Port Cranberry Pear Sauce
Port Cranberry Pear Sauce is sweet, tangy homemade cranberry pear sauce with the flavors of orange, cinnamon and port wine!
I’m in the throes of Thanksgiving at my house, trying out new recipes ahead of time to make sure that they’ll be worthy of The Big Day. Last year I strayed from a few of Thanksgiving staples like my sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole, and I won’t make that same mistake because I missed them dearly.
What I will do, however, is tweak flavors just a bit to make them different I don’t want any riots at the table come Thanksgiving day. 🙂
My Cranberry Orange Sauce is getting a bit of an overhaul here with the special flavor of port wine. I’m not a fan of drinking port at all — it’s too sweet for me, but cooking with it is an entirely different story.
Port adds a wonderful depth of flavor like wine would, but even deeper and more complex. Add sweet port wine to tangy cranberries and you’ve got a match made in Thanksgiving heaven.
I got the idea to do this from cooking school…surprised? If you followed along with my cooking school posts, one week I made a panna cotta with cranberry chutney and I was smitten with the whole dessert. The cranberries had port wine, of course, and it’s something I’ve never forgotten. I’ll go so far as to say I’ve had dreams about it.
That’s what good food does to a person.
I added pears to this homemade cranberry pear sauce because I had some, and pears work so well with cranberries.
This recipe will be the perfect side for your holiday table, and you’ve got to have enough for The Day After sandwiches!
The sandwiches are one of the things I look forward to most…with plenty of my homemade cranberry pear sauce, of course. 🙂
More cranberry recipes you’ll love:
- Cranberry recipes
- Cranberry Apple Pie by Delish
- Cranberry Sangria
- Cranberry Pear Salad
- Sugared Cranberries
Port Cranberry Pear Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries rinsed and picked through
- 2 medium pears peeled, cored, and chopped into small dice (I used Bartlett pears)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice*
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1/2 cup port wine
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the sugar, orange juice, zest, port wine, and ground cinnamon in medium sauce pan. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the cranberries and pear, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and simmer until the cranberries pop and the mixture thickens, about 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Cool completely and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Total time above does not include the chilling time for the sauce, which is several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Refrigerate leftover cranberry sauce in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
50 Comments on “Port Cranberry Pear Sauce”
Hi Marcie, what a wonderful cranberry sauce, love that you used pears.
Thank you, Cheri!
Yum! This looks divine and I’m getting into the Thanksgiving mood 🙂
Thank you, Medha! I think I’m celebrating Thanksgiving this entire month!
This honestly looks perfect and I’d love to make some for my Christmas table! The cranberry pear combo sounds divine. Pinning!
Thank you, Helen, and these will be on my Christmas table as well!
haha oh gosh, if I change too much on my thanksgiving menu there is definitely rioting! Or heaven forbid I don’t make someone’s favorite from the previous year! 🙂
This cranberry sauce looks amazing – I feel like this is one dish I could mess with a bit and we’d be okay on the complaints! lol
Some people in my family actually prefer the jellied canned stuff — that’s just not for me! So I can definitely tinker with the cranberries without anybody getting mad. Lol
This sauce looks wonderful Marcie and a nice change on the ‘canned’ stuff! Way better with awesome flavors!
I gave up canned when I made my first batch of fresh cranberries and I haven’t looked back…BUT I serve both, because some in the family prefer the jellied kind. I like it chunky!
Loving this sauce!! Lately I have been enjoying cranberry sauce on almost everything – toasts, pop tarts and what not!!
Thank you, Ami! I’ve been in a big cranberry mood lately too and can’t get enough!
My husband is a big fan of the traditional holiday food and would throw a fit if I tried to do something out of the ordinary, haha! I don’t think I’ve ever made my own cranberry sauce before, but I need to start because I’m kind of obsessed with cranberry sauce and love putting it all over the leftovers! I bet it is amazing with the pear and port!
Oh I tried some stuff out of the ordinary, but it was the key lime pie tinkering that got everybody uptight! I won’t do that again.
This sauce is absolutely gorgeous, Marcie! I love the deep red color. And the flavor combination of pears and cranberries sounds wonderful! I definitely think you found a Thanksgiving winner!
