We were feeling festive when we started our holiday cooking, but a bottle of wine was a bit more than we wanted to drink. I added half a cup to the cranberry sauce, in place of juice, and a new recipe was born! —Helen Nelander, Boulder Creek, California



Test Kitchen Tips
  • Wine makes this a little more tart and less sweet than some cranberry sauces.
  • We tested this recipe with cabernet sauvignon, but you could also use merlot, pinot noir or sangiovese.
  • Cranberries are high in pectin. When heated with sugar, pectin gives cranberry sauce its jam-like consistency.