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Step up your holiday feasts with homemade Maple Bourbon Cranberry Sauce! Sweetened with pure maple syrup and spiced up with cinnamon, orange zest and bourbon, this cranberry sauce recipe only takes about 10 minutes to make and is ultra flavorful!
It wasn’t until I began making homemade cranberry sauce that I took any interest in it. My family always served the canned cranberry sauce at our holiday gatherings, which never tickled my fancy.
For years, I’ve been making my Cranberry Sauce with Ginger and Maple, and it wasn’t until this year I had a bright idea: boozy cranberry sauces. Queue the drool 😉
This Maple Bourbon Cranberry Sauce has the perfect sweet and tart balance with some warm cinnamon, a little zest and plenty of bourbon to make it extra tantalizing.
The best part about this recipe is it takes no more than 10 minutes to make.
Ingredients for Maple Bourbon Cranberry Sauce:
Cranberries: the key to an amazing cranberry sauce is using whole fresh or frozen cranberries. This ensures the sauce is nice and tart and adds refreshing flavor to your Thanksgiving Turkey.
Apple Cider: used to cook and soften the cranberries, apple cider adds lovely fall flavor and sweetness to the sauce. You can replace it with orange juice or water.
Orange Zest: Adding citrus flavor to the sauce, orange zest is a great way of stepping up the appeal of cranberry sauce. You can also use lemon zest or lime zest.
Pure Maple Syrup: sweetened with pure maple syrup instead of sugar, this cranberry sauce has that perfect balance of tang to sweet. You can adjust the amount you use to taste, or replace it with brown sugar.
Ground Cinnamon: a key ingredient in making a recipe taste like fall exploded all over it, ground cinnamon is a simple and easy way of bringing warmth to the sauce.
Bourbon: Gifting that belly-warming effect to the meal, this bourbon-infused cranberry sauce has unique boozy flavor to make you swoon. You can also use whisky or rum if it’s what you have on hand.
Vanilla Extract: A little warmth to offset the tang and acidity, vanilla extract gives a well-rounded richness.
How to Make Maple Bourbon Cranberry Sauce:
Simply toss all the ingredients in a saucepan, cover the pan, and bring it to a boil. Remove the lid and use a fork to mash the cranberries.
Cook until the sauce has thickened and the cranberries have lost much of their shape, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Remove from the heat. Stir in the bourbon and vanilla extract (note: if you want all of the alcohol to cook off, add the bourbon during the cooking process). Store the cranberry sauce in a Tupperware container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
This sauce can be made up to 1 week in advance! A great way to minimize stress on the day of your feast is to make as much in advance as you can. Cranberry sauce is a great one to make ahead of time.
More Healthy Holiday Side Dishes:
- Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole (Paleo)
- Creamy Kabocha Squash Mash (Paleo)
- Creamy Cauliflower Casserole (Keto)
- Green Beans and Beets with Balsamic Reduction
- Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash
- Balsamic Roasted Vegetables Recipe
- Apple Cider Glazed Carrots with Rosemary
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!
If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Maple Bourbon Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 16 ounces cranberries, fresh or frozen
- 1 cup apple cider, or orange juice or water
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients except for the bourbon and vanilla extract to a saucepan. Bring to a full boil. Mash the cranberries with a fork and continue cooking at a gentle boil, stirring frequently, until sauce has thickened and cranberries have lost much of their form.
- Remove sauce from heat and stir in the bourbon and vanilla extract (Note: if you want all of the alcohol to cook off of the bourbon, add it while you're cooking the cranberries). Transfer to a storage container. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
Hey Julia – We made this and the flavor is amazing! It will replace our traditional cranberry sauce from here on out! We had a problem with soupy consistency and hoping you might be able to solve the dilemma? Thanks, Kathy
Hi Kathy! Were your cranberries fresh or frozen? If you used frozen cranberries, they tend to contain more moisture than fresh so that could be the culprit (unless you used fresh). I haven’t had any issues with the sauce being too liquidy but it sounds like adding more cranberries may help with that.
Can this be made in larger amounts and canned. I love cranberry sauce and love to have it on hand.
Hi Barbara! I haven’t tried it myself, but I think it would work great as a canning recipe!
I made this for Thanksgiving. It was so easy and delicious. My husband said this will be our new go-to cranberry sauce! Thanks!
I’m so happy you and your husband like it! Thanks for the sweet note, Eve! xo
I have a maple syrup aged in a bourbon barrel, if I use that do I need to compensate a 1/4 cup of some other liquid for the 1/4 cup of bourbon? Thanks so much!!
Hi Francis!
You don’t need to add more liquid to compensate! Unless of course you want the sauce to be thinner, but it’ll be great without the bourbon 😀 xoxoxo
This is so yummy. I make basically the same recipe…..except I use 1 C orange juice and 1/2 fresh apple, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, cinnamon, 1 cup maple syrup, fresh ginger (thumb size-chopped) and cook for about 20 to 25 minutes. I just love all the variations.
Thank you for all your delicious recipes. The Morning Glory cookies are just the best. Hearty and fulfilling any time.
Ooooh, I love that – orange juice and a fresh apple sound amazing! So thrilled you’re rocking the morning glory cookies! xoxoxo
Just to make this clear for those who are keeping gluten out; most alcohol is grain based; so leave the yummy bourbon out.
I’m happy you pointed that out, Laurie! Thank you!
Do you add bourbon and vanilla after taking off the heat?
Sorry about that Mindy! That’s correct – add them both at the end, or add the bourbon earlier in the cooking process if you want all the alcohol to cook off 😀 xoxo