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The best cranberry sauce to go with your roast turkey this Christmas
Not just a great accompaniment for the Christmas roast turkey, cranberry sauce can add zing to sandwiches, sauces and even bakes! We tried 27 sauces to help you buy the best...
Cranberry sauce isn't just for Christmas. It’s the third most popular fruit sauce in the UK after mint and apple sauce and it’s perfect with a Christmas dinner. The tannins in the cranberry skin bind with protein and fats in turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes, making for a balanced and sweet combination.
Every year, our taste test panel assesses a new batch of jars and fresh sauces in search of the ones with a rich colour, pleasant texture, and a good balance of sweet and tart flavours. This year, we've tested 27 different sauces.
Expert tip
Our cookery team suggest adding a spoonful of cranberry sauce to your gravy to give it festive flair. Try stirring a little orange zest into the cranberry sauce for a home-made touch – it makes it look like you've put in more effort than you have!
Winner: Waitrose & Partners Chilled Cranberry Sauce
Overall score: 84/100
Plump red cranberries give this sauce a wonderfully tangy and sweet flavour, with cinnamon and clove adding a traditional Christmas taste. There was a lovely mix of whole cranberries that burst in the mouth alongside smaller pieces for a jammy sauce.
Price: £2.19
Available from: WAITROSE.COM
Runner-up: Aldi Specially Selected Cranberry and Port Sauce
Overall score: 78/100
The smell of port comes through in this sticky, chunky sauce. It has a good balance of sweetness and tartness from the combination of bitter, ruby-coloured cranberries and the sweet sauce. However, testers wanted a slightly thicker consistency.
Price: 99p
Available from: ALDI.CO.UK
Asda Extra Special Cranberry Sauce with Port
Overall score: 77/100
A warming cinnamon aroma gives this smooth, thin sauce a festive appeal. With whole, glossy cranberries, the sweetness is well balanced with delicate spices. When bitten into, the cranberries give a sour kick that was slightly overpowering for some.
Price: £1.00
Available from: GROCERIES.ASDA.COM
Lidl Deluxe Fresh Cranberry & Port Sauce
Overall score: 76/100
Vibrant red in colour, this sauce was spoonable and jammy but, filled with cranberry skins and seeds, it had an overly grainy texture. With a cinnamon and subtle port aroma, our testers enjoyed the tangy flavour but would have liked it to be slightly sweeter.
Price: £1.49
Only available to buy in store.
Aldi Specially Selected Cranberry and Orange Sauce
Overall score: 76/100
Festively spiced with cloves and orange, testers likened the aroma to mulled wine. A dark red colour, the taste of orange peel balances out the tang of the cranberries. Though some loved the spiced flavour, it was too strong for others and had a slightly grainy texture.
Price: £0.99
Only available to buy in store.
Roots & Wings Cranberry Sauce with Orange & Spices
Overall score: 74/100
Spiced with cinnamon, ginger and orange for a warming aroma. Whole cranberries pop in the mouth, but the skins were tough. It has a subtle orange flavour with a nice balance of sweet and sour, but some found it too tart.
Price: £2.50
Available from: OCADO.COM
Stokes Cranberry Sauce
Overall score: 74/100
This dark, thick sauce is full of cranberry pieces and holds together well. Fruity and subtly sweet in aroma, it to had a sharp tang that was balanced with a slight sweetness. Some people disliked the chewy skins and pith, but others found it smooth and juicy.
Price: £3.49
Available from: OCADO.COM
Iceland Luxury Cranberry and Port Sauce
Overall score: 73/100
Packed full of small cranberry bits, this sauce has a thick, jam-like consistency that holds together well. Dark crimson in colour with a subtle sweet aroma, however some testers found it smelt slightly artificial. Too sharp and tangy for some, but others enjoyed the sour kick and slightly grainy texture.
Price: £1.29
Only available in store.
Cottage Delight Cranberry Sauce
Overall score: 72/100
With a sweet and caramelised aroma, this dark, slightly separated sauce has lots of visible seeds running through it. Incredibly sweet in taste, it lacks that distinct tartness you’d normally find in a cranberry sauce. Testers also found the texture overly pureed and grainy.
Price: £2.70
Available from: COTTAGEDELIGHT.CO.UK
Tesco Finest Traditionally made Cranberry Sauce
Overall score: 72/100
This vibrant red sauce has a pureed quality and a noticeably sharp aroma with fruity and fresh notes. Despite the sour and tangy kick, most testers found it to be overly sweet and lacking depth from the spices. The texture is thick and jammy with lots of pulp.
Price: £1.50
Available from: TESCO.CO.UK
COOK Cranberry Sauce with Port & Orange
Overall score: 70/100
Packed full of cranberry pieces and seeds, this light red sauce has warming aromas of cinnamon and cloves with a hit of tartness, too. Testers enjoyed the chunky and chewy cranberry pieces but found the overall taste was too sour and acidic with a lingering bitterness that made it unpleasant to eat.
Price: £3.00
Available from: COOK.CO.UK
Lewis & Cooper Cranberry Sauce
Overall score: 70/100
A bright red colour with a soft jelly, jammy consistency. The cranberries give this sauce a tart but slightly sweet aroma. A nicely balanced taste of sweet and sharp with a mild cranberry flavour. Testers found the cranberry skins to be tough, chewy and too grainy.
Price: £2.99
Available from: LEWISANDCOOPER.CO.UK
We also tested...
Rosebud Preserves Cranberry & Orange Sauce with Port: 69/100 £3.60
Daylesford Organic Organic Cranberry Sauce: 69/100 £3.99
Daylesford Organic Organic Cranberry and Port Sauce: 69/100 £6.99
Aldi Specially Selected Port & Cinnamon Cranberry Sauce: 69/100 £1.29
Copas Classic Cranberry Sauce: 68/100 £3.50
Marks & Spencer Cranberry Sauce: 68/100 £3.00
Morrisons The Best Cranberry Sauce: 67/100 £1.50
Forman & Field Cranberry & Port Sauce: 67/100 £5.95
Aldi Specially Selected Sloe Gin Cranberry Sauce: 65/100 £1.29
Co-op Cranberry Sauce: 64/100 £0.99
Cottage Delight Cranberry Sauce with Port: 62/100 £3.60
Riverford Cranberry Sauce: 58/100 £3.95
Tracklements Cranberry, Port and Orange Sauce: 58/100 £3.20
Wilkin & Sons Tiptree Wild Cranberry Sauce: 52/100 £2.29
Harvey Nichols Cranberry Sauce with Burgundy: 45/100 £3.95
Mel is the Senior Food & Drink Writer for Good Housekeeping UK, covering all the delicious new product launches that come her way, writing about food and drink topics, and curating gift guides for the best foodie products to buy. Alongside that, she can be found developing and creating cocktails for GH and holds her WSET Level 2 in Wine and Spirits. She was part of the Good Housekeeping Institute food testing team for over four years before moving over to the digital side, so knows a thing or two about great food products. You'll find her scouring the supermarket shelves in her spare time for new and exciting ingredients to experiment with in her kitchen.
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