This Keto Jellied Cranberry Sauce is the perfect sweet and tart complement to your holiday table! Now you can enjoy the holiday classic with this low carb, sugar-free, keto recipe!
In my house, the holidays just wouldn’t be the holidays without a jar of jellied cranberry sauce. We served it alongside our homemade cranberry orange relish but they both deserved a spot at our table. I thought the way it held the can shape was so hilarious as a kid. I may have grown up but I still have a taste for this yummy sauce – it’s just so perfect with turkey! 🦃
Read on to see how to make this holiday treat that’s usually sugar heavy keto friendly.
KEY INGREDIENTS KETO JELLIED CRANBERRY SAUCE
Cranberries
Cranberries are a holiday classic! Luckily these berries are pretty low in carbs and perfect for low carb and keto diets. Be sure to buy fresh for this recipe and to clean them well and remove an berries past their prime.
Allulose
This recipe uses my favorite sweetener, allulose, a natural sweetener found in figs, raisins and also wheat. It’s a double win because it behaves like traditional sugar with no aftertaste. Allulose is perfect for those on keto, watching their weight or on a low sugar diet because it is not metabolized by the body making it very low in calories. Allolulose is perfect for adding the right touch of sweetness in our Keto Jellied Cranberry Sauce!
Check out more keto recipes with allulose
Gelatin
Gelatin is great to use as a thickening agent for this Keto Jellied Cranberry Sauce. I prefer to use the granular version since I use it in so many recipes and it doesn’t have to be hydrated first. The addition of gelatin helps the sauce thicken up and have that shape taking characteristic of traditional canned cranberry sauce.
TECHNIQUES
We’re mainly aiming to cook the cranberries down to make our Keto Jellied Cranberry Sauce. This means cooking over medium-low heat and stirring so that they don’t stick or burn. Just watch the mixture closely so it doesn’t burn.
EQUIPMENT
- nonstick pan
- spatula
- fine mesh sieve
- mini bundt pan or serving dish
Nonstick pan. I use a 10 inch frying pan to make Keto Jellied Cranberry Sauce. Why nonstick? The nonstick coating ensures that I don’t loose too much jam to the surface of the pan and it’s also great for clean up. And why a frying pan? The increased surface area of a wide pan allows the berries to cook evenly and allows moisture to evaporating more quickly, speeding up the cooking time. We’re essentially reducing the berries down to create jam.
Silicone spatula. This really enables you to see the development as the jam cooks. When you can part the red sea of jam, you know you’re close! Plus, it helps clean out every last drop from the pan!
TROUBLESHOOTING
You might wonder, what can go wrong with this simple recipe. There can be a couple of issues.
Why is my jellied cranberry sauce too thick?
It can be easy to reduce the berries down too much. They’ll start looking so thick and jammy in the pan that you might think to yourself, it’s going so well! If the walls of your pan start looking like a fruit roll up you might have taken it too far! If you do get to this point, add a little more water to loosen up the mixture. Remember, the berries will continue to thicken as they cool, and the gelatin will also cause them to thicken up.
Why is my jellied cranberry sauce too runny?
It could be that there’s too much liquid in the pan still. When you can draw a spatula across the pan and it leaves a trail where you can see the bottom, it’s getting thick enough. Just keep cooking, and stirring, until it thickens.
Why am I having a hard time getting the cranberries through the sieve?
You definitely have to work pushing the cranberries through the sieve, pushing with the spatula will help remove any pieces of skin or seeds. It you’re working with the spatula and it’s really not going well your berries probably aren’t cooked enough. Return the mixture to the pan cook a little longer.
Why isn’t my cranberry sauce jelling?
If you allow the sauce to cool and then refrigerate it, it should jell up as it cools. If it’s still runny after it’s completely cooled, you can try heating it again and adding a little more gelatin and allow it to cool completely. That should do the trick!
SERVING
How to serve Keto Jellied Cranberry Sauce?
- With your traditional holiday meal of turkey 🦃
- With leftover turkey sandwiches
- Enjoy with cheese 🧀 and bread like you would a fruit paste or jelly
- Make it as a gift!
What to drink with Keto Jellied Cranberry Sauce?
White wine or bubbly is my choice for a poultry based holiday meal. Bubbles would be my first choice – so festive, low in carbs, and the crispness cuts through the richness in the holiday dishes.
STORING
Keep in the fridge and use up within 5-7 days of making.
❤️ MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
- Try this Keto Holiday Stuffing
- Keto Beautiful Braided Challah Bread is an unbelievable yeast risen bread
- You’ll love the Keto Green Bean Casserole
- Keto Pumpkin Coffee Cake Muffins are huge hit and great in a loaf pan!
- Keto Pumpkin Spice Butter is another must try for the holidays
- Try this Keto Yule Log 🌲 cake recipe!
Keto Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Equipment
- nonstick pan
- Spatula or spoon
- mini bundt pan
- sieve
Ingredients
- 12 oz cranberries fresh
- 1.5 cups water
- 1.25 cups allulose
- 1.5 tablespoons gelatin
- 2 tablespoons water to hydrate the gelatin
- 1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
Instructions
- Add cranberries, allulose and water to a shallow, nonstick pan and turn the heat to medium high.
- Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
- Stir the mixture occasionally to check for any sticking. If the berries start to stick, reduce the heat.
- The berries should reduce down to the point where you can part the red sea of cranberries with your silicone spatula. If your berries don't reach this stage the sauce will be too runny.
- Press the cooked berries through a sieve, to remove the skins and seeds.
- Hydrate the gelatin in 2 tablespoons of water, mixing well to break up any clumps. Thoroughly mix the gelatin into the cranberries.
- Pour sauce into bundt pan, or serving dish. Refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.
- To remove from mold, run a knife or toothpick around the edges. If it's very stubborn you can sit in a bowl of warm water to help loosen the sauce. Enjoy!
This looks delicious. Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks so much, Kalu! The flavor is really strong in the homemade version, so tangy and sweet – I hope you love it!
I have to start making sauces; it sounds so yummy, I would probably use it as a spread:))
It’s great on a turkey sandwich (this is a little more like jello than jelly in texture). Yummy with cheese too kind of like quince paste. I hope you’ll enjoy it!
That’s great! I love cheese (I also live 20 min away from Cheddar!) and it makes sense now. Honestly, I did not use sauces on foods other than what they are cooked in…
I feel like this one is a little closer to jelly or fruit paste than just a sauce. I actually wonder why it’s called sauce!
So much better than the stuff in a can LOL.
Ha ha! I still love that stuff and would probably eat it if I wasn’t low carb!
YUM! This redefined Jellied Cranberry Sauce! I think because the can stuff is watered down a bit and this has a more concentrated flavor. Oh, it’s daaaamn good. I can’t wait to schmear it on a turkey sandwich!
Thanks so much! It does sound pretty delish for a turkey sammie!
I like that you can easily make sauce instead of buying in can, for the labor of it ❤️ and this just looks so gorgeous. Perfect wreath in the table for me.
Thanks so much, Jeannie! Somehow this year, despite all the hard news, having some beautiful food lifts the mood a little.
What a great recipe. That is a good recipe for helping me stay on plan during the holiday season. I bet it would taste also great with a bacon sausage sandwich.
Thank you, Marita! Great suggestion – I need to think of more ways to use this, it is so yummy!