? 🙂
Hi Emily,
Thanks! This version of label is a simple text label, made in MS Word using a template from Avery labels. You can see a detailed tutorial for last year’s label style (actually much more complex) here: https://localkitchenblog.com/2010/10/14/labels-a-tutorial/ It contains a lot of links and resources for finding labels, templates, etc.
Hope that helps,
Kaela
I am sooo very excited to know I am not alone in having marmalade problems…to thin..too thick….
I have just the jars for this!!! Thanks!!
Cranberries + sangria marmalade + the remains of subpar lemon marmalade + a tea ball of mulling spices + brown sugar = the best cranberry sauce ever! How simple and new tasting!
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