This drunken cranberry sauce is my favorite flavorful Thanksgiving side dish. The subtle deliciously boozy flavor combined with sweet orange notes, makes this whole berry sauce a perfect accompaniment to a Thanksgiving dinner. And it’s even better when layered on the famously delicious Thanksgiving leftover sandwich.

How to Make Drunken Cranberry Sauce For Thanksgiving

The recipe below is super easy to make. May I also recommend that you purchase extra ingredients and make some for your friends and neighbors. This also makes a festive and wonderful little culinary gift for Christmas.

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Drunken Cranberry Sauce

My family prefers the jelled cranberry sauce that slurps as it's removed from the can. I prefer a homemade whole berry version with more texture and flavors. It reminds me of what my Mom used to make when I was a kid. So, I make this cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving mostly for me and I usually gift a jar of it to someone else. This version with added spirits is for adults only. It keeps for weeks and is best made at least a week prior to when you'd like to use it, so all the flavors have a chance to meld.

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword Boozy Side Dish, Drunken Cranberry Sauce, Holiday Foods, Thanksgiving

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 16 people

Cost $7

Ingredients

• 1 12 oz Bag Fresh Whole Cranberries Sorted and Rinsed
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
• 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Orange-zested and juiced
• Pinch Nutmeg
• 1/4-1/2 Cup Booze of preference Rum, Spiced Rum, Whiskey or Bourbon

Instructions

• Sort through the cranberries, removing all berries that are past their prime
  
• Zest and juice the orange and set aside
  
• Measure the remaining ingredients and set aside
  
• In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, add the sugars, spices, orange juice and orange zest
  
• Add the cranberries to the saucepan with the other ingredients-EXCEPT for the booze. That gets added later
  
• Stir and bring mixture to a boil
  
• Continue to stir constantly allowing the sugar to dissolve and the cranberries to burst-this takes about 10 minutes or so. Be careful as the berries pop, the mixture is very hot!
  
• Reduce the heat to medium low and continue to stir often until the mixture thickens and reduces-this takes about 10-15 minutes
• Measure the amount of booze that you would like to use. It's been a rough year, so I decided a 1/2 cup was in order (LOL!)
  
• Now stir in the booze and cook for just a minute or two
  
• Remove from the heat, continue stirring until cooled slightly
• Transfer to a mason jar with a lid or a sealed plastic container-I prefer the mason jar
• Chill for at least 2 hours
• Can also be made 1-2 weeks ahead of time for the flavors to meld
• Serve chilled or at room temperature in a pretty bowl
  

Notes

**Please remember…this is for adults of legal drinking age only!**

This is a boozy recipe-perhaps a bit strong for some folks. So you can always reduce the amount of added alcohol to suit your tastes. You can even cook the mixture longer to cook off the alcohol if you would like. 

This recipe is very versatile. I have used just granulated sugar instead of a combination of white and brown sugar and it’s perfectly delicious.The brown sugar adds a more caramelized flavor and a darker color to the finished product. I have used regular and spiced rums-both were perfect in this dish. I also added Cointreau with spiced rum one year and it was amazingly boozy and delicious. Brandy and red wine will also work. Though, I usually have bourbon on hand (it’s my husband’s favorite). So, it’s the one I use most often. You can use whatever booze you like and have on hand.

This drunken cranberry sauce is absolutely delicious as a side dish with the Thanksgiving meal and with all leftover versions of the meal. But, it is also wonderful as an appetizer-served atop a block of cream cheese or goat cheese with crackers. Or as a filling in a cake, or spooned over vanilla or butter pecan ice cream, or whirled into a milkshake for a boozy version. It’s also wonderful combined with barbeque sauce or chili sauce when making sweet and sour meatballs or cocktail franks. I’ve even combined it with butter and spread it on toast, biscuits and scones. It certainly does not go to waste!

Start With Quality Ingredients

Y’all know I’m all about saving money, but I also don’t compromise good taste. This is one example of quality and good taste. Ocean Spray cranberries are my favorite, because they are consistently superior berries that yield a better product. I highly recommend using Ocean Spray Cranberries to make this Drunken Cranberry Sauce. Check out the link below for the Ocean Spray site full of recipes and good reason why you should use their products.

Note: I have not been paid by Ocean Spray™ to promote their products, I just really like them!

https://www.oceanspray.com/Products/Fresh-Fruit/Fresh-Cranberries

Check out these other links for more Thanksgiving and Holiday deliciousness!!

In case you missed my blog on how to make The BEST Thanksgiving Turkey, here it is…https://frugalanddelicious.com/category/turkey-preparation/thanksgiving-turkey/

Evan Williams, The Boozy Part of Drunken Cranberry Sauce For Thanksgiving

Evan Williams Bourbon is my husband’s favorite. Every now and then, he enjoys a muddled old fashioned and this is his go-to bourbon. Here’s a link to their site that also provides a nice assortment of other recipes. Check it out…https://evanwilliams.com/

Note: I have not been paid by Evan Williams to promote their products. I just like them…especially in this drunken cranberry sauce!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well folks, on the tails of all this deliciousness…I just want to wish you all a very healthy and happy Thanksgiving.

Take Care. Virtual Hugs,

Chauncey