Spiced Cranberry Sauce

For this variation, add spices like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves as well as orange juice and zest, then finish it off with a bit of spiced rum. The end result is incredible: a cranberry sauce that has a multidimensional array of seasonal flavors that fits seamlessly into any Thanksgiving meal.

Pear and Ginger Cranberry Sauce

Pear and ginger are a great contrasting pair, and worked very well in this cranberry sauce variation.

Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce

Granny Smith apples build on the already tart and sweet profile of cranberry sauce, and the addition of extra orange juice and orange zest gives adds a brightness.

Cherry-Port Sauce

The classic combo of a cherry and port contrasts tart cherries against sweet wine, with a double dose of fruit that gives a well rounded and full-bodied flavor.

Mulled Wine Cranberry Sauce

Make this elegant and cozy Mulled Wine Cranberry Sauce for your adult Thanksgiving feast. A sweet-tart combination of two holiday classics.

Brandied Cherry Cranberry Sauce

This sweet-tart, lightly-spiced Brandied Cherry Cranberry Sauce is an elegant twist on the classic Thanksgiving side. Alcohol-free substitution ideas included. Make it ahead for easy entertaining!

Spiced Red Wine Cranberry Sauce

Taking inspiration from another fall comfort—mulled wine—this version of cranberry sauce swaps water for red wine and adds in holiday spice in the form of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.

Sam Sifton's Basic Cranberry Sauce

Yes, cranberry sauce is a given. You probably make a homemade version to accompany its canned brethren in order to appease the most strident of canned-sauce believers. But often homemade cranberry sauce recipes include a cascade of spices, fruit, and nuts to distract from the fact that the sauce is simply a frozen bag of bouncy fruits cooked up with far too much sugar. In Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well, Sam Sifton offers a straight-forward, yet well-balanced Basic Cranberry Sauce to counter a...

Raspberry Rhubarb Ginger Jam

Crystallized ginger melts into this tart raspberry-rhubarb jam, providing unexpected hints of heat and spice. The flavors are big and bold, so it would work best with straightforward baked goods that won't compete.

Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce

In line with traditional cranberry sauce, the addition of pomegranate pushes the fruity flavor further without covering up that sweet and tart cranberry flavor you expect with your Thanksgiving dinner.