Whether you're a cranberry sauce or cranberry relish person, this fresh tasting low carb cranberry recipe will help you make a keto Thanksgiving possible.
Making a good low carb cranberry relish is very easy. Although cranberries are tart, many people following low carb diets have adjusted their taste buds to enjoy much less sugar than they once did. I know that I can eat raw cranberries - with out sugar, and they almost seem sweet!
To make a low carb cooked cranberry sauce, or low carb stove-top cranberry sauce, one only needs fresh or frozen cranberries, water, and a low carb sugar alternative like erythritol. Just boil the ingredients together and the natural pectin in the cranberries will thicken it up. If your low carb cranberry sauce needs more sweetness, consider adding a little stevia (I like stevia glycerite). To add a little variation to your low carb cranberry sauce, adding a little almond extract or nutmeg can dress it up nicely. Look at my recipe for low carb cranberry walnut crumb bars to get an idea.
As a child, I looked forward to my mother’s cranberry relish every Thanksgiving. Its tart-sweet flavor provided a punch of mouth awakening acidity; a counterpoint to the richness of a plate piled with gravy-covered-everything. I remember repeatedly walking past her beautifully laid dining table bedecked with Thanksgiving finery, eyeing the good china, polished silver and sparkling glasses, and guessing where she would put the banana bread (or zucchini bread), sweet potatoes and cranberry relish. You have to have #foodpriorities and I had mine even at a young age.
Mom always made her cranberry relish from fresh cranberries, not frozen, which she put into the food processor with oranges and sugar. Then, she gave the ingredients a whir. That’s it. So, if you’re into easy thanksgiving side dishes this one's for you. But mom’s version, as tasty as it was, contained lots of sugar - not the ideal recipe for a low carb Thanksgiving menu.
Because I grew up with mom's fresh cranberry relish, I decided to prepare cooked cranberry sauce for holidays for many years. This year, though, I’m revisiting my childhood and making a cranberry relish just like my mom’s - only much lower in sugar! I’m replacing the sugar with a natural low carb sugar alternative (erythritol) and subtracting an orange from her recipe. Although it’s not a completely sugar-free recipe, it is a recipe with no added sugar and low carb enough to be part of a ketogenic Thanksgiving menu, if not over-eaten.
[NOTE] The color becomes deeper after sitting over-night and the flavors mingle nicely. Any leftover relish can be added to low carb muffins, low carb cupcakes and even to sugar-free cream cheese frosting to bump up the flavor.
This Low Carb Cranberry Relish is 3 net carbs per ¼ cup serving.
[This recipe and post may contain affiliate links.]
Low Carb Cranberry Relish (keto)
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fresh Ocean Spray cranberries washed
- 1 medium orange 4 oz
- â…” cup low carb sugar powdered, or Swerve Granulated
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger juice (1 inch piece of fresh ginger chopped, squeeze in garlic press)
- 3 pinches ground cloves
Instructions
- Wash the cranberries and discard any small stones or soft berries. Cut the stem and blossom end of the orange to the flesh, then quarter it and cut each quarter in half. Do not peel the orange. Discard any seeds. Roughly chop a 1 inch piece of ginger. Powder the sweetener in a coffee or spice grinder.
- Layer the cranberries and orange pieces in the processor and add the sweetener, spice and ginger juice. (Put the chopped ginger in a garlic press and squeeze to extract as much of the juice as you can. You can't really taste it, but it surely adds to the over-all flavor.)
- Using the pulse button, run the food processor until the cranberries and orange are chopped into roughly the same sized pieces. Taste. If you would like it sweeter, add your favorite stevia sweetener or more powdered Sukrin 1 (or Swerve Granulated). It should taste both tart and sweet.
- Refrigerate up to two days before needing and for 5-7 days total. Makes approximately 3 cups with ¼ cup per serving.
Notes
- Leftover cranberry relish is great on cheesecake or mixed into muffin and cake batters.
Nutrition
Green Bean Casserole (low carb, keto)
Sara
It saved me from pigging out on Thanksgiving! I love that it takes care of my cravings for tart, sweet,and fruits
Charlie A Smithson
Would give it more stars but serving size 1 gm is irrational. Needs to be something usable like teaspoon or ounce.
I had to add a little juice and used only half the orange and my husband lives it.
