Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce (Jellied or Whole Berry)

Thanksgiving is approaching! I really like the taste combination of turkey with tart cranberry sauce. But, have you looked at the nutritional information on the back of a can of cranberry sauce? One-fourth cup contains an astonishing 28 grams of carbohydrate, mostly sugar!! Even a spoonful will derail your low carb plans and send your blood sugar skyrocketing. This recipe tastes just like traditional cranberry sauce, but only has 3.6g net carbs per serving. You can make it ahead, process it in a boiling water bath to seal your jars (which makes them shelf stable for a year), or simply refrigerate or freeze. Great idea for gift-giving to your low carb or diabetic friends and family, too!

Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce (Jellied or Whole Berry)

Makes three (8 oz) jars or 12 servings

Pulpy Cranberry Juice Ingredients:

12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries (or frozen), washed

1½ cups water

Cranberry Sauce Ingredients:

2 cups pulpy cranberry juice (see Step #3)

1 teaspoon calcium water (see Step #1)

2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice

1/4 cup liquid allulose or allulose honey (if not using, increase granulated allulose by an additional 1/4 cup)

1 teaspoon Pomona’s Universal Pectin

¾ cup granulated allulose sweetener 

1. Before you begin, prepare the calcium water. To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in the box of Pomona’s Universal Pectin) with ½ cup water in a small jar with a lid.  Shake well. (Extra calcium water can be stored in the refrigerator indefinitely for future use.)

2. Wash your canning jars, lids and bands. Placed jars in a stock pot or canner, fill with water about 2/3 full, and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes to sterilize your jars. Turn off the heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids and bands in water in a small sauce pan, cover and heat to simmer. Turn off heat and keep lids in the hot water until ready to use.

3. To make the pulpy cranberry juice that you will use as a base for your sauce, bring a package of cranberries and water to a boil and simmer, covered, on low until the berries burst and soften. Put the mixture through a food mill or strainer to remove all or most of the skins to create pulpy cranberry juice. (Optional, depending how chunky you want your sauce, see notes.*)

4. Measure and place the pulpy cranberry juice from the previous step into a sauce pan. Add 1 teaspoon calcium water and 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice; mix well.

5. Measure the granulated allulose into a bowl. Thoroughly stir in the pectin powder until no lumps remain. Set aside.

6. Bring cranberry mixture to a full boil. Add the liquid allulose (or allulose honey) and granulated pectin-allulose mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to thoroughly dissolve the pectin.

7. Stir while the sauce comes back up to a boil. Once the sauce returns to a full boil that cannot be stirred down, boil for one minute and remove it from the heat. (If needed, skim any foam and discard.)

8. Fill hot jars to 1/4” from top. Wipe rims clean. Place a lid on each jar and then screw on a rim just until finger-tight. Put the filled jars into boiling water to cover. Boil for 10 minutes (add 1 more minute for every 1000 feet above sea level). Turn off heat and allow the jars to rest in the hot water for 5 minutes. (Note: If you don’t want to process the cranberry sauce in a boiling water bath, you can put it in the refrigerator once it is cooled and it will keep for three weeks. You can also freeze the sauce instead of canning it. For freezing, fill jars to 1/2 inch from top. To prevent cracking, freeze glass jars without a lid to allow for expansion, then screw on a lid once frozen. Defrost in the refrigerator before eating.)

9. Remove jars from hot water using a jar lifter tool and place them on a kitchen towel. Let the jars cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. Check seals; lids should be sucked down and not move or click when pressed. Properly sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for one year. Once opened, refrigerate and consume within three weeks.

*Notes: If you want whole berry or chunky cranberry sauce, do not run all of the cooked cranberries through the food mill or strainer.

Nutritional Information for 1/4 cup: 14 calories, 4.9 g carbohydrate (1.3 g dietary fiber, 1.2 g sugars), 0 g fat, 1 mg sodium, 2.5 mg calcium, 5 IU Vit A, 5 mg Vit C, 0.1 g protein. Net carbs per serving: 3.6 grams

Photo and recipe by Kathy Sheehan, copyright 2022

All rights reserved. Please do not duplicate without the author’s permission.