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Cranberry sauce in white bowl garnished with orange slices rosemary and orange zest.
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Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce is a homemade cranberry sauce with orange juice, made with fresh cranberries, but pressure cooked in an Instant Pot instead of cooked on top of the stove. It is so delicious that you'll never eat canned cranberry sauce again.
Course Side Dishes
Cuisine American
Keyword Cranberry Sauce, Cranberry Sauce With Orange Juice, Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 2 minutes
Pressurization 15 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 125kcal

Ingredients

Before Pressure Cooking

  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 12 ounces fresh cranberries (1 bag)
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest (or orange peel)
  • 1 cinnamon stick

After Pressure Cooking

Instructions

BEFORE Pressure Cooking

  • Empty the bag of cranberries in a collander and run cold water over them to rinse them. Remove and discard any mushy or bad cranberries.
  • Pour 1/2 cup orange juice into the bottom of the inner liner pot of the Instant Pot.
  • Add the rinsed fresh cranberries into the inner liner pot on top of the orange juice.
  • Add 1/2 cup sugar on top of the cranberries.
  • If you like, add a little orange zest or orange peel, about a tablespoon, to the cranberries. This is optional.
  • If you like, throw in a cinnamon stick on top of the cranberries. DO NOT STIR.

Pressure Cook

  • Pressure cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 2 Minutes. To do this, press the PRESSURE COOK or MANUAL button (depending on model) and then press the + or - sign to adjust the time to 2 minutes. (NOTE: The Instant Pot takes a few minutes to come up to pressure before it starts the 2-minute Pressure cooking. Then after it finishes pressure cooking, it takes a few minutes to naturally release pressure.)

AFTER Pressure Cooking

  • AFTER the Instant Pot has finished pressure cooking for 2 minutes and has released pressure naturally (during this time you do NOTHING!), then carefully open the lid and REMOVE the cinnamon stick and the orange peels.
  • ADD the remaining sugar and stir.
  • Press the SAUTE button to heat the cranberry sauce and stir continuously until it has the desired thickness and consistency. It may only take 2 or 3 minutes.
  • Press CANCEL and unplug the Instant Pot. Spoon the cranberry sauce into a serving bowl. If you like, garnish it with orange slices, orange zest, or a sprig of rosemary.

Video

Notes

Tips For Perfect Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce Every Time.
  1. Don't skip the step to rinse the fresh cranberries first and pick out any mushy, or otherwise bad cranberries.
  2. Use a good quality orange juice, or even freshly squeezed orange juice. ADD LIQUID FIRST. The order of ingredients is important when using an Instant Pot pressure cooker. The liquid needs to be AT THE BOTTOM. Therefore, the first ingredient you add into an Instant Pot should be liquid, in this case, orange juice. ADD THE ORANGE JUICE FIRST before the cranberries or any of the other ingredients.
  3. DO NOT STIR.
  4. Check the sweetness after pressure cooking and before adding any more sugar. Add only half the sugar before pressure cooking. The reason I do this is 1) everyone's preference for level of sweetness is different. So, if you prefer the cranberry sauce to be less sweet, then you may not need to add any more sugar. 

Nutrition

Calories: 125kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 67mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 57IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg