Homemade Cranberry Sauce (Just 4 Ingredients!)

A Sweet Pea Chef

Homemade Cranberry Sauce (Just 4 Ingredients!)

Make your own delicious homemade cranberry sauce following a few simple steps and using just 4 ingredients! Perfect as an easy Thanksgiving side, this is by far the best Homemade Cranberry Sauce ever!  And it’s refined sugar-free.

Okay… so Thanksgiving is upon us.

That means it’s time to start breaking out the boots and scarves and all the tasty Thanksgiving goodies!  Yippee!!

Thanksgiving has got to be one of my absolute favorite holidays. I love the food, the friends, and the family gathering at and around the Thanksgiving table.

Um… did I mention the food part?  Cuz that’s so good.

I mean, how can you beat a holiday that you spend all day with family while you cook, eat, watch football, and then eat some more?

Okay, speaking of Thanksgiving food, I want to share what is arguably my favorite part of the entire meal: the homemade cranberry sauce. I don’t know about you but I think cranberry sauce is one of the best Thanksgiving side dishes.

Oh my goodness, friends, this is the best homemade cranberry sauce recipe I’ve ever had.  If you’ve never made cranberry sauce and you usually buy the canned stuff, you really won’t know what hit you.

We always bought the canned stuff when I was growing up, so I didn’t even know something else existed.  I always enjoyed the smooth cranberry sauce that had the actual cranberries removed.

Then, on a whim in 2010 (yes, I totally remember the year – this was a BIG deal, friends!), I decided to try to make cranberry sauce at home.  Talk about never going back! That also means I have a whole cranberry sauce recipe for you!

The flavor combination of the fresh cranberries, orange juice, raw honey and bursts of freshly grated orange zest make this cranberry sauce to. die. for.  This, in my opinion, is the best cranberry sauce recipe. Try this homemade cranberry sauce out and you’ll see what I mean.  I promise.

HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY SAUCE

This recipe for cranberry sauce not only makes delicious homemade cranberry sauce but it’s also super easy. If you follow these simple steps, you’ll learn how to make cranberry sauce in no time:

Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium-high heat; Let the cranberries cook for approximately 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally; Allow the cranberries sauce to cool; Refrigerate the simple cranberry sauce in an airtight container.

Now tell me that making cranberry sauce from scratch isn’t the easiest thing ever. And one of the most delicious things too. Plus, you’ll have healthy cranberry sauce on your Thanksgiving table.

Yiippee and yummy!

IS CRANBERRY SAUCE GOOD FOR YOU?

When you learn how to make THIS homemade cranberry sauce the answer is YES.

Cranberries are…

rich in antioxidants; rich in vitamin C; rich in fiber.

Cranberries also contain…

vitamin K; vitamin A; manganese (a mineral that boosts the metabolism).

Cranberries are also are low in calories.

My cranberry sauce recipe makes low sugar cranberry sauce, which means you get all the benefits of cranberries without worrying about the refined sugar in the canned cranberry sauce.

Isn’t that amazing?

And can you think of all the cranberry recipes you can make with the cranberry sauce leftovers?  Like this salad, for example!

OMG!

MAKING LOW SUGAR CRANBERRY SAUCE

If you’re looking to make homemade cranberry sauce without refined sugar, the good news is that it’s super easy. There is no reason to add a bunch of white granulated, highly processed sugar to the cranberries.  Instead, try using some healthier, less refined, and still yummy options to sweeten up your homemade cranberry sauce.  Below are some great options:

orange juice raw honey pure maple syrup coconut sugar

My favorite way to sweeten my homemade cranberry sauce is to use a mix of a little raw honey and a little orange juice.  Those give the best depth of flavor without having to add a ton of sugar to the recipe.  To learn more about how to quit sugar, click here.

HOW TO SERVE CRANBERRY SAUCE

Typically, cranberry sauce is served with

turkey; steak or mashed potatoes.

While I love cranberries sauce with turkey and other healthy Thanksgiving dishes, I also heart my homemade cranberry sauce with…

Greek yogurt; granola; oatmeal; or as chia pudding dip.

