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    Home » Condiments

    Highbush Cranberry Sauce

    Published: Oct 6, 2020 Modified: Jan 26, 2023 by Alan Bergo This post may contain affiliate links 3 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    If you've ever cooked with highbush cranberries, if you're like me, the first thing you did was probably try to imitate cranberry sauce. If you want an easy version that tastes like the real thing, read on.

    Highbush Cranberry Cranberry Sauce Recipe

    The flavor of the two fruits is kind of similar, but highbush cranberries are juicy, juicy, and make a brilliant red liquid and coulis. Regular cranberries really need to get cooked or pureed to become cranberry sauce like we think of in the U.S. and the naturally cook into a thick mash.

    Highbush cranberry juice is much more liquid, so to get it anywhere near the same consistency you'd probably need to cook down a thick coulis (fresh fruit puree) or thicken the juice with something, which is what I do here. 

    Highbush cranberries or Viburnum trilobum
    Highbush cranberries, or something like Viburnum trilobum, a variety that doesn't taste bitter and smell like wet dog. Picked the first week of October, north West WI.

    I don't really love using cornstarch much, which is something that people might reach for. Don't get me wrong, it works, for this I'd rather reach for a natural thickener. Apple sauce is plentiful this time of year, and naturally sweet so it's a shoe-in, although I try to not use too much as it will lighten the color of the sauce, which I think looks the best red/blush and not too pink.

    Highbush Cranberry Cranberry Sauce Recipe

    Other than that everything is straightforward. There's a little orange zest, a pinch of spices, enough grated ginger to make it a little spicy (if you're like me, you can tone it down a bit) and, the secret to a lot of my fruit recipes: a glug of vinegar. In a perfect world, you'd use highbush cranberry vinegar, but white wine vinegar is fine too. The vinegar does a few things: it stabalizes the mixture, and will stop it from fermenting, but moreso it's there to underscore the tartness and add some zip to ensure it can stand up to things like fatty pieces of meat. There's some white wine in the mix 

    Use the sauce anywhere you'd use cranberry sauce, and if you want a velvety texture like I sometimes do, puree it smooth in a blender to break up the apple particles. If you want it thicker, add another spoon of apple sauce. 

    Highbush Cranberry Cranberry Sauce Recipe
    Print Recipe
    5 from 5 votes

    Highbush Cranberry Sauce

    You can tweak the proportions of vinegar, water and wine here if you like, depending on availability and taste. But, using only water will taste like the sauce was made with only water. The sauce will change, develop and mellow over time. Makes about 2 cups
    Prep Time30 minutes mins
    Cook Time5 minutes mins
    Infusing time8 hours hrs
    Total Time8 hours hrs 35 minutes mins
    Course: Condiment
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: highbush cranberry
    Servings: 6 People
    Calories: 77kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Ingredients

    • 3 cups (1 lb) highbush cranberries
    • ¼ cup white wine vinegar*
    • ½ cup dry white wine*
    • ¾ cup water
    • ½ cup apple sauce or more to thicken to taste
    • Zest of ¼ an orange
    • ½ oz piece of ginger grated*
    • Tiny pinch each ground cloves and allspice
    • 2 oz honey

    Instructions

    • Pulse the berries in a food processor or otherwise mash them up very well, then mix with the wine, water and vinegar and infuse overnight (stirring well a few times if you can remember).
    • The next day, pass the mixture through a food mill, or strain through strainer, pressing out the juices.
    • Combine all ingredients in a small pot, heat and bring to a simmer whisking, until thickened.
    • If you want it more thick, add some extra apple sauce, but don't add too much or it will dilute the color.
    • From here the sauce can be made and refrigerated for a week before serving, or canned. Serve warm or cold.

    Notes

    *You can make this without apple sauce to really drive the color home if you want, just reduce highbush cranberry coulis until it thickens.
    *You can mix and match the proportions of wine and vinegar here, kind of, if you only have one or the other it's fine, just substitute water, although it won't be the original version. 
     

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1oz | Calories: 77kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 0.3g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 74mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 36IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.3mg

    More 

    Highbush Cranberries

    Highbush Cranberry Cranberry Sauce Recipe
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. KAYLA

      October 08, 2021 at 3:49 pm

      5 stars
      I’m about to try this recipe with Viburnum edule. Hopefully the wet dog smell doesn’t ruin it!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        October 08, 2021 at 4:31 pm

        Ooooof. I can't stand the pronounced wet dog smell of them. You're on you're own there! They look so inviting from a distance.

        Reply
        • Kayla

          October 09, 2021 at 1:51 pm

          5 stars
          It actually turned out very good! The wine must have cancelled out the smell, it’s perfect! 😄 thanks for the great recipe

          Reply

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    Chef Alan Bergo

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