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This holiday no need to buy the canned stuff! This jellied cranberry sauce is super easy to make and the added sea moss gives it some added health benefits!
I love my healthy cranberry sauce recipe, but this jellied cranberry sauce is my absolutely favorite! This recipe completes a vegan soul food thanksgiving menu and pairs so well with my and vegan cornbread dressing. It brought back a lot of nostalgia!
Why Use Sea Moss for this Recipe?
Sea moss gel has a lot of health benefits which is one of the reasons I used it in this recipe. But the main reason is because sea moss gel is a natural thickener which helps this cranberry sauce gel.
Now cranberries in itself is naturally high in pectin (a natural occurring compound found in fruit) and so it can hold without the use of sea moss. However, the sea moss gel gives it a more firmer hold making it easier to mold into that round shape we all grew up loving and knowing in store bought cranberry sauce.
For this recipe I used the Genus Gracilaria as it is milder than the Genus Chondrus Crispus (Irish Moss Sea Moss Gel). To learn more about sea moss, it's health benefits and it's uses, check out my Sea Moss vs Irish Moss Gel article.
Cranberry Sauce Ingredients
Frozen Cranberries: Can't have cranberry sauce without this ingredient right?
Organic Cane Sugar: Organic cane sugar is used to insure it is vegan but you can use whatever sugar you have on hand. Also with sugar in general activates pectin which helps the cranberry sauce holds. So DON'T omit the sugar!
Sea Moss: Another main ingredient to help your cranberry sauce mold. See paragraph above for more information.
Lime Water: This is to add additional flavor to your cranberry sauce and it is what your sea moss will be soaking in.
Sea Salt: This might surprise you but, it's not sugar that helps take out the bitterness in cranberry sauce. It's salt. So this ingredient is not optional.
How to Make Jellied Cranberry Sauce
*Please read detailed and printable recipe card below for full ingredients and instructions.
SUBSTITUTION, COOK, & STORAGE TIPS
- If you don't have access to sea moss, you can do this recipe without it as cranberries have a high amount of pectin. It will be a softer mold but it will still hold. To ensure a firmer hold if you don't have sea moss, you can buy a box of Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin.
- For my alkaline Dr. Sebi vegans, try this recipe with plums instead!
- DO NOT make low sugared or use a sugar substitute in this recipe. The sugar interacts with the pectin naturally in the cranberries which helps it gel. If you are going to use low sugar, you will need to add Sure Jell No Sugar Pectin.
- Just like my easy apple butter recipe and my plum tomato sauce recipe, this cranberry sauce can be canned. Canning is a process that you can learn how to do reading this informative Canning for Beginners article. You can also purchase canning books on Amazon.
- This recipe will keep in the fridge in an airtight jar for up to 10 days and can be frozen in a airtight freezer container or up to 3 months. Defrost jellied cranberry sauce in the refrigerator when ready to use.
More Sea Moss Recipes You'll Love
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Sea Moss Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
Sea Moss
- ¼ cup dried sea moss (tightly packed) note 1
- filtered or spring water for soaking sea moss
- 2 limes, sliced
Cranberry Sauce
- 12 ounce frozen or fresh cranberries
- 1 ¼ cup organic cane sugar note 2
- ¼ cup water (or lime water sea moss soaking in)
- 1-2 pinches of sea salt note 3
Equipment
Instructions
Prep Sea Moss
- Fill a bowl with water and add in your dried sea moss. Begin to clean your moss off by rubbing off any dirt and debris in the water. Once done, dump water and place your clean and hydrated sea moss in a separate bowl. Depending on how dirty your sea moss is, you might have to do a second clean.
- Once fully clean, grab that same bowl and fill it with water. Place your sea moss in and soak in filtered or Spring water. Cut up some limes, and squeeze in juice from the bowl. Then add in the lime wedges. Soak for 1 to 3 hour allowing it to fully hydrate and soften.
- After soaking you will notice your sea moss has expanded and it's almost translucent in color. Drain water through a mesh strainer into a measuring cup to save the lime water your sea moss was soaking in and set hydrated sea moss in a separate bowl.
Make Cranberry Sauce
- In a medium saucepan add in ¼ lime water and hydrated sea moss over medium low heat. Stir around for 1 -2 minutes to gently break down. Then add in your frozen cranberries, sugar, and pinches of salt.
- Stir around in your sauce pan until sugar is fully incorporated with cranberries. Allow cranberries to simmer on low for 10 minutes until cranberries break down. Stir occasionally gently smashing cranberries. You want to smash as many cranberries as possible to release the pectin which will help it gel.
- Once done, remove pot from heat and turn off your stove. Pour the cranberry sauce mixture through a mesh sieve into a bowl. Be sure to scrap off the bottom of your mesh strainer as well. You want all of that in the sauce only leaving behind the skin.
- Pour the strained cranberry sauce mixture into a wide mouth mason jar and set in refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight to fully set. Unmold and slice for serving with your favorite vegan holiday recipes like vegan cornbread dressing!
Notes
- SEA MOSS: If you don't have access to sea moss, you can do this recipe without it as cranberries have a high amount of pectin. It will be a softer mold but it will still hold. To ensure a firmer hold if you don't have sea moss, you can buy a box of Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin.
- ORGANIC CANE SUGAR: DO NOT make low sugared or use a sugar substitute in this recipe. The sugar interacts with the pectin naturally in the cranberries which helps it gel. If you are going to use low sugar, you will need to add Sure Jell No Sugar Pectin.
- SALT: DO NO skip the pinches of salt as it helps cut the bitterness cranberries naturally have.
- CANNING: Just like my easy apple butter recipe and my plum tomato sauce recipe, this cranberry sauce can be canned. Canning is a process that you can learn how to do reading this informative Canning for Beginners article. You can also purchase canning books on Amazon.
Nutrition
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