This homemade Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce with Apple Cider gets its sharp sweet and tart combo from apple cider, orange juice, pomegranates, and bourbon. I’m already thinking of the cranberry and turkey sandwiches I’ll be making. Jump to Recipe

My family’s Thanksgiving has been set in semi-sold stone for a while. We’ve made some small changes over the last 3 or 4 years, but overall, we don’t do anything hugely different. Which is why I never post Thanksgiving specific recipes on the blog.

Also, holidays the past few years have been hard for me. I’m always still recovering from a recent hospitalization or on a fast decline. This year though, I’m healthy and the family is expanding to include some vegetarians. Which means I want to shake things up a bit.

Besides this Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce with Apple Cider, I’ll be sharing a Cornbread and Cranberry Vegetarian Stuffing and a Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy recipe. Another possibility is a mulled wine and some rolls, but that’s only a maybe.

Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce with Apple Cider

I was looking at a recipe for cranberry sauce that used a bunch of apples, oranges, pomegranates, and cranberries. It made me curious whether all the fruit would make the sauce more tart or sweeter.

In the end, I think this cranberry sauce is more tart than my usual batches. Right after cooking, I was a little disappointed in the flavor. There wasn’t a lot of pomegranate and apple cider flavor. But as it sits, the pomegranate and apple cider flavors develop more, lending extra layers of sharp sweet and tart hits.

The Thanksgiving Plan

I’m someone who likes to space out a lot of the work in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Here’s my Thanksgiving game plan.

Saturday, November 11:

• Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce with Apple Cider, stored in a mason jar in the fridge. The high sugar content (it’s basically a jelly) will make it last until Thanksgiving. The sauce completely fills a 16-ounce mason jar but I’ll probably make another batch just in case.
• Cabernet Cranberry and Blueberry Sauce from Averie Cooks to go inside Cranberry and Cream Cheese Monkey Bread.
• Cornbread and Cranberry Vegetarian Stuffing, stored in the freezer. I’ll thaw it in the fridge the night before and warm it up in the oven with everything else Thanksgiving day.

• Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy stored in the freezer and reheated in the microwave before serving.

Wednesday, November 15:

• Make the rolls and freeze them, unbaked. Depending on what time dinner is planned, I’ll bake them the night before or early in the morning.

Thursday, November 16

• Make Brown Butter Salted Caramel for the dessert I’m planning.

Friday-Sunday, November 17-19

• Remember the dehydrated lemons on this Rosemary Sponge Cake? I liked them so much I’m going to dehydrate pears, apples, and oranges for a cheese platter.

Monday, November 20

• Make these Chewy Molasses Cookies for the crust of the dessert
• Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce for the cheese platter (I still have some frozen cherries from summer)

• Caramel corn, for the cheese platter and the dessert.

Tuesday, November 21

• I’m making two batches of this Cranberry and Cream Cheese Monkey Bread for a neighbor.

Wednesday, November 22

• Two batches of Cauliflower Potato Mash, reheated in the microwave the day of

• 7-Minute Frosting

• I’m planning on baking a pumpkin pie like a cheesecake in a springform pan with ground chewy molasses cookies as the crust. I’ll drizzle some caramel on it, top with 7-Minute Frosting, and then store in the fridge.
• Cornbread for the stuffing cooked in the Turkey
• Corn and pomegranate salad
• Sweet Potato Casserole but the marshmallows will be added and roasted on top Thanksgiving day

Thursday, November 23

• Bake the rolls early in the morning
• Turkey and stuffing
• Make the mulled wine
• Set up the cheese platter in the early afternoon
• Roast Green beans
• Begin reheating all the food

Whew. Chop, chop, chop! Good luck with all your planning, cutting, dicing, cooking, and baking!

5 from 1 vote

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Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce with Apple Cider

This homemade Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce with Apple Cider gets its sharp sweet and tart combo from apple cider, orange juice, pomegranates, and bourbon.

Course Sides and Snacks

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 3 to 3 and 1/2 cups

Author Megan Wells

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/4 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/4 + 1/2 cup apple cider, separated
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 (12-ounce) bags cranberries
• 1 and 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• zest from 1 orange

Instructions

1. Combine the pomegranate seeds, 1/4 cup pomegranate juice, 1/4 cup apple cider, 1/2 cup sugar, and cinnamon stick in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.  

2. In a large saucepan, combine the cranberries, 1/2 cup apple cider, brown sugar, orange juice, bourbon, and orange zest. Cook on medium-high for 10 to 15 minutes, until the liquid has reduced and the cranberries have popped. 

3. Turn off the heat and strain the pomegranate sauce in the small saucepan into the cranberry sauce and stir until incorporated. 

4. Cook on low for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the cranberry sauce cool for 15 minutes before pouring into mason jars. Let cool to room temperature before sealing and storing in the fridge or freezer.