This tasty low carb cranberry sauce with walnuts is flavoured with orange zest and cinnamon for a tasty holiday sauce. Sugar free and low carb, this cranberry sauce goes with everything!
Cranberry sauce is part of the holidays! The flavour and the smell of the orange rind and cinnamon sticks is like a warm hug from your favourite Aunt. This cranberry sauce has a great crunch from the walnuts, with a dash of extra protein too.
Jump to:
Are cranberries keto?
Cranberries are a great keto berry and are lower in carbs then blueberries! They are similar in shape too, so when you compare the net carb count of cranberries to blueberries it's a low carb knock out!
For a 100g serving cranberries have 8g net carbs whereas blueberries trail in at 12g. Why aren't we eating more cranberry recipes as low carb recipes are full of blueberries?
Fresh or dried cranberries
For this homemade cranberry sauce we used fresh cranberries but dried could be used. Cranberries are very seasonal and I am currently freezing packs of cranberries as they are a very rare occurrence for me in Saint Lucia.
I am now known for my excited squeal and happy dance upon coming across fresh cranberries in a small supermarket. We import many vegetables that I use so shopping in a small Caribbean island for low carb fruit and vegetables is shopping roulette. One weekend fresh cranberries appeared on a shelf of a small supermarket much to my delight. The following week, a few staff referred to me as "cranberry lady" which makes me realize my previous excitement did not go unnoticed..ahem!
If you use dried cranberries for the low carb cranberry sauce recipe, add another 5 to 10 minutes to the cooking time for them to absorb the water, and perhaps add another ½ cup of water too.
How to make low carb cranberry walnut sauce
This ketogenic cranberry sauce is made in 10 minutes. You need to allow it to cool to thicken and then you are ready to serve. Homemade sauces are always a great option as you can play around with them for your own taste.
Storing the cranberry walnut sauce
This sauce can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Keep in it an air tight container.
If you want to freeze this sugar free cranberry sauce, store it in a ziplock bag or an air tight container and it will last up to 2 months in the freezer.
What to make with leftover cranberry sauce
Sugar-Free Cranberry sauce goes great with any of our low carb nut loaf recipes but can also be served as a sauce with pancakes or low carb waffles.
It's the centre star in our Christmas nut roast recipe too and perfect as a side with our air fryer nut roast.
Recipe Tips
Add a dash or ¼ cup of red wine for a mulled wine flavour.
Frozen cranberries could be used in place of fresh. There's not need to thaw, just add them to the pan as per the recipe card.
Swap the brown low carb sweetener for low carb maple syrup for a sweeter sauce.
We chop our walnuts, but add them in whole for a bigger crunch.
More low carb Thanksgiving Side Dishes
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.
Low Carb Cranberry Walnut Sauce
Ingredients
- 10 oz cranberries
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
- 1 orange grated rind
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- ½ cup brown monkfruit sweetener
Instructions
- Toast the walnuts by baking them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350F on a baking sheet.
- Place the cranberries, cinnamon stick and low carb sweetener in a medium saucepan
- Cover with water and bring to the boil. Cover with a saucepan lid and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool. Once cooled, remove the cinnamon sticks and bayleaf.
- Stir in the chopped walnuts and orange rind. Taste and adjust the sweetener for your own taste.
- Cool to room temperature. Place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator or serve immediately after cooling.
Notes
YOUR OWN NOTES
