Holiday Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce

I make this recipe every year and it is a guaranteed hit! I have people ask for the recipe whenever we serve it. It is the best cranberry sauce I have ever tasted!

I made it again and of course, changed it up again. (I am Alice C, the original poster of this recipe) THIS year I subbed 1/2 cup of PORT WINE and 1/2 cup OJ for the 1 cup orange juice. (or whatever type of liquid you use) and I added 1 pint of fresh raspberries once the relish was finished cooking. I use the same amt of spices every year because WE LIKE IT “spicy”. I also had to make the pomegranate version as well, and NO, the pom seeds are not supposed to “get soft” as a couple ppl mentioned that theirs didn’t. The point of the pom seeds if you use them is that they ADD A CRUNCH to this sauce. 🙂 As long as you keep the liquid/cranberries in the same proportion and follow the directions for cooking this, you can do whatever you want with this “recipe”. Few spices? Fine. Booze for liquid? Try it! Grated citrus zest….yes, please! Added fruits? Sure! Last year I made some with 1 cup of apple juice and chopped up an apple to add plus stirred in some toasted walnuts at the end. THAT was really good!

The flavors worked well together. I didn’t have cinnamon sticks so I used a little ground cinnamon to taste. While l liked the taste of pomegranate, I didn’t like the crunch of the seeds in the sauce. More a texture issue for me than anything else.

I submitted this as “Alice C” quite some time ago. I tend to change it up from time to time. 😉 Last year I made 2 sep. batches. *In one I subbed Tangerine Juice for the OJ, used 1 pint of fresh raspberries for the Poms (added them AFTER the sauce was finished cooking) and grated about 1/2 teas fresh ginger in before cooking. Kept the other spices the same. Spicy! *Batch 2: I just happened to have some Fresh Apple Cider hanging around so I used the cider in place of the OJ. I chopped up one large green apple, peel left on, in 1/2 inch chunks and added those in with the cranberries. I omitted the grated orange peel. Kept spices the same but added 1/4 teas nutmeg. I kept in over the flame a couple minutes longer (to help it thicken more when it cooled) & when I pulled it from the heat I added 1/4 cup Myers’ Dark Rum. (not for the kiddies!) Chilled it 24 hours. It packs a little punch. I made the original a couple months ago and subbed (a cheaper version of) “Grand Marnier” for all of the OJ, then used the chilled sauce to fold into a homemade New York Style Cheesecake. OMG, delish! My next “change-up” is going to be using fresh blueberries, grated lime zest, added nutmeg, 1 Tbls of Rose’s Lime Juice added and garnishing with some toasted coconut?

This is a great recipe; especially over Thanksgiving turkey! You might need to make a double batch though, people eat it up quick!

I love this recipe, although I’ve changed it slightly. I use the juice from one pomegranate, rather than the seeds and replace the cinnamon sticks with a little grated nutmeg. For the pomegranate juice you can either buy it bottled or smash the pomegranate seeds up with a reasonably large mortar and pestle. The real skill in this recipe is getting the correct amount of ground cloves. Add a little at a time and taste. Finally for best results make this sauce a couple of weeks in advance and allow it to mature in the fridge.

I found this recipe many years ago and it has become a tradition in our house at Thanksgiving. My whole family loves it, including my kids who look forward to it. My favorite part of the recipe is the ground cloves and cinnamon. The spices add so much flavor and smell so good while cooking! The pomegranate adds texture and a little crunch. If you are looking for something bland or mild, this is not the recipe for you. If you are looking for something bold and packed full of flavor, you will love it! Thank you for posting this fabulous recipe!

so the pomegranate seeds never really got soft but I think that’s my fault. Really hindered the final product.

Go ahead and double this recipe, since it’s sure to be polished off. I left out the cloves and used half the sugar for a sweet-tart sauce in which all the flavors really shine without being overpowered by the spices.

This cranberry sauce is the bomb! I have never been a great fan of cranberry sauce (but I always eat it with turkey), however, I was scooping this up and eating with a spoon all day. My immediate family does enjoy pomegranate, and even those extended and skeptical guys ended up commenting on how good this was. Hands down, this is the best, and is so good I made another batch just to eat (by itself, like dessert) the week after thanksgiving.

This is our new “traditional” sauce! love it!

awesome and easy!

This is the very best cranberry sauce I have ever had. Well worth the effort of deseeding the pomegranate. Left cinnamon sticks in overnight and made just as recipe specified. Will use every Thanksgiving!!

A favorite recipe! Sometimes I add mandrin oranges and/or a chapped apple.

Healthful choice with the added texture of pomegranate seeds is a fantastic holiday “cranberry sauce”. My family raved and I’ve made it just because. I made the recipe just as is.

Made this for Christmas dinner. I’m already having to make the second batch because it’s been requested for leftovers! I made the recipe exactly how it was given here and I didn’t take the cinnamon sticks out for 24 hours (right before serving). The spices were not overpowering at all for us. My next batch I’m trying the Grand Marnier some have suggested. Great recipe and a great way to introduce pomegranate novices to this delicious and unique fruit as we did with our guests!

The cinnamon was very overpowering, but I was able to fix it with some lime juice and added lime slices to garnish (see photo) and it turned out splendidly. It was the first dish to run out at Thanksgiving – and a made a double batch! My spouse even licked the bowl clean – after the guests departed, of course 🙂

My husband, toddler and I all very much enjoyed this sauce, and it’s going to be a regular item at the dinner table from now on. The only thing I did different from the recipe was to pull the cinnamon sticks from the sauce after 3 hours instead of waiting a full 8 hours. It was spicy enough without being overwhelming, for us, at that point.

My husband, toddler and I all very much enjoyed this sauce, and it’s going to be a regular item at the dinner table from now on. The only thing I did different from the recipe was to pull the cinnamon sticks from the sauce after 3 hours instead of waiting a full 8 hours. It was spicy enough without being overwhelming, for us, at that point.

I have never tried to make a cranberry sauce. But this was so easy and the pomegranate is a nice addition. Family loved it and keeps requesting it year-round.

I made this for Thanksgiving dinner, and I’m sorry to say it wasn’t very well received. The basic cranberry sauce is great, but the spices were too much. My husband and I tasted it right after cooking, and it was fine, so perhaps I left the cinnamon sticks in too long? (It was about 24 hours total to serving time.) But the next day it was definitely different, and it tasted like the cloves were too strong. I wanted to try using pomegranates in a cranberry sauce, and this was the only recipe I found, but they didn’t add much in the end because the cranberry/clove taste was too strong. (Plus everyone that ate it said “Oh no, what is so crunchy in here? Are you supposed to eat that?” but that’s not the recipe’s fault they don’t know what a pomegranate is.) My suggestiong would be to skip the poms all together and cut back the spices, and you’ve got a great sauce that I might try again.