This easy keto, low carb sugar free cranberry sauce has a hint of orange, and is perfectly sweet, but made without adding sugar and has just 4 ingredients!
EASY KETO Homemade CRANBERRY SAUCE
This easy keto cranberry sauce takes little time in the kitchen and is packed full of flavor!
No one will be able to tell this cranberry sauce is sugar free and low carb!
Cranberry sauce or jelly whichever your preference is the epitome of Thanksgiving. Without it, the table is just not ready, and if not served for Thanksgiving dinner someone will inevitably ask for it.
With just a few simple ingredients and a wonderful sugar free sweetener, you can still enjoy cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving, even if you're on a keto or low carb diet, using this great recipe!
With a slight hint of orange zesty-ness and perfectly sweetened with orange flavored stevia you won't have anyone asking if it's healthy. If you don't have orange flavored stevia on hand, use plain stevia or even lemon would work.
Because it's so low in calories and carbs you can go enjoy some more keto pumpkin pie! Maybe my Low Carb Chocolate Pecan pie is going on your holiday table this year?
I'd love to hear if you make it for the holiday meal for family and if they can even tell it's low carb or low sugar, let me know!
Carbs in Traditional Cranberry Sauce
Store-bought cranberry sauce might be a delicious sauce you've grown to love but it's very high in real sugar which will spike your blood sugar.
According to the app I use, Cronometer, in 2 ounces of canned jellied cranberry sauce there are 22.9 grams of carbs and 18 grams of sugar.
If you're planning on eating all the the high carb delicious food for your Thanksgiving meal, don't waste your total carbs for the day on cranberry sauce.
Try our sugar-free version and you may even find that you like this fresh cranberry sauce low-carb alternative even better than a traditional version.
Carbs in our Low Carb Cranberry Sauce
All the nutritional information is in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. The serving size is ¼ cup or 2 ounces and there are a total of 7 grams of carbs with 5 grams dietary fiber.
Our sugar-free cranberry sauce recipe has 5 g net carbs for a serving which is considerably better than any canned stuff, cranberry jelly or sauce from your grocery store.
This homemade keto cranberry sauce is the best cranberry sauce without added sugars or preservatives and the perfect addition for the holiday season.
This is how I follow a sustainable keto lifestyle making all the side dishes, and desserts with the natural sweetener of choice I prefer using. This is a great option for those wanting to reduce their sugar intake and a perfect condiment for your Thanksgiving turkey!
FRESH OR FROZEN CRANBERRIES
Fresh is best, but frozen can be used in this recipe. If using frozen, best to thaw the bag overnight in the fridge the day before you want to make the recipe, don't drain anything, use as is and follow the instructions below.
HOW TO MAKE Low Carb CRANBERRY SAUCE
Exact measurements are in the recipe card below.
Fresh cranberries
Water
Monk Fruit Allulose Confectioners sweetener
Orange zest or fresh orange juice, or use lemon juice and lemon zest if you prefer
Orange liquid stevia or even vanilla liquid stevia or add a little vanilla extract
optional; cinnamon stick
DIRECTIONS
Combine cranberries, water, monk fruit sweetener, orange zest to a sauce pan.
Boil over medium heat, stir frequently, mash cranberries if needed, for about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and add stevia.
Cool slightly then taste and adjust sweetener.
Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
Store leftover cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
LOW CARB Sugar-Free SWEETENER OPTIONS
I've used a combination of Swerve confectioners and liquid stevia orange flavored in my original recipe for healthy cranberry sauce, but I know that many of you are avoiding using erythritol since recent studies came out about it causing blood clots.
I know many of you don't like to use sugar alcohols either so I've adjusted the recipe and have tested it with Monk Fruit Allulose confectioners blend and love it!
Allulose is another wonderful sweetener that won't spike your blood sugar.
Monk Fruit is also another sweetener I use and enjoy. In granulated form it does combine monk fruit with erythritol so you need to look carefully at ingredients when purchasing Monk fruit. It is sweeter than both Swerve and Allulose.
I created the Most Comprehensive Guide to Natural Sugar-Free Low Carb Sweeteners!
You will learn all about natural sugar free sweeteners, which sweeteners to use for your baking needs, how to replace the different sweeteners, best sweeteners conversion chart including Stevia, Erythritol, Monk Fruit & Allulose as well as sugar substitutes to avoid.
CAN I LEAVE OUT THE ORANGE ZEST?
Yes, if you really don't want the orange zest you can certainly leave it out because of the small amount of natural sugar in this delicious low carb cranberry sauce.
But I recommend it as cranberries can be so tart, the orange zest helps balance the flavors and the acidity really makes for a wonderful bright flavor. You could swap it out if you don't have fresh orange zest and use a little orange extract. Fresh lemon zest and juice can be swapped.
THANKSGIVING Keto RECIPES
Thanksgiving doesn't have to be scary if you're following a low-carb or keto diet. It also doesn't have to be a crazy day of eating all the things, since Thanksgiving only comes once a year.