Kim Hardesty
Hello. I'm glad your husband loves the recipe. The serving size is 1/4 cup, which is stated in the recipe under step number 4 and is not 1 gram. Unfortunately when we changed recipe cards several years ago, the serving sizes were changed to 1 gram. I thought I fixed all of them, but obviously some were missed. Thank you for bringing it to my attention so I could change it. Enjoy your week. -Kim
Peggy Daugustino
Kim, this just came in your email and I remembered how much I love this recipe! My 3rd holidays on Keto and I've made this each year for Thanksgiving and Christmas with only a couple differences. I have used Monk fruit granular for my sweetener. My mom always used 1 orange as you but she also added chopped celery and 1 apple chopped. I just love it. On occasion there would be nuts added too, probably walnuts or pecans. Have never added any spices but will be using your recipe with the ginger and cloves this year. Happy Thanksgiving!
Kim Hardesty
Thanks for sharing your mom's variations, Peg. You may want to try the clove one-pinch-at-a-time as it can be quite strong, but ginger and cranberries are best friends just like cranberries and oranges are. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. -Kim
Cheryl P
Kim, this was SO delicious! I made it for Thanksgiving using frozen cranberries and just chopping up the ginger in my food processor (I like ginger!) It was SO good slushy! I gladly took home any leftovers after Thanksgiving and mourned how little was left. :) I'm getting ready to make more of this relish to be part of a ketofied "frozen salad" I'm making for a family New Year's dinner, using keto condensed milk and whipping cream and maybe some keto/sugar-free marshmallows. :D Can't wait! . Thanks for a great recipe!
Kim
I'm so glad you liked the recipe, Cheryl! Happy New Year. -Kim
Christina
Great recipe. I have a traditional one I make for my family every year and wondering how it will go if i swamp out with this one.. the only difference is the sweetener, ginger and using fresh instead of canned. I have never heard of sunkrin? I am in 2nd week of keto so new to all of it.. i just ordered erythritol. Could I use that?
Kim
Hi Christina. Plain erythritol will work. Erythritol is about 70% as sweet as sugar. There are several companies that sell an erythritol mixed with other ingredients to make it a straight 1:1 sugar replacement. Sukrin uses stevia to make up the difference, Lakanto uses monk fruit, and Swerve uses a powdered sweet fiber. Since erythritol has a tendency to recrystallize (and get crunchy) in moist things, a 1:1 replacement will help you use less. I go even further and use a bare minimum of my 1:1 sugar replacement and also add stevia glycerite to make up for the difference. I find that stevia glycerite is much less bitter than other stevias on the market. I have two articles about sweeteners linked in the menu bar. Have a great day. -Kim
Nina
Am a big cranberry fan and this is a dandy recipe for anytime of the year not just Holidays. I made especially to go in your keto Chocolate Cranberry Muffins recipe which I made the same day. Was so glad to find something delectable that didn't put me in orbit. No doubt I will be making this again and again. Thanks for developing these two yummy recipes.
Kim
Hi Nina. I'm a big cranberry fan, too. Thank you for reminding me that cranberries are good any time of the year! I have several bags in the freezer and this would go great with the chicken I'm smoking this weekend. I'm happy you liked this recipe as well as the muffins. Have a fantastic weekend, my friend. -Kim
gmasmith
How much is a serving ? A Tablespoon or a 1/4 cup or what?
Kim
Hello. In step 4 it mentions that each serving is approximately 1/4 cup. -Kim
Karla
Think coconut sugar would work
Kim
Absolutely, but it will color the sauce a bit. If you are Paleo, I would use honey instead. -Kim
Laurie
This was a hit at Thanksgiving, and I just made it again for Super Bowl Sunday, to garnish crackers.
Kim
I'm glad you liked the recipe, Laurie. Making it for crackers is an awesome idea! I bet this would be good over cream cheese, too. Thanks for taking the time to let me know you like the recipe and for sharing your great idea. Enjoy your week! -Kim
Marykinney
looks great
Melissa
Kim, I did make it and it was delicious! I don't have to worry about freezing it. There were no leftovers! This is definitely on the menu for Thanksgiving and maybe every week thereafter ?
