Cranberry sauce is a favorite Thanksgiving recipe, but it is usually full of sugar. What if you could have easy cranberry sauce without refined sugar and with actual benefits? This healthy cranberry sauce is lightly sweetened with honey, then fermented for probiotic benefits. Think fermented cranberry sauce sounds weird? It is not only easy to prepare, but delicious! Prepare 2-3 days before you plan to serve to allow for fermentation.
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Are you a cranberry sauce person?
I am a cranberry sauce person. So are both my sons.
It is the first Thanksgiving dish I ever made, standing on a chair by the stove the day before Thanksgiving. School had let out early, and I was “helping”, though it surely cost my mother more effort to supervise my cranberry sauce project than just making it herself would have.
That recipe called for nothing more than cranberries, sugar, and water. It took about 10 minutes to make, and it was delectable.
Years later, I added some things at times, like orange, ginger, or cinnamon, but the basic recipe didn’t change. At least, it didn’t change until I started seriously reducing our sugar consumption. Three of us like good helpings of cranberry sauce, but we also like a slice of pie for dessert. The sugar adds up!
There are various ways to minimize the sugar in cranberry sauce without sacrificing flavor or resorting to artificial sweeteners. One of those ways is to sweeten and then ferment so the sugars are partially consumed.
This is the cranberry sauce I made the first year we were on the GAPS diet. Holidays can seem overwhelming on a special diet, and it helps to find ways to rework old favorites. Really, this is more like a relish. It isn’t even cooked!
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Benefits of Fermenting Foods
Why ferment it?
Fermentation is unfamiliar to many, though that is changing. Most of us didn’t grow up with foods fermenting (intentionally, at least) around the kitchen, and our experience of fermented food may not extend beyond barely fermented, heavily sweetened yogurt from the grocery store. Or maybe you are adventurous and have tried kombucha or sauerkraut!
Fermentation used to be a survival skill all over the world. Perishable foods can last a lot longer when they are fermented, a fact that was essential before refrigeration. Many cultures ferment all sorts of things, from meat and milk to fruits and vegetables to nuts and grains.
When we stopped fermenting things, it was at least partly because we had other options for keeping our food safe and extending its usefulness. It turns out, the fermentation process that preserves the food also, in a sense, preserves our health.
Fermented foods offer many benefits to our health, which were lost to modern preservation methods. Well, now we know, and we can reclaim at least some of the benefits. You should keep your freezer, though!
Some of the benefits of fermenting include:
- improved digestion due to the good bacteria and enzymes in fermented foods
- good bacteria help fight pathogenic bacteria, keeping them from taking over and making you sick
- good bacteria help your body synthesize many vitamins you need
- many chronic diseases are linked to an overgrowth of harmful bacteria– even diseases that don’t obviously relate to the gut, like skin, hormone, brain, heart, psychological, and immune related conditions (spoiler alert: all disease relates to the gut!)– fermented foods help our good bacteria outpace the bad bacteria, thus helping treat and prevent illness
- fermented foods can help you recover better after a bout of antibiotics
There is more to learn, and you can read about it here and here.
How does fermentation work?
There is more than one way to ferment food, and the way we use for cranberry sauce is lacto-fermentation. Bacteria that naturally live on the outsides of fruits and vegetables can be relied upon to ferment, making the process really easy. You don’t have to add anything!
This bacteria (called lactobacillus) converts sugars into lactic acid, a natural preservative that enhances the vitamins, enzymes, and digestibility of the food while inhibiting the growth of bad bacteria. Despite the “lacto” and “lactic” terms involved, there is no need for milk or other dairy products.
The basic process is:
- Chop up and combine your ingredients.
- Put the mixture into jars with lids, filling the jars so that they are full to within an inch or less of the top. Oxygen is not a friend to fermentation.
- Cover the jars. Open once a day to release pressure (and prevent exploding jars) and admire the progress. After a few days, when you decide your cranberries have fermented enough, put the jars in the refrigerator to mostly stop the fermentation.
How long will fermented cranberry sauce last in the refrigerator?
I don’t know for sure, but at least a month. Probably longer, but I have not verified this from experience. Last year, I made several jars of cranberries before Thanksgiving. We saved one for Christmas, then had a third shortly after Christmas with Swedish meatballs. That is the longest I have been able to keep cranberries around. I have to hide them…
What special equipment do I need for fermenting food?
