Here's an interesting twist for your Thanksgiving table! Mango Cranberry Sauce serves up the delicious, slightly tart flavour of cranberries without all the sugar of regular cranberry sauce. Fresh, ripe, juicy mango adds sweetness in a natural way. I serve it throughout the year anytime I'm roasting a chicken.
I originally published this recipe on November 10, 2017. The photos and other information have been updated, but the recipe and video remain the same.
Cranberry sauce is one of my favourite parts of the traditional holiday meal! I love this one because it's a healthier version with less sugar - no refined sugar at all, really!
What You'll Need
- Cranberries - Use either fresh or frozen cranberries.
- Mango - I recommend a nice, ripe, fresh mango for this recipe. While frozen mango is available, in my experience it isn't usually sweet enough. There's a huge difference between a sweet, ripe mango and a firm one that isn't juicy yet. Frozen mango may be great for smoothies, but you really need a sweet, ripe one here.
- Sugar - I like to use unrefined raw sugar because it's minimally processed. Coconut sugar, honey, or maple syrup will alter the taste of cranberry sauce.
How to Make Mango Cranberry Sauce
Bring water and raw sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Add the cranberries and boil, stirring occasionally, until the skins pop.
Let the cranberry sauce sit and cool. Then stir in chopped, fresh mango.
Serve at room temperature.
Recipe FAQ's
Cranberry sauce is best served at room temperature, but it can be served either warm or cold. Although it's not generally heated for serving, if you've just made it and it's not completely cooled, that's not a problem.
You can make Mango Cranberry Sauce a day early. However, because of the fresh mango in it, I wouldn't leave it much longer than that.
Even better, cook the cranberries up to a few days ahead; then add the mango on the day of serving.
Because cranberries are tart-tasting, we usually add quite a bit of sugar to cranberry sauce. I wanted to find a way to replace some of that sugar in a natural way. A nice, ripe mango is deliciously sweet and comes with fibre which helps to slow down the absorption of sugar. Although we don't want to eat any fruit in excess, it's better to consume whole fruit than fruit juice or straight sugar.
Cranberries are high in antioxidants such as Vitamin C. They're also high in fibre and low in fat.
Here are some more cranberry recipes I think you'll like!
- Cranberry Apricot Bars
- Festive Cranberry Salad with Chicken and Pecans
- Cranberry Sauce
- Cranberry Almond Biscotti
Recipe
Cranberry Sauce with Mango
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup raw sugar
- 12 ounces cranberries fresh OR frozen
- 1 mango peeled, pitted, and diced (Mine made 1 ¼ cups.)
Instructions
- Over medium-high heat, boil the water and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the cranberries and boil, stirring occasionally, until the skins pop. Allow to cool.
- Stir diced mango into cooled cranberry sauce. It's great served at room temperature.
Ann says
Just curious...have you tried using erythritol (aka Swerve) as a sugar replacement? It's like Stevia but without the bitter taste or GI side effects. I bought some but have not tried it yet. But maybe I'll just go with this mango idea!
Cathy says
I have not tried erythritol. I'm just a little suspicious of highly processed products and prefer to use whole foods, or those that undergo little processing, as much as possible. I'd rather get my sugar from minimally-processed sources and just try not to consume too much of it. I hope you enjoy the mango in your cranberry sauce!
Markus Mueller | Earth, Food, and Fire says
Very smart! My only concern would be finding mangos ripe enough!!!
From a culinary standpoint it makes complete sense to add another sweeter fruit to offset the tartness of the cranberries. In past I have used combination of apple and oranges , but it does alter the taste from the 'traditional' version!
Cathy Brak says
The combination of apple and oranges sounds good! From a health perspective, I think the whole fruit complete with its natural fibre helps to slow down the absorption of the sugars compared to fruit juices or straight sugar.
Gabrielle @ eyecandypopper says
I love the addition of mango! I completely agree about the insane amount of sugar in commercial cranberry sauce, not to mention it never really tastes good. Cranberry sauce is another one of those things I refused to eat as a kid but then realized that I love homemade versions of it! Good job on this one, so simple and tasty.
Cathy Brak says
Thank you, Gabrielle! Isn't it wonderful when these delicious, homemade versions are simple and easy to make, too!
maria says
What a creative idea! I also try to reduce the amount of sugar... as you have experienced, it is a hit and miss experience. But this cranberry mango sauce is a definite hit! Thanks for sharing Cathy ♥
Cathy Brak says
Thank you, Maria! I appreciate your stopping by and commenting!
Colleen says
Adding mango is a great idea to replace some of the sugar, and I'm sure it must be delicious, too!
Cathy Brak says
It is delicious! Thanks for stopping by, Colleen.