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Home » Instant Pot

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Published: Dec 8, 2021 · Modified: Nov 16, 2022 by Kristina Tipps · This post may contain affiliate links for which I earn a small commission.

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Make sweet and tangy Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce for holiday dinners! It has a cook time of just 4 minutes and can be made with fresh or frozen cranberries. Spiced with a warming cinnamon stick and freshly squeezed orange juice, this cranberry sauce is sure to please a crowd!

instant pot cranberry sauce in a white bowl

Canned cranberry sauce pales in comparison to freshly homemade cranberry sauce in every way. It's more wholesome, delicious and customizable to your tastes.

No Thanksgiving or Christmas table is complete without this traditional side dish. Even so, it has many uses so don't save it just for your holiday dinner!

With it's jam-like consistency, this homemade cranberry sauce is also perfect as a filling for pastries, a glaze for turkey and chicken, a topping for cheesecake and ice cream or an addition to homemade yogurt or smoothies. Use it as a spread on toast, a topping for pancakes, and even mix it into muffins or oatmeal!

Why You'll Love This Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

  • This Instant Pot cranberry sauce is made with only a few wholesome ingredients- real cranberries, freshly squeezed orange juice and orange peel, a cinnamon stick, and white sugar.
  • It's mildly tangy and mildly sweet with a hint of cinnamon and citrus.
  • It cooks quickly in just 4 minutes. Keep in mind, it will take time for the pot to come to pressure and it does require a 15 minute natural release. Still, it will be finished in less than 30 minutes.

Prefer making your cranberry sauce on the stovetop? Check out my stovetop cranberry sauce recipe instead!

MORE HOLIDAY INSTANT POT RECIPES TO TRY

  • Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake
  • Instant Pot Pumpkin Pasta
  • Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls
  • Instant Pot Lamb Stew

Ingredients and Substitutions

  • Cranberries: use fresh or frozen (cook time is the same!)
  • Orange juice: freshly squeezed orange is best (save the peel for zesting!). Substitute with bottle orange juice in a pinch, and remember that you won't have a peel for zest.
  • Orange peel: gives the sauce a dash of extra citrus flavor and can be zested when serving.
  • Cinnamon stick: substitute with ground cinnamon. One cinnamon stick roughly equals ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
  • White sugar: substitute with other sugars, such as brown sugar, stevia, vegan sugars, etc.

*Please note that this recipe does not require adding water to the pressure cooker.

Tools Needed

  • Instant Pot: as written, this recipe works in 3, 6, 8, and 10 quart pressure cookers. I use my 8 quart Instant Pot Duo Crisp. If scaling the recipe up, make sure not to pass the fill line of your inner pot.
  • Potato masher: this is needed to crush the cranberries after pressure cooking. You can use any kitchen tool made for mashing.

Step-By-Step Instructions

cranberries, sugar, cinnamon stick, orange peel
pressure cooked cranberries and sugar
*The recipe is pictured scaled down
  1. Add cranberries, sugar, orange juice, the cinnamon stick, and orange peel to the inner pot of the pressure cooker. Do not stir the ingredients. Close and seal the lid. *No water is needed to bring the pot to pressure for this recipe.
  2. Pressure cook on high for 4 minutes. Complete a 15 minute natural release, then quickly release any remaining pressure.
  3. Remove the lid and discard the cinnamon stick and orange peel. Use a masher to mash the cranberries to the consistency of your liking. Stir and transfer to the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes before serving.
  4. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with fresh herbs, such as rosemary, sage, or thyme, if desired. Sprinkle lightly with orange zest if you'd like and serve chilled.

This recipe can be doubled or tripled. Just make sure not to exceed the fill line of your inner pot.

Enjoy!

instant pot cranberry sauce in a white bowl

FAQs About This Recipe

My Cranberry Sauce Is Too Thick. How Can I Fix It?

If the sauce is too thick for you, add water in 1 tablespoon increments until your desired thinness is achieved. Make sure to mix well between additions of water. Then taste, and add more sugar or orange zest as necessary.

How To Store Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Store in the fridge for up to 10 days or freeze for up to 6 months. For optimal freshness, use frozen cranberry sauce within 2 months if using plain. If using in other recipes, it's okay to freeze it for longer than 2 months.

What To Do With Leftover Cranberry Sauce?

Leftover cranberry sauce can be used to fill pastries, as a glaze for meats, a topping for cheesecake and ice cream or an addition to homemade yogurt or smoothies.
Use it as a spread on toast, a topping for pancakes, and mix it into muffins or oatmeal. It's also wonderful stuffed into glazed acorn squash!

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to give it a star rating and let me know what you thought in the comments! And follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more delicious recipes!

Recipe

pressure cooker cranberry sauce in a small white bowl

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Kristina Tipps
Make sweet and tangy Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce for the holidays! It has a cook time of just 4 minutes and can be made with fresh or frozen cranberries. Spiced with a warming cinnamon stick and freshly squeezed orange juice, this cranberry sauce is sure to please a crowd!
4.95 from 69 votes
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Prep Time 1 minute minute
Cook Time 24 minutes minutes
Total Time 25 minutes minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 128 kcal

Equipment

  • pressure cooker

Ingredients

  • 24 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries two, 12 oz packages
  • 1 ½ cups white sugar
  • ½ cup orange juice freshly squeezed
  • 2 slices of orange peel
  • 1 cinnamon stick

Instructions
 

  • Add cranberries, sugar, orange juice, the cinnamon stick, and orange peel to the inner pot of the pressure cooker. Do not stir. Close and seal the lid.
  • Pressure cook on high for 4 minutes. Complete a 15 minute natural release, then quickly release remaining pressure.
  • Remove the lid and discard the cinnamon stick and orange peel. Use a masher to mash the cranberries to the consistency of your liking. Stir well and transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
  • Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with fresh herbs, such as rosemary, sage, or thyme, if desired. Sprinkle lightly with orange zest and serve chilled.

Notes

*Please note that this recipe does not require adding water to the pressure cooker.
Uses: use homemade cranberry sauce as a side dish, a filling for pastries, a glaze for turkey and chicken, a topping for cheesecake and ice cream or an addition to homemade yogurt or smoothies. Use it as a spread on toast, a topping for pancakes, and even mix it into muffins or oatmeal.
Storing: keep in the fridge for up to 10 days or freeze for up to 6 months

Nutrition

Serving: 2ozCalories: 128kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 2mgPotassium: 71mgFiber: 3gSugar: 28gVitamin A: 56IUVitamin C: 13mgCalcium: 9mgIron: 1mg
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Comments

    4.95 from 69 votes (68 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  1. nancy says

    September 02, 2022 at 1:41 pm

    5 stars
    this is easy to make and perfect cranberry sauce

    Reply
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