Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce. Homemade cranberry sauce is a quick and easy make-ahead side dish for Thanksgiving, especially if you have a pressure cooker.

Here’s a quick recipe for a quick Thanksgiving side dish. Homemade cranberry sauce is so easy, and infinitely better than a round log of cranberry sauce from a can.¹

This is barely a recipe - it has three ingredients, it’s done in about 20 minutes, end t end, and the instructions are “dump everything in the pressure cooker and lock the lid.” It can be made ahead - it’s better after a day in the refrigerator, giving it time to thicken. Skip the canned cranberry, and try some fresh cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving.

Recipe: Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Inspired by: Canal House Cooking Volume 2: Fall & Holiday by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

---

• Author: Mike Vrobel
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 4 cups cranberry sauce 1x

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce. Homemade cranberry sauce is a quick and easy make-ahead side dish for Thanksgiving, especially if you have a pressure cooker.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 24 ounces fresh cranberries, sorted and rinsed
• 1 cup water
• 1½ cups sugar

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Sort and rinse the cranberries: Sort the cranberries, discarding any soft berries or stems, then rinse the cranberries and drain.
2. Pressure Cook for 2 minutes with a 10 minute Natural Release: Put the cranberries in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Pour in the water, then sprinkle the sugar over the top. Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 2 minutes. (“Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode in an Instant Pot.) Let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes, the quick release the remaining pressure.
3. Stir, cool, and serve: Unlock the lid and give the cranberries a vigorous stir, roughing them up a bit. Pour the cranberry sauce into a bowl and let it cool to room temperature. (The cranberry sauce will look a little loose at first, but it will thicken up as it cools.) Serve, or cover and refrigerate for up to a week.

Equipment

Fine Mesh Strainer

Buy Now →

6-Quart Pressure Cooker

Buy Now →

Notes

• Can’t find fresh cranberries? Use frozen, and add 1 minute to the cooking time under pressure
• You can scale the recipe up or down - increase or decrease the ingredients, but leave the cooking time the same. (I make a half-sized recipe, with one bag of cranberries, ½ cup of water, and ¾ cup sugar if I’m not cooking for a crowd on Thanksgiving.)

Tools

• 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker)
• Fine Mesh Strainer

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Pressure Cooker
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce, Pressure Cooker Cranberry Sauce

What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Related Posts

Pressure Cooker Turkey Giblet Gravy
Instant Pot Turkey Thighs with Thanksgiving Flavors
Pressure Cooker Day-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Carcass Soup
Horseradish Sauce Recipe
My other Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes

Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner via email and share this post with your friends. Want to contribute directly? Donate to my Tip Jar, or buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.

1. I can see the canned cranberry sauce, sitting on a plate, with the imprint of the can still visible. [Shudder] ↩