Small Batch Cranberry Jam

Easy homemade cranberry jam recipe that can be ready in less than 15 minutes. Made with 1 cup of cranberries and a few simple ingredients. This sweet and tart jam is delicious with toast or biscuits, it’s the perfect addition to a cheese board, and heavenly when spooned over creamy desserts.

You’ll always find a bag of cranberries in my refrigerator during the fall and winter months. In fact, I will often freeze any that I have left to use in recipes like this cranberry jam throughout the year.

Cranberry jam is so easy to make. It is a delicious spread made with just a few ingredients and can be ready in minutes. You don’t even need pectin to thicken the jam!

Why This Recipe Works

• Tart cranberries, a touch of sugar, and a splash of orange juice come together beautifully in this delightful cranberry jam. This jam takes just minutes to make and is perfect to enjoy on your holiday table or to package in a little jar to give as a gift.
• You’ll find the flavor of this cranberry jam to be perfectly balanced – not too tart and not too sweet. It’s the perfect topping to spoon over ice cream or other creamy desserts.
• The gorgeously vibrant red color is absolutely perfect for the holidays.
• You don’t need any fancy equipment to make cranberry jam. It cooks in minutes without any pectin!

What You Need

Ingredient Notes

• Cranberries: Use fresh or frozen and thawed cranberries. Cranberries are very healthy and are a good source of vitamin C and vitamin E. They are a great source of fiber, manganese and provide antioxidants.
• Sugar: Cranberries are very tart, I recommend using granulated sugar to counteract the tartness.
• Orange juice and orange zest: You will only need 4 tablespoons of orange juice in this jam recipe. You could use 1 small orange to squeeze for juice and use the skin for the zest.
• Water
• Cinnamon: I use ground cinnamon but you could add a cinnamon stick to the cranberries while they cook for added flavor and spice.

How To Make This Recipe

1. Place all of the ingredients in small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally and cooking until the cranberries are tender and pop open. This will take about 8 to 10 minutes. As the mixture cooks, it naturally thickens to a more jam-like consistency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Expert Tips

• Cranberry jam should be stored in a covered jar or in an airtight container. It can be kept for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
• This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if you’d like to make more to give as gifts.

What To Do With Leftover Cranberries

If you’re wondering what to do with leftover cranberries, you might want to freeze them.

This cranberry jam recipe is a small batch recipe. You will only need about a cup of fresh cranberries, which makes it an ideal recipe to use if you have cranberries leftover from another recipe.

To freeze cranberries:

1. Rinse the cranberries under cool running water and drain in a colander. Sort through the cranberries and pick out any that are mushy or green. Throw those away.
2. Dry the cranberries with a clean dish towel.
3. Spread the cranberries out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze for at least 2 hours. Transfer the frozen cranberries to freezer bags or containers, seal or cover, and immediately put back in the freezer. They will keep in the freezer for up to 1 year.

You may also like to try our Small Batch Cranberry Scones recipe.

For this small batch cranberry jam recipe, I use a 1-quart saucepan. For best results, use a pan of similar size. If you would like additional information on the dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page.

For examples of the dishes we use, please visit our Store page.

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