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    The Purposeful Pantry » Food Storage

    Author: Darcy Baldwin • Published: Nov 18, 2020 · Modified: May 11, 2022

    50 Delicious Ways to Use Leftover Cranberry Sauce

    Have leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving? Choose one of these fifty ways to create delicious meals with leftover cranberry sauce! Recipes include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert!

    White milk glass serving dishes with cranberry sauce and jellied cranberry sauce

    Jellied, canned or homemade. Which is your favorite?

    In our home, canned jellied cranberry sauce is hands-down winner. I know...we should prefer the homemade stuff, but don't. I don't like 'floaty' things in my cranberry jelly!

    Regardless of which kind of cranberry sauce you have - if you have a lot leftover from Thanksgiving, don't throw it away! You can use one of these ideas to create even more meals using leftover cranberry sauce!

    As a tip with all of these recipes - you'll be using leftover cranberry sauce in recipes that may be made with plain cranberries. Yours will be on the sugary side, so make sure to compensate for that within the recipe.

    Ways to Use Leftover Cranberry Sauce

    Dehydrated Cranberry Sauce

    Yes, you can do this. There are two ways you can accomplish this to make extremely tasty, sweet, tart fruit leather treats for your kids (or more to the point, for you!)

    Jellied Cranberry Fruit Leather

    Slice your jellied cranberry sauce into thin layers, or cut into fun shapes, dry at 140F / 57c until firm, leathery and dry. Think of these as being like cranberry gummies.

    Cranberry Fruit Leather

    Mix your sauce with about 30% applesauce, use an immersion blender or a blender to get a smooth consistency, spread into layers on your fruit leather sheets and dry at 140F / 57C until done.

    See the full instructions here:

    https://www.thepurposefulpantry.com/dehydrate-cranberry-sauce/

    Breakfast

    Cranberry Sauce Oat Breakfast Muffins

    Pancake Topping - simmer a little of that cranberry sauce with some added orange juice and make a perfect pancake or waffle topping!

    Cranberry Sauce Cinnamon Rolls

    Bacon Egg and Cheese Cranberry Sauce breakfast sandwich - hands-up if you've ever put strawberry on your homemade breakfast muffins before? This is a perfect way of making it suited for the season! Add a little fresh spinach to remove any guilt from this sandwich!

    Cranberry Sauce Muffins

    Cranberry Orange Poptarts

    Cranberry Sauce Breakfast Rolls

    Cranberry Sauce Coffee Cake

    Drinks

    Cranberry Banana Smoothies

    Cranberry Spreads

    Cranberry-Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip

    Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

    Cranberry Mustard Sauce

    Cranberry Mayo - sure, turkey sandwiches are all the rage for the week after Thanksgiving, but this sauce is good for

    Cranberry Pistachio Baked Brie

    Whipped Cranberry Butter

    Rosemary Cranberry sauce glaze - instead of using cranberry juice, use some sauce with a little extra water and simmer to create a glaze - drizzle over your favorite veggies or meat.

    Cranberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce

    Cranberry Sauce Vinaigrette

    Easy Slowcooker Cranberry Butter

    Slow-Cooker Meals

    Slowcooker Cranberry Chicken This slow cooker meal is from the Croctober Extravaganza, but with leftover turkey and your cranberry sauce!

    Cranberry Pulled Pork - add a cup of cranberry sauce to your favorite pulled pork recipe and serve it up on tasty buns or on top of a baked potato or sweet potato.

    Main Dishes

    Cranberry Buffalo Chicken Wings

    Glazed Ham for Christmas!

    Turkey Dinner Muffins

    Cranberry Cocktail Meatballs

    Cranberry Sweet and Sour Pork

    Cranberry Ginger Chicken (remember, replace the cranberry/juice combination with your own cranberry sauce and continue with the recipe)

    Cranberry Duck Breast - if you are like me don't like the taste of warm whole cranberries, you can admit those and the honey and replace with your cranberry sauce.

    Cranberry-Glazed Lamb Skewers

    Cranberry Chipotle Chicken Enchiladas

    Sides

    Cranberry Butternut Squash

    Sweet Potato with Cranberry topping - what's better than a baked sweet potato for a quick lunch or snack? Top it with a little leftover cranberry sauce and orange zest for a treat!

    Sweet potato toast with cranberry - maybe this is an appetizer instead, but sweet potato toast with a little cream cheese and cranberry spread is a PERFECT way to give yourself the goodness of both of this season's favorite flavors!

    3 Sandwiches

    Of course, the most basic use of any good cranberry sauce is that post-Thanksgiving Day Turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, stuffing, and turkey meat! But try it as a panini-style sandwich if you have an indoor grill - or even on the outdoor grill!

    Here are some other tasy ideas!

    Brie & Cranberry Grilled Cheese sandwiches - this is fabulous with goat cheese as well!

    Smashed Chickpea, Cranberry, and Avocado Sandwich

    Vegan Holiday Sandwich

    9 Desserts

    Cranberry Crunch Squares

    Spiced Tea and Cranberry Poached Pears

    Cranberry Apple Pie

    Cranberry Orange Poundcake

    Cranberry Shortbread Bars

    Cranberry Apple Crisp

    Jellied Cranberry Sauce Bread

    Peanut Butter and Jellies Thumbprint cookies

    Cranberry Sauce Bars

    Chocolate Cranberry Sauce Cookies

    Cranberry Gingersnap Pie

    Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

    Cranberry Sauce Cobblers

    Cranberry Orange Crunch

    Popsicles! Simply blend cranberry sauce with your favorite fruit juice or with some yogurt and pour into popsicle molds for a delicious treat!

    More Food Storage Tips & Ideas

    • 30 Uses of Peanut Butter Powder
    • Best Meals in a Jar Recipes
    • 4 Ways to Preserve Radishes
    • 25+ Uses for Watermelon

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lora says

      December 29, 2020 at 5:20 am

      Thank you so very much for including my cranberry coffee cake made with leftover cranberry sauce (that's a family favorite of ours!). Happy Holidays to you!

      Reply
      • Darcy says

        December 29, 2020 at 9:55 pm

        You, too!!!!

        Reply

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    Darcy Baldwin of The Purposeful Pantry.

    Howdy! I'm Darcy! I've spent twenty years learning how to stretch our budget and stock our family's pantry by dehydrating food. You can do it, too!

    Learn how I can help you →

    You can get my new book, Dehydrating Basics & Journal to help you get started on your dehydrating journey!

    Dehydrating Basics & Journal for Beginners and Beyond front cover
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