Bring the heat to your holiday meal with an unforgettable cranberry sauce that will have everyone asking for the recipe. It’s sweet, it’s spicy, it’s everything nice-y. It’s just 5 simple ingredients and 15 minutes of your time. Drizzle it on turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and roasted veggies. Everybody will be reaching for seconds on this one!

For ideas on how to use your leftover cranberry sauce and other holiday leftovers, try our Thanksgiving Leftover Egg Rolls or our Thanksgiving Leftover Pizza.

Why Our Recipe

  • A spicy twist on cranberry sauce that’s an instant favorite and ready in 15 minutes.
  • Just 5 ingredients is all it takes to make an unforgettable sauce that’ll have people licking their plates clean.
  • Serve it warm as a drizzly sauce or let it cool completely and gel up for scooping.
A plate filled with mashed potatoes topped with slices of turkey, covered with jalapeno cranberry sauce, next to green beans, with a fork set on the side of the plate.

It can seem way easier to reach for a can of cranberry sauce in the store, but you will not believe how much more delicious cranberry sauce is when it’s homemade. Then you add jalapeño and it’s truly out of this world. Say goodbye to store-bought cranberry sauce and hello to a new holiday tradition!

Ingredient Notes

An overhead view of a bowl filled with fresh cranberries, set next to other raw, wet, and dry ingredients needed to make jalapeno cranberry sauce.
  • Cranberries: These tart berries are the star of the show, so definitely do your best to get fresh ones! Frozen cranberries can work too, but you’ll need to add a few minutes on to the cooking time.
  • Orange Juice: No need to go for freshly squeezed on this one. A bottle of orange juice will work great.
  • Jalapeño: If you want the sauce to be a little less spicy, remove the seeds from the jalapeño. If you want it more spicy, use a serrano instead.

Preparing the Cranberries

Fresh cranberries need to be rinsed in cold water and sorted through. You’re looking to keep berries that are firm, plump, and have a deep red color. As you’re sorting, keep an eye out for any stems or spoiled berries, and remove those before you start to cook the cranberries. Spoiled berries can be mushy, soft, shriveled, discolored, or moldy. If the cranberries are just a little soft, you can still use those, but firm cranberries will lead to the best flavor.

Spiciness Levels

If you or someone at your table doesn’t like a ton of spice, you can definitely adjust the heat levels by removing the seeds, using less jalapeno (1/4 or 1/2), or adding your jalapeno in with your cranberries at the beginning. A longer cooking process dulls the heat of the jalapeno leaving you with flavor, but slightly less burn.

For more heat, swap out your jalapeno for a spicier pepper like a serrano. Be careful going too spicy with a pepper like habanero as the heat does get more concentrated as it sits.

A close up overhead view of a white gravy boat filled with jalapeno cranberry sauce set on a counter next to a plates holding green beans, mashed potatoes and turkey, covered in jalapeno cranberry sauce.

Serving Warm or Chilled

Cranberry sauce is a traditional item on a holiday dinner table, but if you’ve never tried it, you might wonder what cranberry sauce is even for! This deliciously sweet and tart sauce is a perfect companion for meat such as turkey or pork, but it’s also great as a spread on sandwiches. It also goes great with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green beans. You’ll be surprised how many things this cranberry sauce tastes good with!

When this sauce is warm it has a smooth, pourable texture similar to something like barbecue sauce.

When this sauce is chilled it has a gel-like consistency that is similar to canned cranberry sauce. While you won’t get the shape of the can as a log on a plate ready to slice, you’ll still get that scoopable, spreadable consistency

Storage and Reheating Instructions

Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week.

Freeze leftover portions in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using.

Reheat on the stove over low heat until it reaches the desired temperature, or in the microwave in 15-second increments for small amounts, and 30-second increments for larger amounts, stirring in between.

For more delicious cranberry recipes . . .