Roasted Cranberries

Our roasted cranberries recipe is a simple, sophisticated side dish. It is perfect for your holiday table but easy enough for every day. Flavored with bourbon and orange, this recipe is paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan.

Our recipe directions allow you to serve this as a cranberry sauce, a savory side dish, or as a cranberry dessert (but without all the sugar)!

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Please read the entire post for tips and tricks to ensure a perfect recipe every time. And don't forget to tag @peelwithzeal on Instagram so we can admire your creation!

We have been posting quite a few holiday/ everyday recipes lately.  Holidays foods often feel heavy and come with an extra helping of guilt. But holiday recipes don’t have to be that way.

We also firmly believe that it is possible to get healthier fruits and vegetables into your holiday menus without sacrificing traditions or taste. We got such a great response to our Sweet Potato Crunch I thought we should share our roasted cranberries recipe with you.

This is a Mr. Peel original recipe! We used to eat this as a dessert for Christmas but it has migrated to our Thanksgiving cranberry sauce favorite. And we make it as a side dish for the rest of the year.

Jump to:

• 🧾Ingredients
• ⏲️ Roasted Cranberries Instructions
• 💭 Cranberry Sauce Variation
• 💭 Cranberry Dessert Variation
• 🍲 More Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• ⭐Reviews

🧾Ingredients

• Fresh Cranberries
• Orange- Any variety will due.
• Bourbon - If you are avoiding alcohol you can substitute water, apple juice, or additional orange juice for the bourbon.
• Honey- Or coconut sugar for vegan. This recipe is VERY light on the sugar. You can increase it but the purpose of roasting the cranberries is to bring out their tart flavor.
• Spices- Cinnamon, nutmeg, and just a pinch of kosher salt.

Out of oranges and OJ? Check out our list of substitutes for orange juice.

⏲️ Roasted Cranberries Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the whole cranberries, orange juice & zest, bourbon, honey, and spices into an ovenproof dish. Stir to combine. Bake for 45 minutes until cranberries are soft and the liquid is reduced by two-thirds.

Yep, that is it! How easy are these roasted cranberries?  Good food does not have to be complicated to make. To serve we just add some additional orange zest and dig in. (Side note: We recommend this Microplane tool for zesting citrus- durable and useful!).

As you know, I love a recipe that can be easily modified into something new. So what if you want to make these roasted cranberries into a sauce?

💭 Cranberry Sauce Variation

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the whole cranberries, orange juice & zest, bourbon, ¼ cup of water, honey and spices into an ovenproof dish. Stir to combine. Bake for 45 minutes until cranberries are soft and the liquid is reduced by one- third.

Use an immersion blender to break up about half the cranberries. The cranberry sauce should be chunky but saucy.

💭 Cranberry Dessert Variation

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the whole cranberries, orange juice & zest, bourbon, ½ cup of honey (warmed), and spices into a bowl. Stir to combine.  

Divide the mixture into four ramekins. Bake for 35-45 minutes until cranberries are soft and the liquid is reduced by two-thirds. Top with whipped cream or dairy-free paleo whipped topping. Garnish with orange zest and chopped nuts.

Also, let us know in the comments how you will be making your roasted cranberries.  Side dish, sauce, or dessert?

🍲 More Recipes

If you are looking for an everyday way to use up leftover cranberries check out our sheet pan dinner of pork chops with acorn squash and cranberries. It is an easy one-pot Fall dinner!

Be sure to check out more of our holiday recipes. Here are a couple of our favorites.

If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave us a rating or a comment. It helps other wonderful people connect with our food.

📖 Recipe

Check out our Cranberry Sauce with Borbon and Orange web story!