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 Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce Recipe. (Plus it has lots and lots of nuts – yum!)

Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce Recipe:

One of my favorite side dishes for Holiday meals is the cranberry sauce.

Funny thing, I couldn’t stand cranberry anything growing up, but over the last several years, my tastes have definitely changed and cranberry sauce 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.

Why You Need to Make this Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce

This Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce is so good! We could not stop eating it! (Thank goodness it is sugar-free, lol.)
The sauce is sweet but still tart and the addition of nuts give the cranberry sauce a great relish texture. It’s the perfect complement to deep-fried turkey and low-carb dressing.
And best of all, it is super easy to make. Fifteen-ish minutes on the stovetop and, Voilà! You have a delicious sugar-free cranberry sauce to go with your turkey.

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.

Ingredients in Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce + Notes

Want to give this Amazing low carb sugar free holiday side dis a try? These are the ingredients to add to your list. (Ingredients at a glance, grab the full printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.)

Fresh Cranberries | Don’t be tempted to use canned – it’s the fresh cranberry that makes this recipe so delicious. I have not tried frozen cranberries in this recipe as of yet, but I bet they would work. (If you can find them, our Walmart does not have them.)
Sugar substitute | My preference is Swerve, but use any cup for cup sweetener you prefer.
Juice from 1 lemon | You could use bottled lemon juice, but I always recommend fresh over bottled. Tastes better and the lemon juice helps the cranberry sauce gel up.
Toasted, chopped walnuts and pecans | You can use all one nut or another, it’s up to you. I really enjoyed the 50/50 mix. Definitely toast the nuts, makes a huge difference in flavor!
Optional: 1 tsp plain gelatin | completely optional, but the gelatin will give a more “jelled” sauce.

Can I Make this Low Carb Cranberry Sauce Ahead of Time?

Yes! 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.

Recipe Tips:

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, it’s ok, you can leave it out. The gelatin just makes a more cranberry jelly-like consistency, and it is still great without it. You can compensate, by cooking the cranberries for 2 to 3 minutes longer.
When y
When it comes to sugar substitutes, 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 or liquid Splenda for additional sweetness. (something about combining different types of sugars helps cancel out any aftertaste.)

How to Store Your Sauce

Store your Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

What to do with Leftover Cranberry Sauce

Got Leftover sauce? There are all sorts of fun things to do with it.

Add a bit over the top of cream cheese for a yummy dip with crackers.
Add to plain or vanilla yogurt.
Add to warmed brie.
Make Cranberry Hand Pies
Make Turkey Cranberry Sliders

More Sugar Free Side Dishes:

Products Used to Make This Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce

Swerve Sweetener
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- plus it is great for overflow cooking)
Farbeware Induction Ready 3 quart saucepan

How to Make Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce:

Sugar Free Low Carb Cranberry Sauce

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Author: Jamie Sanders
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 20 servings 1x
Category: side dish
Method: stovetop
Diet: Diabetic

Print Recipe

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

Scale

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

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

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 about 10 minutes. (You will hear the cranberries begin to pop.)
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.)

Nutrition

Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
Calories: 51
Sugar: 2
Fat: 4
Carbohydrates: 4
Fiber: 1
Protein: 2

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About the Author

Jamie Sanders is a wife and mom of 2, located in the heart of Texas. She founded Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom in 2011 as a place to share creative ideas and family friendly recipes. Her work has been featured on Martha Stewart, Woman’s World, HuffPost, TODAY, Pioneer Woman, HGTV, CNET, Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, Oprah Daily, and Redbook, plus many other publications. To date, she had given away just under a million free pdf sewing patterns.

Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce Recipe