Thank you, Gayle! The color of cranberries is so intoxicating…red is my favorite color, too.
Pears and cranberry go so well together! I love the sweet addition of port here 🙂 I want to be invited to your bug day dinner!
Consider yourself invited! 🙂
Cranberry sauce is an absolute MUST here on T-day! Sounds like we’re both on the same blogging wave-length since I’m planning on posting my own cranberry sauce recipe in the next few weeks! I’m totally loving the pears in your sauce—so perfectly seasonal!
It is a must, and I love it when it’s not T-day, too! I like to freeze bags because you never know when the urge will strike. 🙂 I’m used to being on the same wavelength as you Sarah — our great minds think alike! haha
Oh my gosh, I am *so* glad you went to cooking school, so you can share all your secrets. Like this! You know where this is going —> PINNED. xoxo
I obviously needed to go because I wouldn’t have thought of this. Lol. Thx for the pin!
Every time we go wine tasting, my husband always buys a bottle of port. They taste so good at the time, but we rarely drink them when we get home. Which means I have about 12 bottles of port in the cabinet collecting dust. This is a great way to use them up! And this cranberry sauce sounds just delicious.
You definitely have something to use all that port on! haha I’ve bought my share wine tasting in the past and did the same thing — let it collect dust in the closet! Have a great weekend, Natalie! 🙂
Yum…I love the addition of the pears!
Thank you, Annie! 🙂
Oh Marcie, this cranberry pears sauce looks gorgeous! I love the pretty color and it sounds amazing with the pear sand port wine! I can definitely see why you would have dreams about it – I just want to eat it straight up by the spoonful – yum!
Thank you, Kelly, and I have been sneaking spoonfuls here and there! I had plenty and it’s been calling my name. I think I need to make some panna cotta. 🙂
what wonderful flavors Marcie! I need to use cranberries more often, not sure why I don’t bake/cook with them as much as I would like to! Pinning!
Thank you, Manali! I don’t cook or bake with cranberries enough either and I love them. I will be doing more this season!
Never made my own cranberry sauce before, you definitely have inspired me to change that and make your recipe Marcie.. this looks SO delicious.
Thank you, Thalia, and I hope you try it. Fresh cranberry sauce is the best! 🙂
This sauce is packed with wonderful flavors and I love it! I must try it, port wine sounds nice and sweet! It is very nice of you to share so many amazing recipes (and tricks) from cooking school 🙂
Thank you, Mira! It seems like the port would make this sweeter, but it really just added a depth of flavor. Which was perfect for me, because I like my cranberry sauce with a tang! 🙂
Yum, I’d love to spread this on some toast for breakfast.. a perfect afternoon snack too!
Cranberry sauce really is great for much more than a turkey condiment! 🙂
Pears are one of my most favorite things ever Marcie. I love that you added them to your cranberry sauce! Pinned!
Pears have always been one of my favorite fruits, and it was so tasty in this sauce. Thank you for the pin, Trish! 🙂
This cranberry sauce looks amazing! Perfect for the holidays! Love the addition of port!
Thank you, Jessica!
I am making cranberry sauce for the first time this year, and I LOVE the idea of adding alcohol. Shocking, I know. 😉 I love your combination with the pears…and the port…genius!!
I am SHOCKED, Lisa. lol I can’t wait to see what you do with your cranberry sauce!
This cranberry sauce looks amazing! It’s always hard to find the balance between having old favorites on the Thanksgiving table and wanting to try new things!
You’re so right — that balance was hard. My family nearly had a fit last year when I topped my key lime pie with brown sugar meringue, which I didn’t think was THAT different. I won’t do that this year. 🙂
Cranberries with anything is pretty much the most perfect thing ever! I love that you used pears, I definitely need to try that next time!
The pears added just something different here — I love changing up my cranberry sauce! 🙂
I love the addition of port wine! I’ve been looking for a new cranberry sauce to try for Thanksgiving…looks like I found it! 🙂
The port really did add some nice flavor! I hope you’re able to give it a try, Christina! 🙂
oooh, I love that you added pears to this sauce… sounds like an awesome fall combo! And of course, wine makes anything amazing! 🙂
Thank you, Jess! Wine does make everything more amazing — these cranberries have a nice depth of flavor from that port. 🙂