Eating Low Carb or Sugar Free, but still want cranberry sauce with your holiday turkey dinner? Look no further, I’ve converted my favorite Cranberry Sauce recipe into a sugar-free version with as few carbs as possible, in this Low Carb Cranberry Sauce recipe. (Plus it has lots and lots of nuts – yum!)
Low Carb Cranberry Sauce Recipe:
One of my favorite side dishes for Holiday meals is cranberry jelly.
Funny thing, I couldn’t stand cranberry anything growing up, but over the last several years, my tastes have definitely changed and cranberry jelly is the one dish I craved at the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner over the last few years, but wouldn’t allow myself to have because of the sugar.
I have an amaaazing Homemade Cranberry Pomegranate Relish with Pineapple & Mandarin Oranges, but as you can guess, that’s the recipe that is full of sugar! I wanted to try to duplicate the sauce, so I omitted the pomegranate, pineapple and oranges and replaced those ingredients with toasted pecans and walnuts.
This Low Carb Cranberry Sauce is really good. Sweet but still tart, and the addition of all the nuts makes it even better, and gives it a great cranberry relish texture. Hubby and I could not stop eating it!
Other low carb side dishes you might enjoy:
- Sugar-Free Pumpkin Pie Granola Recipe (low carb)
- Sugar Free Candied Pecans
- Low Carb/Sugar Free Jello Fluff Salad Recipe
- My Favorite Broccoli Salad Recipe
One thing I found interesting, was how different the color was with sugar substitute instead of real sugar. This sugar-free cranberry sauce recipe definitely has a more opaque, magenta color than the deep red of cranberry sauce with real sugar.
FYI, this is one of those recipes that gets better with time, so this low carb cranberry sauce recipe is definitely one to make ahead.
We’re traveling this year for Thanksgiving and I’ve already picked up more of the ingredients so I make a batch before we go and will bring this low carb cranberry sauce along to share with others and hopefully stay on plan.
So… I’m not one that likes to make many videos because, while the videos are easy to shoot; (you’re just pressing record after all, lol) they are super time to consuming to edit. But in this case, I already had all my equipment out, so what the heck, I put together a quick, one-minute video for you to see how easy this sugar free cranberry sauce is to make.
Check it out:
Products used and recommended in this post:
- Swerve Sweetener
- Stevia Clear Liquid
- Plain Gelatin
- Copper Chef Induction Burner (I like cooking on this burner a lot more than the terrible gas stove in our little rent house)
- Farbeware Induction Ready 3 quart saucepan

Sugar Free Low Carb Cranberry Sauce
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Total Time: 20 minutes
Description
Eating Low Carb or Sugar Free, but still want cranberry sauce with your holiday turkey dinner? Look no further, I’ve converted my favorite Cranberry Sauce recipe into a sugar-free version with as few carbs as possible, in this Low Carb Cranberry Sauce. (Plus it has lots and lots of nuts – yum!)
Ingredients
- 1 package of fresh whole cranberries (16oz)
- 1 1/4 cup of cup for cup sugar substitute
- 3/4 cup of water
- juice from 1 lemon
- optional: 1 tsp plain gelatin
- 1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts and pecans
Instructions
- Combine cranberries, water, sugar substitute, and lemon in a large saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat, cover and reduce heat to medium-low.
- Continue cooking for 10 minutes. (You will hear the cranberries popping.)
- Meanwhile, in a shallow pan, toast nuts 2 to 3 minutes or until they begin to deepen in color. Remove from heat and set aside
- Add a teaspoon of gelatin to 1/4 cup of water. Allow gelatin to sit for a minute.
- Add gelatin to cranberries, mixing well and cooking for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- With the side of your spatula or spoon, gently crush most of the cranberries.
- Add nuts and stir.
- Allow the sauce to cool, then place in the fridge for a minimum of two hours or up to two days for the best flavor.
Notes
- This recipe is perfect for making ahead of time (up to 2 days) as it only gets better the longer it sits in the fridge.
- If you don’t have plain gelatin on hand, you can leave it out and just cook the cranberry sauce a bit longer.
- When it comes to sugar substitute, I prefer Swerve Granular for this recipe. I also like to start with less sugar than a recipe calls for, give it a taste as cooking and add a few drops of liquid stevia for additional sweetness. (something about combining different types of sugars helps cancel out any aftertaste.)

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