Kim
Great, Melissa. I'm glad you liked it. It's so easy to make and always a hit. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment to let me know. Enjoy the rest of your week. -Kim
Kat
I can't wait to try this with tagatose sweetener. I LOVE the addition of a little low carb relish with my meals; it really dresses up the plate and gives the whole meal 'BAMM', and there are infinite flavor and nuance possibilities! This has given me an idea. I make preserved (cured) lemons, which I enjoy often in salads, sandwiches, tuna filling especially, or on the side with any meat dish, but I'm thinking the added flavors of the orange, ginger, and cranberries all processed together with the lemons in the sea salt/sugar mixture might be a delightful change of pace. I'll have to let you know after I've tried it. I don't worry about eating it on my low carb diet, since you eat only a small amount, and the percentage of sugar in the mix is pretty low. I might try mixing it 1/2 sugar and 1/2 sweetener, but I believe some sugar is necessary for activating the curing process.
Kim
Kat, what a wonderful idea. I would love to hear how your experiment turns out. I think that a little sugar is necessary, too, but the acid in the berries will help out a lot. Thank you so much for your comment and don't forget to let know the result because it sounds beautiful. -Kim
Shannon
Love cranberries and needed an alternative for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see what the family thinks about it.
Kim
I hope they like it Shannon! -Kim
Kat
This I'll be a perfect addition to our Thanksgiving meal!
Karri
This looks wonderful!
Kim
Thanks, Karri! -Kim
Jan Waldroup Squyres
Just in time for Thanksgiving, looks awesome. I am looking forward to trying.
Kim
Thank you, Jan. Hope you and yours like it. -Kim
Katrin
I bet the addition of the ginger makes this cranberry relish taste extra-special! Over here in the UK cranberry sauce does not really start until December, so I have this recipe firmly bookarked :)
Kim
I love hearing about England, Katrin. Hope you enjoy the recipe. -Kim
Vickie
Can't wait to try this!
Melissa
Oh my word! This is fabulous?
Kim
Did you make it Melissa? So glad you like it. Have a great week. -Kim
Rosanne
I can't wait to make this. Thanks for sharing!
Kim
It's my pleasure, Rosanne! -Kim
Juli Varvarezis
This is my husband's favorite dish for Thanksgiving. I'm so glad you posted this recipe. I'm gonna make this for Thanksgiving this year!
Kim
Juli, I hope you and your husband enjoy it. It probably won't be exactly the same but the great thing about cooking is how you can make it your own. Have a wonderful week! -Kim
Carol
This looks sooo good. I plan to try it for the holidays.
Melissa
Can this be frozen and saved for later?
Kim
No, Melissa, I wouldn't freeze it. I think it would get watery and squishy. Having said that, I've never tried. I'm planning to put any extra in batters and such. -Kim
Melissa
I cannot wait to try this.
Patricia
Love this site
Kim
Thanks Patricia! -Kim
Maya | Wholesome Yum
What a great way to bring flavor contrast to a plate covered in gravy! I've never tried a cranberry relish before but this recipe has me convinced!
Kim
Thanks, Maya! -Kim
Peggie Thomas
Wow! I'm looking forward to trying this recipe.
Kim
I hope you like it Peggie. I like my relish tart, so taste and sweeten yours per your taste. Have a wonderful Sunday. -Kim
Taryn
I've never had cranberry relish before. This looks like a refreshing side for Thanksgiving.
Kim
It really is, Taryn! -Kim
STACEY
My Mom always put orange rind and a load of sugar in her cranberry relish too! I did love it though, but yours looks stunning and keep me out of trouble! I like the addition of ginger for a little bite to it! Your so right about the flavors becoming more intense the next day.
Kim
Stacey, it must have been one of those recipes that everyone had back in the day. The color becomes so vibrant overnight! Always pretty on the table. Have a nice weekend. -Kim
Georgina
Love the addition of orange and cloves! Great winter flavors.
Kim
Thanks, Georgina! -Kim
Roz Giancola
Thank you for the chance to win in the giveaway. I bought a large bag of cranberries today because of the recipes I have been seeing that are low carb. I have never bought a fresh cranberry before and have only eaten canned cranberry sauce and very sugar filled muffins and breads with them. I haven't cooked this much in years, since changing my way of eating. Thanks for the recipe!
Kim
Hello Roz. I'm glad you like the products in the giveaway. I love fresh cranberries this time of the year and enjoy putting them in as many things as I can. In a few weeks, I'll have to put any remaining bags in the freezer to be used cooked. I agree, lots of cooking with this way of eating! I hope you enjoy the recipe. Have a great weekend. -Kim