You don’t need any special equipment beyond clean glass jars with lids. People have been fermenting all sorts of things for many centuries with simple jars in kitchens a lot less sanitized than the modern kitchen!
There is special equipment available for purchase if you want it; I don’t use it, but you may find it makes the project even easier. Learn more here.
What ingredients will I need for fermented cranberry sauce?
Actually, you can play with the ingredients according to your taste. You absolutely must have cranberries and honey.
After that, you can leave some things out or add others as you prefer. I use the juice of an orange, a tablespoon of fresh ginger, and a half teaspoon of ground cardamom. (If you are one of those people who find that cardamom tastes like soap, leave it out!) Keep reading for ideas on ingredients to swap in.
Dump all the ingredients into a food processor and process until it is as chunky or as smooth as you want. Then into the jars it goes.
Do I need to use salt or whey?
Many lacto-fermentation recipes call for salt, whey, or both. You do not need them for this recipe, but you can use them. I would not use very much salt; maybe a half teaspoon at most. Cranberry sauce doesn’t really need salt. If you have whey and want to use it, a tablespoon or two will not hinder and may help your process. It will make the result more watery, but you can drain excess liquid before serving.
I am no fermentation expert, but I suspect this recipe ferments easily because it is very rich in bacteria and enzymes. Both the cranberries and the ginger are excellent for fermenting. Raw honey supplies its own protective benefits.
You will read that honey inhibits fermentation if you keep reading about successful fermentation. I have no opinion about that; the idea is that the beneficial bacteria in honey stop fermentation. However, I have successfully used raw honey to ferment things for years with no problems. Besides cranberries, jun kombucha and fermented ketchup seem nearly accident-proof. Not to mention that people have been making mead out of honey for centuries, at least.
Easy Fermented Cranberry Sauce
Equipment
- 2 pint jars
Ingredients
- 1 12-oz bag fresh cranberries
- 1 orange organic if possible
- 1 T fresh grated or minced ginger
- 1/4 C raw honey
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom optional
Instructions
- Wash cranberries and discard any shriveled or bruised berries. Pour into food processor bowl.
- Juice one orange and add juice to cranberries in food processor, along with honey, ginger, and cardamom if using.
- Process until the mixture looks the way you want. It can be more chunky or more smooth.
- Scoop cranberry sauce into 2 pint jars, filling them to within one inch of the top. Set aside at room temperature to ferment.
- Each day, remove the lids to release pressure. You don't want the jars to explode! You will see bubbles from on top. After 2-3 days (or longer), put your jars in the refrigerator to stop (mostly) the ferment. If you aren't sure when to stop, taste a tiny bit. It will be more sour and the berries will be softer as it ferments. It is up to your taste!
- Store your jars for several weeks (maybe more) in the refrigerator or other cold place. Before serving, check to see if there is more liquid than you want and drain the excess. Scoop into a glass or crystal serving dish to make a pretty dish on your table!
Make Fermented Cranberry Sauce Your Way!
You can make this recipe with nothing more than cranberries and honey. You could change proportions or add or omit ingredients to alter the flavor.
- This is a fairly sour version of cranberry sauce! Use more honey if you want it sweeter. If you use a sugar substitute, that might be an option, but I would stir it in after fermenting unless you know it is compatible with the fermentation process.
- Cardamom seems to be a spice that people either like or can’t stand. You can leave it out!
- Whether you use the cardamom or not, you can include other spices. Cinnamon and cloves might be tasty!
- The ginger adds a wonderful flavor and lends itself to fermenting. You can leave it out or reduce it. Ground ginger can also add flavor; use just 1/2 teaspoon to start, taste, and add more until you like it.
- If you love the orange and cranberry combo, zest your orange and add the zest before fermenting for more orange flavor.
- I haven’t tried it with fermented cranberries, but grated apple cooked with cranberries greatly reduces the sugar needed to make cranberries palatable. You could try some grated apple– it will sweeten your cranberry sauce and make the cranberry flavor milder. You will end up with more total volume, though, so you may need a third jar.
Now you have a way to get your cranberry sauce working for you instead of against you! Plus, it will be off your to-do list well before your holiday meal preparation gets intense!