Making a decision to eat low-carb and/or keto recipes on Thanksgiving is not a sacrifice, it does not have to feel like deprivation at all. The keto recipes I'm sharing below will make you feel like you are not missing out on anything everyone else is eating.
The first step to making this a sustainable way of life is planning and preparing ahead the wonderful low carb recipes that you can share with everyone you're with.
I can guarantee no one will even realize they are eating a low carb dish or keto Thanksgiving dessert with a sugar-free alternative.
- Keto Pumpkin Pie
- Keto Pumpkin Cauliflower Mash
- Pecan Cranberry Brussels Sprout Salad
- Green Bean Casserole
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Bread
- Pecan Pie in my Naturally Keto Cookbook!
- Italian Keto stuffing
- Fresh Cranberry Relish
Easy KETO CRANBERRY SAUCE Recipe
4 Ingredient Sugar Free Low Carb Keto Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 24 ounces fresh cranberries
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup Monk Fruit Allulose confectioners
- 2 teaspoon orange zest
- 2 teaspoons liquid stevia orange flavor preferred but not necessary
Instructions
- Combine cranberries, water, low carb sweetener, orange zest to a medium saucepan.
- Boil over medium heat, stir frequently, mash whole berries if needed, for about 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add stevia extract.
- Cool slightly then taste and adjust sweetener.
- Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
Rosanna (Roxann) Benbow
Made this cranberry sauce today, only made 1/2 the recipe since its just me eating it. It is so easy to make and It’s so tasty, I will never buy that canned stuff again.
Brenda Bennett
Thank you so much Rosanna!
Nancysue
Family is not a cranberry sauce fan like I am, but really wanted to try this recipe. We are probably under the category of "strict" keto if that helps to know us better. This recipe hit the ball out of the park. Used RX Allulose for the sweetner and skipped the stevia at the end. I've been asked to make a second batch next weekend just to have. Again, this is from a meh cranberry sauce family. LOL! Way to go Brenda!!!!
Brenda Bennett
That is amazing! Love to hear that! Thank you so much!
Judi
I do not see applesauce as an ingredient or in the recoupe. Also someone said OJ which I don't see either both of which would take this out of low carb eating. What gives here? Is the recipe correct?
Brenda
This recipe was posted in 2014 and had applesauce in it as well as a small amount of orange juice. I adapted my recipe to become keto by eliminating those ingredients.
Kathy
Your Nutrition Facts don't include what a serving size is. Can you include that, please?
Thank you so much for your inspiration!
Kathy
Rose | The Clean Dish
I haven't used Stevia in forever! Seems like the perfect recipe for it!!
Angela+{Mind+Over+Batter}
This is my kind of cranberry sauce! Love that touch of citrus here.
Renee+-+Kudos+Kitchen
I love the addition of applesauce. Nice touch.
Nancy P.@thebittersideofsweet
I absolutely love how you took the sugar out of this! Sounds like the perfect alternative way of cooking cranberry sauce!
Nikki+@+NikSnacks
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this beautiful jelly gets to adorn your table this year!
Kim+Beaulieu
I want to swim in this. That's totally appropriate right? Happy Thanksgiving, hope you have a fabulous day.
Anita
Orange and cranberry is one of my favorite flavor combinations. Beautiful sauce and love that it's low sugar!
Lauren+@+Healthy+Delicious
next to stuffing, cranberry sauce is my favorite part of thanksgiving dinner. I could meake a whole meal out of just those two things.
Erin@TexanerinBaking
With applesauce?! I love it! And orange flavored cranberry sauce is the best!
Heather | girlichef
This does sound fantastic - and it's so darn pretty, too. 🙂
Martha+@+A+Family+Feast
So pretty - and definitely healthier than the store-bought version!
Ashley @ Wishes and Dishes
This cranberry sauce is a beauty!! I posted one today, too - mine is not nearly as pretty 🙂
Brenda
Awe thanks Ashley! Yours WAS pretty, I saw it!! Happy Thanksgiving!!
Angie
Orange cranberry is my favorite, and I loved that you found a way to lower the sugar!
Paula+-+bell'alimento
Love homemade cranberry sauce! Happy Thanksgiving !
Jen
If I don't have any liquid Stevia, how many packets of Stevia can I use?
Brenda
You'll have to taste and adjust it to your liking. I would say 6 to start. Let me know how many you end up using.
Kelly
I see you are supposed to add apple in the 1st step, but there is no apple listed in the ingredients. How much? Peeled and diced/chopped?
Brenda
Sorry, it wasa typo, just add the unsweetened applesauce
Megan
Omg. I have never seen or heard of eating jelly like this before! All this American food bloggers are really opening up my eyes new food!
-From your Aussie fan 🙂
Brenda
glad you like it, let me know if u try it. 🙂
Elle
Can I omit the OJ and use more stevia. I am diabetic and OJ raised my BS sky high
Brenda
Yes you could and replace with water.