Cranberry Wit Sauce
The seasonal flavors of cranberry and orange pair so naturally together. A Belgian style Wit | White bier is brewed using malted barley and wheat, usually a raw winter wheat. When this beer is being brewed, the wort (or pre-fermented beer) is boiled with coriander seeds and orange peel (sour and sweet, usually dried for extra intensify) along with just a small amount of hops to create balance in the 4.5 – 5% beer. The essential oils from the spices and peels are released into the liquid, ultimately infusing these flavors into the brew. When cooking with beer, using a Wit beer, brings in the light orange flavors with a hint of coriander to a dish or recipe. This Cranberry Wit Sauce recipe uses these beer style flavors further enhance the tart cranberries and creates a delicious version of a cranberry sauce. It could be argued that adding beer to this Thanksgiving feast staple makes a gourmet cranberry sauce version. Try this Cranberry Wit Sauce at your Thanksgiving table, as a side sauce for Beer Brined Chicken or Turkey. Once you taste this easy to make cranberry sauce, no one will ever ask for the canned cranberry sauce again.
Try using my Cranberry Wit Sauce recipe over Gingerbread Stout Pancakes or Speculoos Spiced Belgian Waffles, on in a Fried Beer Brined Chicken Sandwich or a turkey leftover smorgasbord.
This Cranberry Wit Sauce recipe is highlighted with Allagash Brewing Co. White. The Belgian yeast strain they use adds the perfect amount of esters and phenols, creating a beautiful version of this elegant Belgian beer style. I love cooking with Belgian beer and this American version is true to style. To add to more Belgian flavors, this recipe also uses clear rock candy sugar along with honey, to sweeten the cranberries with finesse and purpose.
Makes: 2 1/2 cups of Cranberry Wit Sauce
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 10 guests | 5 minute |
| Cook Time |
| 20 minute |
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Cranberry Wit Sauce, a prefect Holiday sauce | side dish, plays up the orange and coriander flavors in a Belgian style Witbier while contrasting the tart cranberries.
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- 1 tsp coriander seeds, whole
- 1 each Orange, navel or Valencia, zested and sliced
- 1 each tangerine, zested and sliced
- 12 ounce Belgian Style Wit Bier, such as Allagash White or other Witbier, leaving any sediment behind
- 1/2 cup sugar, Belgian Rock Candy, Clear available at Beer, Beer and More Beer or organic sugar
- 1/2 cup honey local variety | orange blossom, or sugar for a vegan version
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, kosher
- 12 ounce cranberries, fresh or thawed
- In a large saucepan, placed over medium heat, add coriander seed. As the pan saucepan warms, the coriander will be toasted, opening up the seed, heating the oils in the kernel and adding aroma and flavor.
- Once the seeds start to pop, look a golden hue and smell wonderful, add sliced citrus (giving a good squeeze and reserve the zest for later), Allagash White, Rock Candy (or sugar) and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove the sliced citrus from the pot, add the honey, citrus zest and cranberries; reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the cranberries have popped and the sauce has thickened, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve. The sauce can be made up to 5 days before being served, if time or kitchen space is not available the day of.
Cranberry Wit Sauce Recipe Variations:
- To make a vegan version of this recipe, substitute the honey for organic sugar with a 1:1 ratio.
More Cranberry Sauce Recipes:
- Cranberry Pomegranate Salsa
- Cranberry Reserve Chutney
- Deschutes Dissident Cranberry Dried Cherry Sauce
