The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time

Cranberry and orange sauce
Combining two classic Christmas flavours, this cranberry sauce is a must-have for any festive feast.
Cranberry sauce is a must on any Christmas dinner table and luckily, it couldn't be easier to make! We have a whole host of different cranberry sauce recipes for you to try this festive season.
In this cranberry sauce recipe, we've combined the two classic Christmas flavours of cranberry and orange. Delicious served with your turkey and trimmings.
What's the difference between cranberry sauce and cranberry jelly?
This comes down to pectin. Pectin is a fibre that's found in the cell walls of fruit (some fruits have higher pectin levels than others). When these cell walls are broken down, the pectin is released, forming a gel like substance. This occurs when your cranberries are cooked down for a long length of time and when paired with sugar and acid. So, put simply, cranberry jelly is cranberry sauce that is cooked down for longer, with more sugar and acid added!
Flavourings:
Any of your favourite spices, booze and citrus fruits can be added to your cranberry sauce. Here are some suggestions, but get creative with whatever combination you fancy!
Spices:
• Cardamom
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Chinese Five Spice
Booze:
• Triple Sec
• Bourbon
• Rum
• Vodka
• Gin
• Campari
Citrus:
• Yuzu (more sugar will need to be added to balance out the bitterness if this is used)
• Grapefruit (more sugar will need to be added to balance out the bitterness if this is used)
• Lemon (more sugar will need to be added to balance out the bitterness if this is used)
• Blood Orange
How to make cranberry sauce
Leave the lid off when cooking down your cranberry sauce in order to boil off as much liquid as possible to be left with a deliciously reduced mixture, full of flavour and thick in texture.
If you prefer a chunkier sauce, then there's no need to blend the cranberries at all.
Relieve some of the workload on the big day by making you cranberry sauce ahead of Christmas. Your cooled cranberry sauce can be frozen for up to three months and defrosted in the fridge over Christmas Eve night.
Can you freeze cranberry sauce?
Yes. Cool, pack into freezer-safe container or bag and freeze the cranberry sauce. Thaw the cranberry sauce in the fridge overnight before serving.
Ingredients
- 1 orange
- 350 g fresh or frozen cranberries
- 175 g caster sugar
- 150 ml red wine
- 150 ml fresh orange juice
Directions
- Step 1
Finely grate the orange rind; squeeze the juice. Set the rind aside. Place cranberries, sugar, wine and orange juices in a pan; bring to the boil. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30min.
- Step 2
Remove and reserve half the cranberries. Blend the remainder of the sauce until smooth. Mix with the reserved cranberries and orange rind. Cool, cover and chill the cranberry sauce for up to two days. Serve cold.
- Step 1

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