No food waste and more delicious cranberry recipes with the homemade cranberry sauce leftovers. Perfect!

MAKING CRANBERRY SAUCE AHEAD

The BIGGEST time saver for Thanksgiving prep is to make ahead a lot of my Thanksgiving sides. Actually, make ahead meals are my saviors all the time.

This tasty homemade cranberry sauce right here is no exception. Yes, make ahead cranberry sauce is a thing in my house. Not only does it get even better when refrigerated, but it also needs to be cooled anyway. For best results with the make ahead cranberry sauce, refrigerate it after allowing it to cool in an air-tight container.

HOW LONG DOES CRANBERRY SAUCE LAST?

We usually make the cranberry sauce the day before Thanksgiving so it’s ready to grab and serve.  One quick note is that it does become a little more tart as it cools so you want to taste before serving and adjust any sweetness, as needed.

You can keep homemade cranberry sauce for up to a week in the refrigerator.

CAN YOU FREEZE CRANBERRY SAUCE?

There’s another answer to your how long does cranberry sauce last? question. In case you didn’t know, cranberry sauce freezes beautifully. You can totally make a ton of healthy cranberry sauce for later.

If you store the simple cranberry sauce in an airtight container or in a Ziploc bag in the freezer, the cranberry sauce lasts for up to 2 months.

Thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.

3 MORE THANKSGIVING SIDE DISHES

For those of you who love Thanksgiving food as much as I do, I have more Thanksgiving side dish recipes. Recipes that make healthy and delicious Thanksgiving side dishes, of course. I’m gonna start with a sweet and delicious sweet potato casserole then move to a green bean casserole, and end with a well-loved classic – the mashed potatoes.

EASY SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

Is it possible to have Thanksgiving dinner without a sweet potato casserole? Probably, but why would you? Because sweet potato casserole is not very healthy, you might say. But this Easy Sweet Potato Casserole is healthy. Of course it is. It’s me after all.

Sweet, dense and crunchy, this Easy Sweet Potato Casserole substitutes coconut sugar for brown sugar, coconut oil for butter, and buckwheat flour for all-purpose flour. See? Healthy and delicious. Get the recipe.

HEALTHY GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

You know what else you can serve as a side this Thanksgiving? A Healthy Green Bean Casserole made from scratch.

The reason you want to make this Healthy Green Bean Casserole from scratch is to avoid all the unnecessary fats and processed ingredients you would normally use such as canned crispy onions and canned mushroom sauce. Get the recipe.

CROCK POT MASHED POTATOES

Mashed potatoes cannot miss from the Thanksgiving table. But you can make them healthier if you follow my Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes recipe.

Easy to do, flavorful, made with only a few simple ingredients, these Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes will wow your guests’ taste buds. Get the recipe.

Best Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Best Homemade Cranberry Sauce

This is the best Homemade Cranberry Sauce ever!  Make your own delicious homemade cranberry sauce using just 4 ingredients! Perfect as an easy Thanksgiving side!

1 12-oz. bag fresh cranberries ((approx. 3 cups)) 1/2 cup orange juice 1/3 cup raw honey, (plus more as needed) 1 tbsp freshly grated orange zest

Combine all the ingredients in a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. As the cranberries cook, they will start to pop. Let cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15-20 minutes until you no longer hear the cranberries popping and it appears the sauce is thickening.

Allow to cool and then refrigerate until cool. As the sauce cools, it will thicken more and more.

If you prefer a sweeter sauce, add more honey to taste, as this recipe makes a slightly tart cranberry sauce.

This cranberry sauce tends to become more tart when refrigerated overnight. You may need to add a little more raw honey when it’s time to serve — just taste before serving to see.

This post contains affiliate links for the products I use regularly and highly recommend.

The post Homemade Cranberry Sauce (Just 4 Ingredients!) appeared first on A Sweet Pea Chef.

Healthy Pecan Pie (Without Corn Syrup!)

This homemade pecan pie made with a healthy pie crust and healthy pecan pie filling is so easy and delicious – it’s awesome to enjoy a family favorite without sacrificing your healthy eating goals!

Somehow, I made it until my early thirties until I ever tried a pecan pie.  It always seemed so strange to me to fill a pie with…nuts.  So, I went for years without ever even trying one.  Which is kinda crazy, if you think about it.  I mean — how did I not just TRY a kind of pie before?

This is ME we’re talking about.

It’s pie. P.I.E.

Then, one day a few years ago, when we were out with the family enjoying a day trip to Fredericksburg (<—- LOVE BTW), we stopped into a super cute and sweet pie shop.  The lady at the front counter boasted about how their Orange Bourbon Pecan Pie was recently featured in Sunset Magazine and it was world-renowned.

Okay okay okay, it was time to finally try pecan pie.  How do you say no to that?

So, we ordered a slice of the world famous pecan pie (aaaaaand a few other slices of other pies) and I went for it.

It was then that I realized I had been missing out on a whole amazing kind of pie my entire life.

Pecan pie was amazing! And that orange hint — puh-LEASE.

Note: To all other kinds of fruit pie, I still love you very, very much.

Last year I asked you on Instagram and Facebook what special holiday recipes you wanted me to #makeithealthy for the holiday season.

Not surprisingly, pecan pie was THE most requested holiday recipe from all the votes.

Pecan pie is amazing – so why not make it into something we can enjoy on a healthy diet, am I right?!?

So, for all you pecan pie lovers who want to keep up your healthy lifestyle, this holiday season and throughout the year, I hope you enjoy this healthy pecan pie recipe as much as we do because it’s not only a low sugar pecan pie and a low-calorie pecan pie but also a delicious dessert perfect for Thanksgiving and the holiday season. It’s really a shame not to make it.

IS PECAN PIE HEALTHY?

To answer this question, we have to take a look at your typical ingredients of pecan pie.

We typically will have:

Refrigerated pie crust or homemade pie crust made with butter and all-purpose flour –> not healthy; Eggs – a great source of protein –> healthy; Corn syrup –> not healthy; Brown sugar –> not healthy; Butter –> not healthy; Pecans –> healthy.

Overall, normal pecan pie is not so healthy. But, here’s the good news.  Pecan pie can be made healthy. It’s super easy to substitute unhealthy ingredients for healthy ones.

HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY HOMEMADE PECAN PIE

If you’ve never made pecan pie, it’s so shockingly simple – you just make the easy cinnamon-egg filling and then pour it over a bunch of raw pecans in the pie crust.  Pop it in the oven and it rises and bakes like a miracle.

That’s right: a miracle.

Making this pecan pie healthy was not too hard at all, thanks to my trusty healthy pie crust, which uses whole wheat pastry flour and coconut oil instead of butter. More about it later. But nom. Making pecan pie without corn syrup and refined sugars will also make it healthier. A great substitute for corn syrup in pecan pie is raw honey. And let me tell you something, using raw honey sweetens the pie and works beautifully. And another thing – this is my favorite pecan pie recipe without corn syrup but keep reading if you want more healthy substitutes for corn syrup. PECANS VS WALNUTS

Are pecans healthy? YES. Are walnuts healthy? Also YES.

Ok, so technically pecans vs walnuts is not a battle. Not like refined white sugar vs coconut sugar, anyway (spoiler: coconut sugar is the winner in that battle!). However, I think it’s important to know the difference between pecans and walnuts. Because yes, peeps, they differ in shape, taste, and nutritional benefits.

Pecans…

have a slightly different shape and they are smaller, compared to walnuts; have a mild taste; are rich in protein and fiber; contain more thiamine than walnuts; are rich in vitamin E.

Walnuts…

are broader than pecans; also sweeter; a great source of B6; contain more fatty acids and also monounsaturated fats; contain less fiber than pecans.

Both nuts are:

rich in Omega-3 fatty acids; rich in minerals.

