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  1. Food and Cooking
  2. Recipes
  3. Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Instant Pot to the rescue again!

By Lauren Miyashiro; Recipe by Ree DrummondPublished: Oct 15, 2021
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5
1 Rating
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can you freeze cranberry sauce
Ralph Smith
Yields:
8 - 10 serving(s)
Prep Time:
10 mins
Total Time:
40 mins

Fact #1: Your oven and stovetop are precious real estate when preparing for your Thanksgiving dinner. Fact #2: Cranberry sauce is often an afterthought because of said not-enough-space situation. This easy Instant Pot cranberry sauce solves both problems. From start to finish, and hardly any hands-on prep, this delicious cranberry sauce comes together beautifully in your beloved pressure cooker. 

Can you overcook cranberry sauce? 

When making cranberry sauce, you want to avoid letting the added sugars (in this case, granulated sugar and maple syrup) burn. Luckily, with the timed pressure of an Instant Pot, that’s hard to do. At the very end of the recipe, when using the Sauté function, you’ll want to watch the sauce closely and cook it until just thickened and syrupy. 

How do you fix bitter cranberry sauce?

Cranberries are extremely tart and need to be offset by added sugar and salt. In this recipe, Ree cooks the cranberries with a combination of granulated sugar (it’ll dissolve in the pressure cooker) and maple syrup to offset the cranberries’ natural bitterness. Using the zest of an orange to infuse the sauce helps as well. 

Can you make cranberry sauce ahead of time?

When stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, cranberry sauce can be made at least 5 days ahead of time. 

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Ingredients

  • 1 orange
  • 1 1/2 lb. fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Pinch of kosher salt

Directions

    1. Step 1Remove 4 large strips of zest from the orange with a vegetable peeler and add to a 6- or 8-quart Instant Pot. Halve the orange and squeeze the juice into the pot. Add the cranberries, maple syrup, sugar and salt. 
    2. Step 2Lock the lid into place, turn the steam valve to the sealing position and set the pot to pressure-cook on high for 4 minutes. When the time is up, use a wooden spoon to turn the valve to the venting position to release the pressure manually. Once all the steam has been released, carefully remove the lid and stir the cranberry sauce.
    3. Step 3Set the Instant Pot to sauté on high. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until thickened and syrupy, 2 to 3 minutes. Let cool completely, then transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until cold.
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