This Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce has all the flavor of the original, with a mere fraction of the carbs. It’s rich and thick, and takes only 15 minutes to make. Perfect for all your healthy holiday celebrations.
This keto cranberry sauce has been in my family for generations. My stepmother taught me the secret to the best cranberry sauce ever years ago, and I am going to share it with you today. Ready for it?
Follow the directions on the back of the bag. Yup, that’s right. The bag of cranberries you just picked up from the grocery store has the best recipe right on it. It takes sugar, but that’s an easy fix.
My dad always requested that I make the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. He loved it and swore up and down that mine was the best. And I always laughed because he knew full well how ridiculously easy it was. He just wanted me to make it for him.
I think of him with love every single time I make this sugar free cranberry sauce. And I miss him terribly.
I have so many delicious Keto Thanksgiving Recipes. From keto stuffing to the gooey keto pecan pie, I devote huge amounts of time every year to creating recipes for a healthy and keto-friendly holiday.
Why you need to try this
Of course, I don’t make cranberry sauce exactly the same way I used to. I replace the sugar and make it far healthier and keto-friendly.
Over the years, I have perfected this recipe so that it has the same thick, syrupy consistency of the regular kind. No one can tell that it’s sugar free. And it has less than 2g net carbs per serving!
I’ve also experimented with different variations, adding in some flavors like orange, cinnamon, and spice. So you’re getting four awesome recipes in one!
The great part about keto cranberry sauce is that it can be made well in advance of the holidays. It freezes and thaws well so you can store it for weeks or even months.
Reader Testimonials
Absolutely AMAZING!!!! Thank you for such an easy and delicious sauce. I used Allulose and Swerve brown sugar with the cinnamon and it’s freaking delicious! — Andrea
The lime and chipotle recipe is exquisite. Slather it under some cold sliced chicken breast and garlic cream cheese, and you have something that’ll make the gods jealous. — Lynn
I must admit that my cranberry sauce is still in the fridge cooling, but I have licked the pot clean so I can say this cranberry sauce is amazing. — Melissa
Ingredients you need
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- Cranberries: This is the star of the show! You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. I freeze bags of cranberries in the fall so I have them ready for the following year.
- Sweeteners: To get the perfect consistency, you really need a mix of two sweeteners. I use Swerve and either BochaSweet or allulose. This gives the sauce a thickness, but also helps keep it from recrystallizing as it cools. Swerve Brown also adds a hint of brown sugar flavor, which really enhances the sauce. Read my guide to keto sweeteners for more information.
- Water
- Other flavorings: citrus zest, cinnamon, lime juice, chipotle powder, vanilla extract, cloves.
Step-by-step directions
1. Place the cranberries, sweeteners, and water in a large saucepan and set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low.
2. Simmer until almost all the cranberries have popped and released their juices, about 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.
How easy is that???
Variations
Cinnamon “Brown Sugar” Cranberry Sauce
Use ¼ cup Brown Swerve in place of the granular Swerve. Then add ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon along with the sweeteners. This might be my favorite cranberry sauce variation yet!
Orange Clove Cranberry Sauce
Add 2 teaspoon orange zest and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves along with the sweeteners. If you prefer, you can use ½ teaspoon orange extract in place of the zest. Smells like an old-fashioned Christmas!
Chipotle Lime Cranberry Sauce
Get a little Southwestern flare by adding ½ teaspoon chipotle powder, 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice, and 1 teaspoon lime zest along with the sweeteners. A nice change from the traditional sauce.
Recipe tips
Sweeteners: It’s important to understand the role various sweeteners play in making sugar free cranberry sauce. You can work with what you like best and what’s available to you, but you may have to adjust the recipe accordingly.
If you only have erythritol based sweeteners, your sauce will re-crystallize a little as it cools. To avoid this, I recommend using a confectioner’s style erythritol and whisking it in only AFTER you have simmered the cranberries and water together.
If you prefer to use something like stevia extract, I recommend reducing the water by about half, so that you have a thicker sauce. Concentrated stevia and monk fruit extract have no bulk so they don’t help thicken your sauce at all.
Jellied cranberry sauce: Dissolve 1 packet of Knox gelatin or 1 tablespoon of grass-fed gelatin in a quarter cup of water. Whisk this into the cranberry mixture when you reduce the heat to a simmer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can get the same wonderful, thick consistency without sugar. Cranberries contain a lot of pectin, which releases as the berries cook and helps thicken the sauce. But for a more syrupy consistency, I recommend using some allulose or BochaSweet as well. Allulose works really well in this regard.
This keto cranberry sauce recipe has 2.8g of carbs and 1.0g of fiber per serving. That comes to 1.8g net carbs in 2 tablespoons.
Absolutely! I usually do it a few days in advance and just store it in the fridge in a jar. It lasts for at least a week. But you can also freeze cranberry sauce. Again, store in a glass jar and be sure to give it a little head room as it will expand as it freezes. It’s good for up to 2 months.
More delicious keto cranberry recipes
Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
Basic Cranberry Sauce:
- 8 ounces cranberries, fresh or frozen
- ⅔ cup water
- ¼ cup Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ cup allulose or BochaSweet
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low.
- Simmer until almost all the cranberries have popped and released their juices. Remove and let cool.
Kristin White says
Made this for thanksgiving as I always do and it was a big hit with non keto peeps. It’s so good!!!
Pauline Burns says
I love that you have a keto recipe for cranberry sauce, can’t wait to try it!!