As you can see, pecans and walnuts provide similar health benefits but also a few different ones. Both are good for you. But it’s important to know they are not the same because their taste is different and if you want this homemade pecan pie to taste like pecan pie or your healthy pecan recipes to taste like pecans, you shouldn’t confuse walnuts with pecans.

HOW TO MAKE PECAN PIE WITHOUT CORN SYRUP

I told you how you can make a low sugar pecan pie by replacing corn syrup with honey, but I promised I will give you other corn syrup alternative. Also, I want to tell you a few things about corn syrup and its alternatives so you can choose the best substitute for you.

Corn syrup is actually considered more unhealthy than sugar. Can you believe it? Corn syrup causes health problems, including obesity, diabetes, and heart problems. Sounds scary, right?

So let’s find healthier corn syrup alternatives. To make this pecan pie recipe, no corn syrup is required. Nope.  Zilch.  Zero.  None.  You need, however, something to sweeten the pie. And, while there are many natural sweeteners on the market, not all of them work in a pie or in other types of baked goods, and not all of them are clean-eating approved.

To make this pecan pie without corn syrup, you can use:

Raw honey – has a mild flavor but intense sweetness and replaces corn syrup without altering the taste of the pie. Pure Maple syrup – pure maple syrup is also good in this pecan pie but it will give the pie a strong maple flavor that not all people like.

Raw honey is my favorite corn syrup substitute.

HOW TO MAKE PIE CRUST WITHOUT BUTTER

We managed to make healthy pecan pie filling. Yay! But we can’t forget about the pie crust. We have to make pecan pie crust healthy too, right? Of course.

To make healthy pie crust, you just have to:

Replace butter with coconut oil; Use coconut sugar instead of refined sugar.

Check out my healthy pie crust recipe where I explain in detail how to make pie crust without butter.

HOW LONG TO BAKE PECAN PIE

Baking pecan pie is a 2-step process. It takes 30-35 minutes for the pecan pie to bake but follow these 2 steps if you want to make sure the healthy pecan pie is baked to perfection:

Place the pie in the oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake the pecan pie for another 20-25 minutes.

Pecan pie is done when is no longer giggly and it has small cracks on top.  Oh yea, and it will look GORGEOUS.

I mean…

HOW LONG DOES PECAN PIE LAST?

If any of the pie makes it past dessert, it lasts for…

2 days at room temperature; 4 days in the fridge; up to 4 months in the freezer. MORE THANKSGIVING DESSERT RECIPES!

You learned how to make homemade pecan pie. Congratulations! Do you want to learn how to make another Thanksgiving dessert that is healthy and delicious? I bet you do! That’s why I have one more Thanksgiving dessert recipe for ya.

SOUTHERN SWEET POTATO PIE

Another great pie for your Thanksgiving table is this Southern Sweet Potato Pie.

Sweet potato pie is similar to pumpkin pie, however, there are a few noticeable differences as well. For example, sweet potato pie is made only with cinnamon and nutmeg so it has a lighter spices flavor compared to pumpkin pie. Get the recipe.

Healthy Pecan Pie

Healthy Pecan Pie

This homemade pecan pie made with a healthy pie crust and healthy pecan pie filling is so easy and delicious – it’s awesome to enjoy a family favorite without sacrificing your healthy eating goals!

1/2 cup raw honey 2 tbsp coconut oil, (melted) 3 eggs 1/2 tsp fresh orange zest 1/8 tsp sea salt 1 tbsp unsweetened almond milk 1 tsp ground ground cinnamon 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 3 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour 2 cups raw pecans 1 bottom pie crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine raw honey, coconut oil, eggs, fresh orange zest, sea salt, unsweetened almond milk, ground cinnamon, pure vanilla extract, and whole wheat pastry flour. Stir to combine. Arrange the raw pecans into the prepared 9-inch pie crust. Pour the liquid filling mixture over the pecans, spreading some with a spoon if necessary. Place into the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes. The pie will rise in the oven. You’ll know it’s done when it has small cracks in the top and is no longer giggly. Remove from oven and allow to cool, preferably overnight.

This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.

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