Last updated on November 23rd, 2020
This Low Carb Keto Cranberry Sauce is incredibly simple to make, with only 3 ingredients, and a few suggested and delicious add-ins. It’s ready in under 15 minutes, and is a staple on any holiday table. Use it to bake with, cook with, or even inside a festive holiday cocktail. You won’t miss the refined sugar!
What are the holidays without cranberry sauce? Honestly, they aren’t the holidays without cranberry sauce if you ask us! Now, just to be clear, we actually think that canned cranberry sauce is delicious (unpopular opinion maybe???) but the problem is, it’s absolutely PACKED with refined sugar. Even if you aren’t low carb or keto, we think you will probably agree that sugar is in absolutely everything, and quite frankly, that sucks. Luckily, homemade sugar free and keto cranberry sauce is incredibly easy to make, so there’s no need to worry! You truly just need a few ingredients and about 15 minutes to bring it to life in a saucepan.
Aside from just being the perfect side dish to accompany your turkey or any other holiday meal, it’s great to add to desserts, cocktails, and other apps and sides. (More on that later!) Full disclosure, we don’t always stay completely low carb for the holidays (we cannot resist the homemade 7 cheese mac and cheese!!!), but we always have low sugar cranberry sauce. We just believe in minimizing the carb damage, and to us, there’s no point in eating regular cranberry sauce when keto cranberry sauce is so easy to make.
Here’s What You Need For This Low Carb Keto Cranberry Sauce:
- Whole cranberries
- Water
- Sweetener of choice (Swerve confectioners)
- Ground cinnamon* (optional add-in)
- Vanilla extract* (optional add-in)
- Orange extract* (optional add-in)
- Orange zest for garnish, optional
What Sweetener Is Best For This Low Carb and Keto Cranberry Sauce?
We advise sweetening this to taste, so start with a small amount of sweetener and then add more until you’re happy with the result. For this cranberry sauce, we would recommend using Swerve Confectioners or allulose to avoid crystallization in the fridge. If you use a sweetener that will crystallize in the fridge, you will want to heat it up or let it sit out at room temperature for a bit before using it if you make the cranberry sauce ahead of time.
Allulose is another great option that won’t crystalize, but it is more expensive, and you will need to use more to achieve the same sweetness level as traditional sugar, or other sweeteners like Swerve. You may have to experiment a bit with the type of sweetener you’re using and the amount. Sweeteners like Swerve measure 1:1 like regular sugar, so it’s quite easy to work with. The amount of sweetener you use depends on how sweet you like things, we tend to like things a little less “sweet” tasting, so we used 3/4 a cup of Swerve.
Do I Have To Add Additional Ingredients To This Sauce?
You could easily just use sweetener, water and cranberries to make this sauce, but we love adding in additional flavors that will complement your holidays feasts. We love adding cinnamon, vanilla and orange extract! You could add orange zest, orange juice, lemon juice, lemon juice, etc. It’s up to you! We love the combination of orange, vanilla and cinnamon. We feel the amounts that we added to this side dish complement each other perfectly.
We’ve also tried going a savory route! You will still need the same amount of sweetener if you decide to go savory, since cranberries themselves are sooooo tart and acidic. You can try cooking down some onion with some herbs like rosemary, sage, and thyme. Thank us later, it’s a delicious option!
How Do I Store the Leftovers?
To store the leftovers, you can keep them in a fridge for about a week after preparing them. Alternatively, you could freeze them and they will keep for months. To reheat, thaw in the fridge overnight, or run under hot water until the frozen block gets loosened up. Add to a sauce pan over low heat until the sauce is no longer frozen.
What Are Some Recipes To Use This Keto Cranberry Sauce In?
- Spiced cranberry old fashioned, for whiskey lovers!
- Sugar free cranberry lemon vinaigrette dressing for this gorgeous harvest salad!
- Sweeet and savory brussels sprout skillet with goat cheese and bacon.
- …..We’ll be coming up with more fun ways to use it all season long, so check back often for updated ideas on how to use this keto cranberry sauce!
Tools:
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Here’s How To Make This Keto Cranberry Sauce:
Place your cranberries and water in a small sauce pan and heat it over medium heat for 5- 10 minutes until the cranberries begin to “pop”. Mash the berries with a masher or rubber spatula until desired consistency is reached. Reduce to a simmer, then, add the sweetener and cinnamon. You can then add in your extracts of choice.
Cook until desired consistency is reached, about 3-5 more minutes. Basically, this entire recipe is ready in less than 15 minutes. That’s it!
How do you guys use cranberry sauce?! We’re dreaming up some cocktail recipes, appetizers for the holidays and this keto friendly side dish is for sure a hit every time we make it!
This Low Carb Keto Cranberry Sauce is incredibly simple to make, with only 3 ingredients, and a few suggested and delicious add-ins. It’s ready in under 15 minutes, and is a staple on any holiday table. Use it to bake with, cook with, or even inside a festive holiday cocktail. You won’t miss the refined sugar!
- 12 oz cranberries
- 4 oz water
- 3/4 cup sweetener of choice (to taste)
- 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 tsp orange extract (optional)
Place your cranberries and water in a small sauce pan and heat it over medium heat for 5- 10 minutes until the cranberries begin to “pop”. Mash the berries with a masher or rubber spatula.
Now, add in your sweetener, cinnamon, vanilla. Stir to combine, cook for another 3-5 minutes or so.
Now, just put your sauce in a dish to accompany your meal! Or, incorporate it into more recipes. Enjoy!
Macros: We calculate these macros as a courtesy, and they are estimated using MyFitnessPal. Makes 10 servings, 19 net carbs per serving, 1.4g of sugar, 4.2g total carbs, 1.6g fiber, making 2.6g net carbs per serving.
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