Yummy Leftover Cranberry Sauce Ideas

What Can You Make with Cranberry Sauce?

One of the things that so many of us have in common during the holidays is having leftover cranberry sauce. Rather than throwing out your leftover cranberry sauce, I went on a hunt to see all the different ideas that are available for using leftover cranberry sauce.

At first, the ideas that I thought I would find would be for baking ideas only, but I was amazed, everything from muffins to glazes, sauces to smoothies, the range of recipe ideas for cranberry sauce was pretty incredible!

Quick Leftover Cranberry Sauce Ideas

Before we share leftover cranberry sauce recipe ideas, we want to share some really quick ideas to use up leftover cranberry sauce. Try some of our favorites below:

• Swirl your leftover cranberry sauce into your morning yogurt or yogurt and granola-yummy!
• Use cranberry sauce as a topper for your toasted bagels along with cream cheese.
• Top your waffles, pancakes, or french toast with a large dollop of cranberry sauce with maple syrup.
• Make quick cranberry butter, swirling together butter, cranberry sauce, a little orange zest, and vanilla extract to make cranberry butter to use on toast or muffins.

Cranberry Sauce Recipe Ideas

I toyed with the idea of giving you a couple of great recipes, but then I thought with how many incredible cooks we have that shop at Tastealotta, let’s just give them ideas and they can decide on the best recipe.

So let’s get your imagination working and have some fun with leftover cranberry sauce ideas:

Cranberry Sauce Ideas

• Cranberry Vinaigrette
• Cranberry Maple Syrup
• Cranberry Mustard Dressing
• Cranberry Orange Dressing
• Cranberry Yogurt Dressing
• Cranberry Mustard Pretzel Dip
• Cranberry & Yogurt Dip for Fruit

Cranberry Sauce Baking Ideas:

• Poached Pears with Cranberry Glaze
• Cranberry-Orange Cheesecake
• Cranberry Swirl Bundt Cake
• Cranberry Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Cranberry Cookies
• Cranberry Oatmeal Bars
• Cranberry Donuts with Orange Glaze
• Cranberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
• Cranberry Muffins

Cranberry Sauce Entree Ideas:

• Cranberry Chicken-a new spin on Orange Chicken
• Cranberry Glazed lamb Skewers
• Cranberry Chipotle Chicken Enchiladas
• Cranberry Hot Wings
• Stuffed Cheese Grilled Sandwiches with Cranberry Sauce
• Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken with Cranberry Sauce
• Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle Cranberry Sauce
• Cranberry Maple Lentil Loaf
• Wilted Spinach with Cranberry Dressing
• Spiral Ham with Cranberry Glaze
• Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Sauce Smoothie Ideas:

• Cranberry Banana Smoothie
• Cranberry Blueberry Smoothie
• Cranberry & Mixed Berries Smoothie
• Cranberry Orange Smoothie

So Many Leftover Cranberry Sauce Ideas

When we were looking up ideas for using leftover cranberry sauce we never figured how many delectable recipes we would find for using up cranberry sauce from holiday cooking. Truly, your imagination is your only barrier to coming up with your next favorite recipe.

One of my family’s all-time favorites is Orange Chicken. Below I share a recipe I came up with to use our leftover cranberry sauce and make Orange Cranberry Chicken. You may use chicken thighs or chicken breasts. This recipe can also be baked or put together and cooked in a slow cooker if you want to come home to dinner or have dinner ready after a day of remote working.

Cranberry Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4-6 chicken thighs or 2-3 boneless chicken breasts
• 2 cups of leftover cranberry sauce
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Tastealotta olive oil
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 cup juice from an orange
• 1/8 cup white wine
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or to taste
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• Sea salt to taste
• Ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and ground pepper
3. Heat a good-sized skillet and coat with olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken, meat-side down to the pan and cook till golden brown.
4. Remove the chicken from the skillet and put in a 13×9 inch baking dish coated with olive oil on the bottom.
5. Combine all the remaining ingredients: cranberry sauce, orange zest, soy sauce, brown sugar, olive oil, minced garlic, orange juice, white wine, and red pepper flakes. Adjust liquids as needed for correct consistency.
6. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and then uncover and bake for another 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep the drippings.
7. Whisk together the drippings and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for about 1 minute or until sauce thickens up. Serve the sauce over the chicken.

I usually am liberal with all my ingredients because we like saucy chicken. Your eyes and spoon are your best measure for consistency and quantity. When mixing up the sauce, if it doesn’t seem like a liberal enough amount add-in more ingredient amounts based on the proportions above.

Have fun, use your imagination, and make good use of your leftover cranberry sauce this holiday season. Be sure to share with us what wonderful recipes you have created using cranberry sauce, we would love to hear from you! Be sure to come to Tastealotta this holiday season to find a special gift for the foodie in your life. Cooking is a great way to create memories on these cold winter days-happy holidays from Tastealotta!