Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Instant Pot cranberry sauce is an incredibly easy version of your favorite traditional holiday side dish, freeing up your stove for other items!

But for me, it would not be Thanksgiving (or Christmas!) without cranberry sauce.  You gotta have a little bit of sweet to go with all of the savory! That’s where cranberry sauce comes into play.

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce
Instant Pot cranberry sauce is an incredibly easy version of your favorite traditional holiday side dish, freeing up your stove for other items!

PREP TIME
1 minute
COOK TIME
3 minutes
ADDITIONAL TIME
15 minutes
TOTAL TIME
19 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
small pinch of ground cloves

INSTRUCTIONS

Instant Pot Preparation:
In the insert pot of an Instant Pot, add all ingredients and stir to combine.
Lock the lid in place and set the vent to the sealed position.
Select a 3 minute cook time at high pressure. Once cook time has finished, allow a natural pressure release.
Once pressure has released and the valve has dropped, carefully remove lid.
Remove cinnamon stick and stir contents. If desired, you can use the back of a spoon or a potato masher to smash berries more.
Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and transfer to refrigerator to chill for several hours before serving. The cranberries will gel more as they cool.
Stove Top Preparation:
Combine water and orange juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.
Add cranberries, cinnamon stick, and pinch of ground cloves. Stir to combine. Return to a boil.
Reduce heat and let berries simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the berries have burst.
Remove from heat. Let cool at room temperature, then cover and transfer to refrigerator to chill completely.

NOTES

I love using a mix of orange juice and water, but if you don't have orange juice on hand, you can just use a full cup of water.  If you want a stronger orange taste, you can also add in some orange zest prior to cooking.
The small pinch of cloves gives a very subtle hint of clove taste, but it's not strong at all. In fact, I don't think anyone would ask, "Are there cloves in here?" Really, I think it definitely enhances the flavors of the cinnamon, cranberries, and orange. I never make cranberry sauce without it! But if you are particularly averse to cloves or if you don't have any, you can leave it out.
What else can you use cranberry sauce for? Well, I'm glad you asked. Because I use it for SO MANY THINGS. I stir it into my Instant Pot oatmeal in the morning. I add it to Instant Pot yogurt, along with my favorite chocolate cranberry granola. It makes a fabulous topping for turkey sandwiches. You can use it on top of baked brie. Add it to your smoothies. Spread it on a bagel or English muffin. Spoon it over pancakes or waffles along with a dollop or whipped cream. SO many options!
Cranberry sauce freezes wonderfully!  This allows you to make it even farther in advance, or simply freeze the leftovers for later!

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