Ann says
I made this for Thanksgiving. It’s so good. I’m so grateful for your recipes. You bring a little normalcy back to the lives of a couple of diabetics.
Kathy says
I did cinnamon, vanilla and orange…yum! so good. thank you for all the work you put in! It makes it so much easier for me to follow the keto lifestyle!
Debra Huewe says
I made this several times, straight up. This year I added orange extract and brown sweetener. My family and I love your recipes. I am also making your Rosemary Walnuts, Pumpkin Pie (crust burnt in the oven) and caramelized Brussel Sprouts, Thank you so very much for the wonderful recipes!
Gary Clyne says
I made this last year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. OMG my I had just been diagnosed with Type 2 and LOVED it. (My wife did, too.) The cranberries were on sale at Walmart. We froze 2 packs for later. We were so upset we had not bought more. It is even a wonderful jelly/jam for Keto toast. BTW since we have been getting your emails daily, the change in my my diet helped bring everything under control. 4 months later, the doctor said there was no sign. I still stays on your recipes. We even bought some of your wire bound books. Now our helper is reading them because she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. OK. Back to the Cranberries. ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. I must have 10 packs of cranberries in the freezer for this year and will be making soon. The recipe is so simple and delicious. It basically makes cranberries a delightful condiment. I even put it on low carb or Keto ice cream. Thank YOU!
Barb Hildenbrand says
I can’t wait to try this! My son loves Cranberry sauce, and I am trying to make sure he gets less sugar. Thank you!!
Melanie BoudarMelanie Boudar says
What happens if I skip the allulose. Don’t have any and can’t mail order it right now
Carolyn says
Please read the blog post as I already discuss this. Thanks!
Teri says
could I use liquid allulose?
Carolyn says
I think that would work in this sauce.
Heidi says
How much liquid allulose, would you recommend?
Carolyn says
I really don’t know. I don’t use it much. You will need to experiment!
Michele says
Any chance there is a “jelly” cranberry recipe also? My sister has gestational diabetes and she prefers the jelly type and I was hoping to make her some of her favorite options for Thanksgiving. Thank you for everything you do!!
Carolyn says
You can try adding some gelatin! 🙂
Mary says
Maybe with the gelatin strain it first
Gail Holcomb says
This is one of the best sugar free cranberry sauces I have tried. I believe it is the combination of swerve and allulose rather than using just one type of sweetener. Most of the fresh cranberries come in 12 oz. packages that I used and I didn’t increase the sweeteners. It was still sweet enough for us. This is back on our menu for this Thanksgiving! Thanks for the excellent recipes!
Carolyn says
Great to hear!
Mori says
Hope you see this. They have to replace the gas lines in our building so we have had no stove/oven now since June and will not have until after holidays. I’m attempting to do Thanksgiving this year without the stove or oven. I actually air fried turkey breasts last 2 years and it was amazing so no prob there. And we do the cauliflower mash with microwave, so yay! But I can’t make the usual cranberry sauce on stove. I found a recipe for a cranberry relish that is all fresh/raw. Basically cranberries, orange and sugar in food processor, then chill. If it’s not cooked at all, should I still do the Swerve Brown or granulated + Bocha Sweet? Or do I need to adjust sweeteners since it doesn’t cook? Need your pro advice, pleeeeze!! Thx.
Carolyn says
Actually I recommend getting a small electric element to cook on. A single burner will be so useful!
Ivy says
I love this recipe! Making two batches so that I can have jam and ice cream!!
Carolyn says
Yum!
Judy says
great recipe. My friends and family love the orange clove version. It smells so good.
I made a big batch of it, four bags of berries. Once cool, I put enough for three or four servings, into ziploc bags, freeze it and then put several bags together for gifts. They can have cranberry sauce any time they like then.
Wendy says
I may have commented previously, and oh well, here’s another comment. I could eat this (and have) by the spoonful, it’s that amazing. For a tangy sweet treat today, I enjoyed keto sea salt almond flour crackers with a dollop of the basic cranberry sauce recipe on top. It’s also a delicious keto ice cream or yogurt topping! Oh, and there’s also the vanilla cupcakes topped with cranberry sauce and keto whipped topping…I could go on and on!
Great recipe!!!
Sue Santoro says
Oh you gave me an idea! I bet it would be good over cream cheese!
Carolyn says
Yes!
Cara says
LOVE this! I made the orange / clove version and it was a hit at Thanksgiving! No one knew it was sugar-free. I loved it so much I just made another batch just to have in my fridge as a sweet finish to dinner. Thank you!!!
Tammy says
I’m not even really a fan of cranberry sauce, but wanted to try this with keto cheesecake for Thanksgiving. This is unbelievably good, everyone enjoyed it, and can’t wait to make it again. Thanks!
Claire says
This a great recipe. We added some additional spices, along with walnuts. Will use this recipe from now on!
Carolyn says
Yum!
Helen says
I made your cranberry sauce recipe today to serve as part of my Thanksgiving meal and it was delicious! I posted it on Instagram and tagged you. I added orange extract, and it was just as I like it- art with just a hint of sweetness. Thanks for a delicious and easy recipe!
Carolyn says
Thanks so much!
Brenda Zorn says
I love your recipe variation for brown sugar cinnamon flavored. I only had brown sugar Swerve and confectioners Swerve. I followed your directions carefully and it turned out fantastic! I usually prefer plain cranberry sauce but this particular recipe is now my favorite. It is a real treat! Thank you.