Add A Splash Of Vinegar While citrus is a natural pairing for cranberry sauce, bright, savory vinegars like sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and apple cider vinegar play well with the bitter-tart berries. Start with a little, then add more gradually. It’s easy to overdo it when in comes to bold vinegars.
Because this sauce is so bold and flavorful, we find that it makes a wonderful accompaniment long after Thanksgiving dinner is a memory. Try it with bland but rich dishes like Fettucine Alfredo or a simple creamy pasta. (Served with a side of roasted Brussels sprouts and mushrooms and a big, crunchy salad, this is a recipe for cold-weather bliss!) We find my fabulous cranberry dressing far too good to serve just once a year (don’t worry, I’ll be posting the recipe in plenty of time for Thanksgiving!), and it’s delicious served with mashed potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes and this cranberry sauce.
This concept completely eluded me as a child, and almost escaped me as a vegetarian, but eventually my carnivorous roots came to my rescue and reminded me that a certain amount of bitterness can really enhance a rich meat. Roast turkey, duck, and pork are prime candidates for a bitter/tart cranberry sauce or relish served as an enhancement to the meat, a condiment, much like mint sauce with lamb. It’s only when you separate the meat and cranberries that you lose the connection and the bitterness becomes a drawback.
The cranberry sauce OFB and I grew up with was pretty similar. Our mothers put bags of cranberries (just the berries, not the bags, mind you) in water, added orange sections, whole cloves, sugar, and cinnamon sticks, brought the mixture to a boil, and cooked it down. The result was beautiful, aromatic, and bitter. As children, we both passed on the homemade sauce and went for the canned cranberry “jelly,” and yes, we do still love that stuff, which somehow isn’t bitter.
Getting back to the whole cranberry sauce/rich meat thing, let me leave you with a thought: If I were serving up cranberry sauce specifically to eat with a turkey or pork roast, I’d make it like this: Saute diced sweet onion in butter until it clarifies. Add curry powder, salt, and lots of cracked black pepper. Add fresh cranberries, maple syrup, and a splash of chicken stock. Cook down on low, adding more chicken stock as needed. You could sub chipotle powder for the curry powder if you’d like to heat things up, and/or cook bacon instead of melting butter, sauteeing the onion in the bacon drippings and removing the bacon and dicing it before adding it back to the pan. The sweet/savory/spicy cranberry sauce you’d get with this approach would perfectly balance fowl or pork.
Rinse and drain cranberries and put them in a large, heavy pot. Pour in orange juice and Grand Marnier. Add diced apricots, apricot preserves, cinnamon sticks, and ginger. Stir well to mix, then cook over low heat until cranberries “pop” and mixture thickens. Allow to cool (it will continue to thicken as it cools), then pour into containers and refrigerate until needed. Keeps very well. Serves up to 12 (fewer if you love cranberry sauce like we do).
Instead, reach for another sweetener: maple syrup. Its already liquid so it will incorporate into the cranberry sauce.
Then, reach for something a bit tangy. Yes, add more tang to the bitter. But make it something that will enhance the sweetness of the existing sugars, like orange juice, apple juice, or white wine.
Finally, add a pinch (and we do mean a pinch) of salt. Salt, it turns out, actually intensifies sweetness. Its why Southerners add salt to their watermelon.
If your cranberry sauce comes out tasting too bitter, dont reach for the sugar. Granulated sugar might make the situation worse, especially if you dont have time to reheat the sauce so the sugar can dissolve properly.
If you dont have maple syrup or think its distinct taste may overpower your cranberry sauce, you can also try swapping that out for more neutral agave syrup or brown rice syrup.
Thanksgiving Food Removing Cranberry Sauce in One Piece
FAQ
What to do if cranberry sauce is too bitter?
How do you make cranberry sauce less tart?
Why does cranberry taste bitter?
How do you sweeten bitter cranberry juice?
How do you fix a cranberry sauce that is too thick?
To fix a cranberry sauce that’s too thick for your liking, add a splash of water or orange juice to loosen it up before you take it off the stove—it’s as simple as that! On the other end of the spectrum, you might end up with a cranberry sauce that won’t thicken.
Can cranberry capsules be taken with juice?
Cranberries are often used to prevent urinary tract infections. Cranberry juice can also prevent urinary tract infections, but is less effective at treating them. The dosage for the use of this cranberry is different for each individuals. The dose you take will depend on your age, health, and more. Herbal supplements are not always safe. Consult your doctor for the appropriate dosage.
Does cranberry sauce taste bitter?
Say goodbye to bitter cranberry sauce. If your cranberry sauce comes out tasting too bitter, your first impulse might be to reach for the sugar bowl. Don’t. Granulated sugar will make the situation worse, especially if you don’t have time to reheat the sauce so the sugar can dissolve properly. Gritty cranberry sauce is NOT delicious, y’all.
How do you make cranberry sauce?
Cranberries are bitter, tart and vibrant by nature, so cranberry sauce is sweetened to help balance their tartness. A basic cranberry sauce has only three ingredients: cranberries, water and sugar. Obviously, we can’t lose the cranberries, but you can swap out the water for orange juice, apple cider or grape juice.