Delightfully Simple Cranberry Sauce
The beauty of this recipe lies in how incredibly easy it is to prepare. It takes about 20 minutes and only three common ingredients to make an amazing cranberry sauce that everyone you’re hosting over the holidays will just love. All you’ll be needing is three cups of fresh (or frozen) cranberries, some fresh orange juice (bonus points if you freshly juice it yourself), and some honey to make it nice and sweet.
Only Three Ingredients
I love this cranberry sauce recipe because even though it only uses three ingredients, each of them offers you some fantastic health benefits. Cranberries are very low in calories while being nutrient-dense. They’re an excellent source of dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. And of course, as many of you know, they make for a fantastic remedy if you’re dealing with a UTI. Regularly enjoying cranberries or cranberry juice can even help to prevent UTIs. (1)
The orange juice helps to add a bit of tangy flavor to offset the bitterness of the cranberries. More importantly, it’s an excellent source of vitamin C. When I was growing up, any time I ever got sick or anything, my mom would always make me drink a big glass of orange juice or just eat an orange before anything else. For good reason too — vitamin C has been shown to be essential for certain cells in our immune systems to function properly. (2)
Honey, Nature’s Sweetener
And last but not least we have the honey. It adds just the right balance of sweetness to the cranberry sauce, meshing perfectly with the bitter taste of the cranberries and the tanginess of the orange juice. It’s no slouch in the nutritional department either — honey is an absolute antioxidant powerhouse, while also providing numerous other health benefits, such as having beneficial effects on the blood lipid counts for individuals with type 2 diabetes. (3) While honey does cause a rise in blood sugar levels, it’s significantly less so than sweeteners like sugar.
It’s funny to me how so often in life, the simple things are often the best. This cranberry sauce is no exception. Even though it uses three common ingredients, it just might make the best cranberry sauce that I’ve ever tasted. I’m sure that you will agree once you try it for yourself.
P.S. – Since cranberry is definitely in season at this time of year, I wanted to share a few other great paleo style recipes that use cranberries that you may enjoy:
0 Comments