This article provides a comprehensive guide to making keto-friendly cranberry sauce, a perfect sugar-free and low-carb addition to your holiday meals. Whether you're team homemade or used to be a fan of the canned cranberry jelly, this recipe is customizable to suit your taste and dietary needs.
Introduction
Cranberry sauce is a holiday staple, but traditional recipes are often loaded with sugar. This keto cranberry sauce recipe offers a delicious alternative, using fresh cranberries and sugar substitutes to create a tart and sweet complement to turkey, chicken, pork, or even roasted vegetables. It’s a guilt-free indulgence that everyone at your Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering can enjoy.
Why You'll Love This Sugar-Free Cranberry Sauce
- Tastes Just Like Regular Cranberry Sauce: Your family and friends won’t be able to tell the difference.
- Customizable Texture: You can make it runny, more jelly-like, or somewhere in between by adjusting the cooking time.
- Simple Ingredients: The recipe requires just a few ingredients, plus water.
- Healthy and Diet-Friendly: This sauce is sugar-free, keto-friendly, and diabetic-friendly, with just 4g net carbs and 27 calories per serving.
- Make-Ahead Option: You can prepare it in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Versatile: Perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any meal that calls for a burst of tart sweetness.
Ingredients
- Fresh or Frozen Cranberries: Fresh cranberries are the star of this recipe and are naturally low in carbs. If using frozen, thaw them first and remember they may take a little longer to cook down.
- Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend: This sugar-free sweetener tastes like sugar, dissolves completely, and won’t crystallize. If you can't find allulose, you can use Swerve confectioners, Monk Fruit, Erythritol, or a combination of them.
- Water: The base liquid for cooking the cranberries. Unsweetened apple juice or applesauce can be used for a low-sugar (but not keto-friendly) alternative.
- Orange Zest: Adds depth to the sauce. Orange extract can be substituted if needed.
- Lemon Juice: Helps to thicken the sauce due to the pectin content. It also adds a touch of tartness.
- Vanilla Extract: Stir in after removing from heat.
- Jalapeño Peppers (Optional): For those who like a touch of heat, jalapeños add a fun twist to the traditional recipe.
Equipment
- Saucepan: A medium saucepan is needed to cook the cranberry sauce.
- Nonstick Pan: A 10-inch frying pan can be used to make the sauce. The nonstick coating ensures that you don’t lose too much jam to the surface of the pan and it’s also great for clean up. The increased surface area of a wide pan allows the berries to cook evenly and allows moisture to evaporate more quickly, speeding up the cooking time.
- Silicone Spatula: This really enables you to see the development as the jam cooks. When you can part the red sea of jam, you know you’re close!
- Sieve: To remove the skins and seeds.
- Bundt Pan or Serving Dish: For refrigerating the sauce.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Combine Ingredients: In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, water, Besti Monk Fruit & Allulose Sweetener, and orange zest.
- Simmer: Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 12-15 minutes, until the cranberries burst open and a sauce forms. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. For a chunkier sauce, cook closer to 12 minutes; for a smoother sauce, cook closer to 15 minutes.
- Add Vanilla: Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Adjust Consistency (Optional): For a smoother sauce, simmer longer to break down the cranberries completely, or use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Alternatively, strain the sauce after the cranberries pop and return the liquid to the saucepan to simmer more.
- Adjust Sweetener (Optional): Add more sweetener to taste, if needed.
- Chill: Transfer the sauce to a bowl, cover, and chill in the fridge until ready to serve. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Detailed Cooking Process for Jellied Cranberry Sauce
- Combine Ingredients: Add cranberries, allulose, and water to a shallow, nonstick pan and turn the heat to medium high.
- Simmer: Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Stir the mixture occasionally to check for any sticking. If the berries start to stick, reduce the heat.
- Reduce: The berries should reduce down to the point where you can part the red sea of cranberries with your silicone spatula. If your berries don’t reach this stage the sauce will be too runny.
- Sieve: Press the cooked berries through a sieve, to remove the skins and seeds. You definitely have to work pushing the cranberries through the sieve, pushing with the spatula will help remove any pieces of skin or seeds. It you’re working with the spatula and it’s really not going well your berries probably aren’t cooked enough.
- Hydrate Gelatin: Hydrate the gelatin in 2 tablespoons of water, mixing well to break up any clumps.
- Mix Gelatin: Thoroughly mix the gelatin into the cranberries.
- Refrigerate: Pour sauce into bundt pan, or serving dish. Refrigerate 4 hours to overnight. To remove from mold, run a knife or toothpick around the edges. If it’s very stubborn you can sit in a bowl of warm water to help loosen the sauce.
Tips and Tricks
- Spice It Up: Add ground cinnamon, allspice, ground cloves, and/or ground ginger. Start with 1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, ginger, and allspice, and 1/8 teaspoon each of nutmeg and cloves.
- Adjust Spice Level: Control the heat by adjusting the amount of jalapeño. For a milder version, use just one pepper or skip them altogether.
- Consistency Check: When you can draw a spatula across the pan and it leaves a trail where you can see the bottom, it’s getting thick enough.
- Troubleshooting: If there’s too much liquid in the pan still, continue to simmer until the sauce thickens. If the sauce is still runny after cooling, heat it again, add a little more gelatin, and allow it to cool completely.
Serving Suggestions
- With Turkey: A must-have for roasted Thanksgiving turkey.
- With Other Meats: Pairs well with spatchcock turkey, Crock Pot turkey breast or turkey legs, chicken, and pork.
- Alongside Keto Dishes: Complete your holiday dinner with cauliflower stuffing and keto green bean casserole.
- Desserts: Enjoy with keto pumpkin pie, sugar-free pecan pie, or keto pumpkin cheesecake.
- Beyond the Holidays: Spread over pancakes or waffles, use in a protein shake, or make a cranberry vinaigrette.
Storage Instructions
- Refrigeration: Store leftover cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1-2 weeks.
- Freezing: Freeze in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and set out on the counter for 30 minutes before serving. Ensure to place a piece of plastic wrap right on top of the sauce before closing the lid on the container.
Nutritional Information
Serving Size: 1/4 cup
- Net Carbs: 4g
- Calories: 27
Nutritional data is provided as a courtesy and is accurate to the best of our knowledge.
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