This keto cranberry sauce recipe 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. All you need to do is swap in some keto-friendly sweetener and you can enjoy that tangy-sweet deliciousness.
I have so many delicious Keto Thanksgiving Recipes. From keto stuffing to gooey keto pecan pie, I love creating recipes for a holiday feast that people on a low carb diet can enjoy without worry. And this sugar free cranberry sauce graces my table every single year!
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.
What readers are saying
“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
Reasons to love this recipe
- Classic flavor: It has all the tart-sweet cranberry flavor you expect with no added sugar and less than 2 grams of carbs per serving.
- Thick texture: Over the years, I’ve perfected this recipe so that it has the same thick, syrupy quality as the sugary kind.
- Easy to make: 3 simple ingredients and 10 minutes is all it takes!
- Customizable: I’ve got three delectable flavor variations below.
- Make it in advance: This sugar free cranberry sauce is easily frozen so you can make weeks ahead. Perfect for holiday prep!
Ingredient Notes
- 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 brown sugar replacement and allulose. This gives the sauce a thickness, but also helps keep it from recrystallizing as it cools. Read my guide to keto sweeteners for more information.
- Water
- Other flavorings: citrus zest, cinnamon, lime juice, chipotle powder, vanilla extract, cloves.
How to Make Keto Cranberry Sauce
- Combine the ingredients: Place the cranberries, sweeteners, and water in a large saucepan and set over medium heat.
- Simmer and chill: Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer until almost all the cranberries have popped. Remove and let cool.
Variations
Cinnamon “Brown Sugar” Cranberry Sauce
Use 1/4 cup Brown Swerve in place of the granular Swerve. Then add 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon along with the sweeteners. This might be my favorite cranberry sauce variation yet!
Orange Clove Cranberry Sauce
Add 2 tsp orange zest and 1/4 tsp ground cloves along with the sweeteners. If you prefer, you can use 1/2 tsp orange extract in place of the zest. Smells like an old-fashioned Christmas!
Chipotle Lime Cranberry Sauce
Get a little Southwestern flare by adding 1/2 tsp chipotle powder, 2 tbsp fresh lime juice, and 1 tsp lime zest along with the sweeteners. A nice change from the traditional sauce.
Tips for Success
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 (226.8 g) cranberries, fresh or frozen
- 2/3 cup (157.73 g) water
- 1/4 cup (45.5 g) Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 cup (50 g) 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.
Video
Notes
Storage Information
Store the sauce in the fridge in a glass jar for up to a week. You can also freeze the sauce for up to 2 months. Remember to leave a little head room in the jars for the sauce to expand.Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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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!
This a great recipe. We added some additional spices, along with walnuts. Will use this recipe from now on!
Yum!
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!
Thanks so much!
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.
I just made the cranberry sauce. Even though it will taste better tomorrow I just tasted it. It’s delicious. It has a very balanced sweetness unlike the keto versions I’ve made in the past with swerve only. I did add 1/8 teaspoons of ginger, cumin and coriander which gives it a bit of flavor that we like. Thanks again for a great recipe.
Thank you!
Thank you for this easy and very good recipe! So thankful for all you do to give us great Keto recipes.
Oh my goodness!! I made two of the variations: brown sugar/cinnamon/cloves as well as the orange peel. Just amazing. Thank you for your great recipes. ♥️
Oh my gosh, this is truly so good, to say I love cranberry sauce is an understatement, I don’t just eat it at holidays but all year round. I have recently gone keto and was sad I couldn’t have my beloved cranberry sauce. Thank you so much for this recipe, it turned out perfect ❤️
So glad you like it!
Is there any substitute for allulose, as I have many other non sugar sweeteners on hand?
Please read the blog post as I already discuss this at length.
what is the difference between swerve and Bochasweet?
Please read this: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/best-keto-sweeteners/
Could you put the variations in the printable version of the recipe? I’d like to have all the options! Thanks!
I will try to do that soon!
If making the jellied version – is the 1/4 cup of water that you mix the gelatin in, in addition to the 2/3 cup water already in recipe?
If you want it quite thick go ahead and reduce the water to 1/2 cup. If you want it softer, then keep the 2/3 cup.
Your sugar-free cranberry sauce is Awe-mazing! I amp’d it up with orange extract and zest. Total game changer!!
FYI-it compliments ham too ♥️
I too add orange zest but this time I added in some blueberries as well. And let me tell you it’s delicious.
What would happen if I were to use only allulose and/or Bochasweet without erythritol? Would the texture be affected? I do not love the taste of erythritol. Allulose seems to deliver pure sweetness without adding another flavor. Since you mention that it is important to use a mix of sweeteners, I suspect that there is in fact a downside to skipping the erythritol, even if a combo of allulose and Bochasweet were used in its place. Can you enlighten me on this?
The trouble with allulose is that things don’t firm up quickly. I haven’t tried it in this recipe but it may end up not firming up the way cranberry sauce should. Have you tried mixing the two? I think you will find you don’t get any flavor when you do.
Kudos Carolyn! Another WIN! Easy, and wonderful! I appreciate all you do for us in the KETO world!
Can I use dehydrated cranberries? Rehydrate them. I can’t find fresh or frozen. Thanks! May Jesus continue to bless you and your family
I honestly don’t know how that might work. I’ve never made cranberry sauce that way. I think you may need to experiment.