Lazy Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce Recipe

📃Shopping list

To make this simple dish you will need:

• fresh cranberries
• sugar
• water
• orange juice
• cinnamon sticks
• orange peel

🍒How to make it

Start by rinsing your cranberries in cool water. It is easiest to place them into a strainer or colander for this step so that you can take a quick look at them and make sure they are all in good condition. After they are rinsed, place all cranberries into your slow cooker.

Add sugar, water, orange juice, cinnamon sticks and orange peel to your slow cooker, cover and cook on low for about 5 hours.

During this time, I generally just walk away from the crockpot. However, every slow cooker is different. If yours runs hot and sometimes burns things, you may want to stir your cranberries every couple of hours.

After about 5 hours, check on your sauce. If you would like it to thicken up, cook for an additional half an hour with the lid off. If most of your berries are still whole, use back of a spoon to smush some of them. This will also help to thicken your sauce.

When cooking is finished, allow your sauce to cool and remove cinnamon stick and oranges peels.

Storing sauce

Place into airtight containers or ziplock bags and store in the refrigerator or freezer. This sauce will last about a week or so in the refrigerator and up to a few months in the freezer.

Why Use a Crockpot For This Recipe

I can't think of any reason NOT to make this in a slow cooker! However, here are some reasons why your crockpot is best for this dish:

1. By making this dish yourself, you know exactly what goes into it. Absolutely nothing artificial and no preservatives here!
2. Slow cooking tends to bring out flavors differently than other kinds of cooking. In the case of this sauce, the flavors of cinnamon and slightly bitter orange peel really add to the overall taste.
3. Using your crockpot to make a side dish like this leaves more space in the oven for other things. If you already have an entree, appetizer and dessert going in the oven, calling on your slow cooker to make this dish can be lifesaving!
4. When cooking in your crockpot, you can use either parchment paper or a slow cooker liner leaving you with virtually zero clean up!
5. Crockpots are a great way to cook with children! Since they don’t get super hot the way ovens do AND since you generally don’t turn them on until all ingredients are in, they are very family friendly. (Please note that you CAN still burn yourself with a slow cooker so always supervise children carefully anytime you are in the kitchen!).

😉Easy Cranberry Hints & Hacks

1. If you want to thicken up your sauce a bit, cook for about half an hour with the lid off.
2. This dish freezes really well. This fact makes cranberry sauce the perfect make-in-advance dish. One less thing to worry about on the day of!
3. Slow cooker liners are an optional but helpful hack whenever using a crockpot. They allow you to cook with little to no cleanup. I like to buy mine in bulk for a better per-piece price. 
4. In the market for a new slow cooker? I love mine!!