Gingered Cranberry Chutney
Maybe we’re jumping the gun on Thanksgiving plans, but we just can’t help it! It’s our favorite holiday (spoken like a true food lover). There’s plenty of time to talk turkey — today, we’re focusing on Cranberry Sauce, because you can’t have a Thanksgiving turkey without cranberry sauce.
So banish all thoughts of jiggly canned cranberry sauce. Seriously. Don’t even think about it. Sweet, tart, and full of warm spices, this from-scratch Gingered Cranberry Chutney blows that stuff out of the water, and it is unbelievably easy to make.
Here’s our mise en place: cranberries, sugar, an orange, ginger, raisins, ground cinnamon, and cloves. The orange gets a rough dice before getting thrown into the food processor, peel and all. A few pulses are all you need to get it broken up a bit.
We get a simple syrup going with some water and sugar, then add the chopped orange and ginger. Simmer this down until the orange peel softens.
Now in go the cranberries, cinnamon, cloves, and raisins. Isn’t that looking festive already?
Let the mixture cook until big bubbles begin to appear. The cranberries will soften and some will burst. As the chutney cools, it will thicken up a bit.
Like a good Thanksgiving team player, this is a great make-ahead dish. You can make this cranberry chutney up to a week in advance. Which gives you that much more time to think about other things…like pie.
Gingered Cranberry Chutney
Your new favorite Thanksgiving cranberry sauce.
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 35 min
1 unpeeled organic orange
1–1/2 cups water
1–1/4 cups sugar
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
12oz bag of cranberries (about 3 cups)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup golden raisins
Dice the orange and remove any seeds. In a food processor, pulse the orange pieces, peel and all, until finely chopped.
In a heavy saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring. Add the chopped orange and the ginger and stir well; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Add the cranberries, cinnamon, cloves, and raisins and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened and big bubbles begin to appear, 15 to 20 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl and let cool, then cover and refrigerate up to 1 week. Serve at room temperature.
