This gingered cranberry plum sauce with its fresh ginger and hints of orange and plum is a delicious -- but not too different -- variation on the traditional cranberry sauce.
Last year I added apple to my cranberry sauce to make my Apple Cranberry Sauce. I didn't want to rock the cranberry-sauce boat and find out that I had changed the flavor too much! It was delicious, though I thought the apple flavor was pretty subtle.
But - I found myself wondering how plums would have been in this sauce. By Thanksgiving last year I had already baked all my plums into other dishes like these Plum Crumble Bars. This year I planned ahead and saved back the last few plums from early October’s visit to the Farmer’s Market when we learned those were the last plums they'd have.
I decided not to freeze the plums, though I probably could have, to make sure they didn't go bad - but even though a couple of them got a little wrinkled, they survived well in the fridge.
I used one medium-sized Santa Rosa plum so as not to make this predominantly a plum sauce. The Santa Rosas are pretty balanced in tartness and sweetness. The ginger was freshly grated, and the orange juice came from some incredibly fragrant and sweet mandarins. In fact, one advantage of making a sauce like this so close to Thanksgiving is that the oranges are really coming into their full sweetness in late Fall.
Best news is, this combination of cranberries, plums and oranges with the zip of ginger got rave reviews from everyone.
I made this batch on the stovetop so that the kitchen would fill up with these wonderful sweet and pungent aromas. But you could use the Instant Pot or slow-cooker to cook these fruits to softness. With only five ingredients, the preparation is easy and stovetop cooking only takes 30 minutes - though you can leave it to simmer longer if you like.
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Can you make this cranberry sauce without added sugar?
Cranberries are so tart that you would need a large amount of sweeter fruit to balance the acidity. Perhaps one of the sweeter plum relatives like the plumcot or pluot would work better for this than a plum.
Plus, the plums and the orange juice add their own acidity. I have reduced the amount of sugar from earlier trials of this recipe and would probably not reduce it more than I have or it might be pretty sour - especially because coconut sugar is less sweet than, say, granulated sugar anyway. But if you get a no-added-sugar version that works for you, I'd love to know about it.
If you want a sweet sauce but don't want to add carbohydrate calories, there are non-caloric sweeteners such as monkfruit - but unfortunately we don't use them in our family because we detect the aftertaste. That means I can't share any personal experience about their use.
How long can I keep cranberry sauce in the refrigerator?
Although the fairly high level of acidity will help preserve the sauce, I recommend freezing any leftover sauce if you haven't used it up within 5 days.
What other dishes will this cranberry sauce go with?
We most often make this for holiday meals though it's good during any time of the year that you can find fresh or frozen cranberries. As well as your turkey or ham or other main holiday dish, consider these options:
Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes; Gluten-Free
Easy Caramelized Brussels Sprouts
Bacon-wrapped garlic-herb pork tenderloin
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #amealinmind on Instagram. I’d love to see what you come up with. Thank you so much!!
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Gingered Cranberry Plum Sauce - Paleo
Equipment
- Stainless Steel Soup Pot
- Stainless Potato Masher
Ingredients
- 2 cups cranberries
- 1 plum chopped
- 1 orange juice and zest
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger grated
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed soup pot.
- Simmer at medium-low heat for a half hour until the berries and plum chunks are tender enough to mash. Mash until the sauce is your desired consistency (we usually leave ours a little chunky).
- If needed, continue to simmer at very low heat to thicken the sauce. The pectins in the fruit will cause the sauce to thicken. The sauce is thick enough when you can draw a spoon along the bottom of the pan and the sauce won’t fill in the space right away.
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Bernice Hill
Oh, this would be so great with either ham or turkey. I think sweet tart plums and ginger would be amazing in a cranberry sauce.
Beth
Thanks, Bernice. The aroma is amazing, yet the taste is still familiar.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
We love cranberry sauce and I absolutely love this recipe with the ginger. Ginger and citrus works so well with the cranberries.
Beth
Sandhya, we do too, and are loving these flavors together. Thanks for the comment.
Kathryn Donangelo
I made this for thanksgiving and it went to perfectly with our ham! So refreshing and loved all of the flavors. Such a great recipe!
Beth
Thank you, Kathryn, I'm thrilled that you enjoyed the flavors in the sauce as much as we do.
Candice
This cranberry sauce is amazing! The addition of plum and ginger makes it so delicious. We made this for Thanksgiving this year, and it came out great. Can't wait to make this one again!
Beth
Candice, I'm so happy to hear of your success with this sauce. I will be making it again soon, too!
Marta
We love homemade cranberry sauce and this looks like one we'll be trying soon. I'm intrigued to see how the orange and plum contrast with the cranberries. Looking forward to this!
Beth
Hi Marta, I will be looking forward to hearing what you think of the sauce with ginger. We're big ginger fans in our house, so I knew it would be a hit. Thanks!
Eva
What a great cranberry sauce! The ginger really lifts the whole flavour to a new complexity. I had it with pork chops and it was a fantastic pairingas this sauce really cleanses the palate when having it with a fattier meat,
Beth
Eva, pork chops would be a terrific pairing with this sauce, and you have inspired me to try that too. Thank you!
Nisha
This looks so amazing and finger-licking good! Love the color as well.
Beth
Nisha, isn't it a lovely color? And the subtle taste and aroma of the ginger make it so good.
Elaine
There are so many great recipes I could make this sauce with. The instructions seem super easy to follow!
Beth
Thanks, Elaine, it goes with so many dishes it's gone in no time! I hope you enjoy it.
Jenny
This is so helpful! For the first time, I have fresh cranberries and am thinking of making my own sauce. I am going to follow your recipe to the T! So detailed and full of tips. Thank you so much!
Beth
I do enjoy the feeling of creativity that comes with working with fresh cranberries. I hope you will too, and I appreciate your kind words!
Tammy
Ohh plum is a delicious addition and the I love the fresh ginger...what a wonderful and easy sauce to make for the holidays!
Beth
The ease of making this sauce is one of its best features, after the happy combination of flavors. Thanks for the comment, Tammy.
Veronika Sykorova
Wow I never thought of adding plums to my cranberry sauce. Definitely trying your recipe!
Beth
Thank you, Veronika. The plum might be our favorite addition, along with the ginger!