A traditional Christmas side dish that is a must-have is cranberry sauce. The sour cranberries pair beautifully with the sweet citrus and pears. The vanilla offers a delicate perfume, the orange marmalade enhances the citrus flavor, and the star anise will leave guests wondering what it is.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- ½ cup orange juice
- ½ cup cranberry juice
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- 1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
- 1 medium pear – peeled, cored, and diced
- 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 star anise
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons orange marmalade
Instructions
- Combine orange juice, cranberry juice, and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in 1/2 of the cranberries, pear, orange zest, vanilla extract, star anise, and salt, and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining cranberries and cook, stirring often, until cranberries start to burst and mixture starts to thicken, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Stir in orange marmalade and set aside. Sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Star anise can be found in the spice section of the grocery store and is very inexpensive.
- Cooking half of the cranberries and then adding the remaining cranberries 5 minutes later will give you more whole cranberries in the sauce. If this doesn’t matter to you, add all of the cranberries at once.
Reviews
Delicious and easy to make! Prefer a tarter cranberry sauce so cut sugar in half. (I do this with a lot of recipes here on AllRecipes.) Marmalade adds sweetness. Can always add more sugar near the end of cooking if not sweet enough.