Christmas Cranberry Chicken Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the two types of cranberry sauce? ›

Cranberry sauce can be served either as a gooey liquid or as a solid jelly. The jellied version is solid enough to retain the shape of the container in which it's placed whereas the sauce version is much more fluid. The difference between the fluid sauce and the jelly versions comes down to pectin.

And deep down, they are not so different after all: Whole cranberry sauce indeed involves whole berries. Jellied cranberry sauce goes through much the same process, but it is heavily strained, removing elements of nature — skin, seeds — that would impede its perfect silken texture.

Why Do We Serve Cranberry Sauce at Christmas? Following in the footsteps of America, we traditionally add cranberry sauce to our plates at Christmas to add a sweet and tangy taste to our turkey.

And no turkey would be complete without a companion of tangy-sweet cranberry sauce. We're making ours from tart fresh cranberries quickly cooked with a little shallot, vinegar and sugar. (Chefs, be sure to choose a sheet pan with higher sides for your turkey—you'll be adding water to keep it juicy in the oven.)

Best Whole Berry: Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

For those who prefer a whole berry sauce, Ocean Spray was the clear winner. Not only did editors love it for the freshness, texture, and flavor, but several also noted that it was the most visually appealing of the bunch.

While there are some editors who prefer homemade cranberry sauce, the canned variety also has quite a following. "There's something so beautifully perfect about the texture of canned cranberry sauce, and none of those homemade mess will ever compete," says Senior Digital Food Editor Kimberly Holland.

The major variation you're likely to come across is "whole berry" versus "jellied." The only difference between them is that the jellied sauce is cooked until the berries have completely broken down. They both slide out of the can as a wobbly red cylinder.

There are four major varieties of cranberries: American, European, Mountain and Highbush, with American being the most common variety used for juice and sold as fresh berries. Highbush is mostly used for jelly, jams and sauces. Most cranberries are picked by machines, however, machines damage the berries.

There is an important difference between cranberry sauce and cranberry relish and that is that cranberry relish is made from raw ingredients blended in a food processor (it's more fresh and tart tasting) and cranberry sauce is cooked and often much sweeter than relish.

Cranberry juice is usually labeled "100% juice." Other fruits are sometimes added to balance the tart cranberry taste, but that label indicates that the product is made with 100% fruit juices. Cranberry juice co*cktail, meanwhile, has added sugars or high-fructose corn syrup for extra sweetness.