Are you attending a Thanksgiving gathering and need to put together a simple yet delicious dish to share? Try bringing Jalapeño Pear Cranberry Sauce! It’s like Cranberry Sauce with a kiss of spice. The recipe is super fast to prepare so it’s perfect if you’re scrambling at the last minute to make something!
When I was a kid, my mom served the store-bought cranberry sauce found in a can. I fondly remember watching my mom open the can and plopping the can-shaped cranberry gelatin onto a plate. I won’t lie, I use to love that stuff! It was sweet and tangy and the perfect accompaniment to roasted turkey.
Years later I attended my first Friendsgiving. My friend served me a dark red sauce and I thought, wait, isn’t this supposed to be like jello? Why does it look homemade? I took a bite and my eyes popped out of my head. Holy shit, I thought, this sauce IS homemade and it’s amazing! After that party, I never purchased canned cranberry sauce again.
Regular cranberry sauce with fresh cranberry, water, and sugar is delicious, but I wanted to up the ante a little bit. Cranberries pair wonderfully with sugar, cinnamon, pear, orange juice, ginger, and jalapeños. I figured it would be fun to make a cranberry smorgasbord sauce and throw all that shit together in a pot. The end result was fantastic! The cranberries are sour, the sugar is obviously sweet, and the jalapeños add some heat. I removed the stems and seeds from my jalapeños but if you adore spicy food, leave some or all of them in!
I’m hosting Thanksgiving this year at my house and couldn’t be more excited! Our families live in another state so I’ll be hosting some friends of ours. It’s sad not being with our immediate families for the holiday’s but I’m grateful we’ve made some amazing friends in Portland. I’m not a huge turkey fan so I’ll be preparing a prime rib roast, along with the Jalapeño Pear Cranberry Sauce! Our friends are making grilled scallops, green bean casserole, mash potatoes (I think), and pumpkin pie cheesecake thingy. Who knows, maybe I’ll even buy canned cranberry sauce for nostalgia, ha!
This post is rather short this week, kinda like the recipe. It’s quick and to the point. If you need a last minute dish to bring to your Thanksgiving gathering, this Jalapeño Pear Cranberry Sauce will do the trick!
Jalapeño Pear Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 12 oz fresh cranberries (rinsed)
- 1 pear, chopped
- 2 jalapeños, diced (seeds and stems removed unless you like extra spicy)
- Juice from 1 orange
- 1-2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger (optional)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
Instructions
- Combine the sugar and water in a saucepot. Place the pot on the stove and turn the heat on high. Once the water boils and the sugar dissolves, add the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture back to a boil. Then, turn down the heat so the mixture simmers, then cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes until most of the cranberries have burst and the mixture thickens.
- Remove the pot from the heat and allow the cranberry sauce to cool to room temperature, before storing in an airtight container. Or, serve it up and eat it!