Natural form
Fresh cranberries beside a glass of their bright ruby juice, showing the source fruit.
Shows the direct connection between the whole fruit and the finished juice, making the ingredient unmistakable.
Beverages
Cranberry Juice
Tart, ruby juice for cocktails and refreshing spritzers
Bright and tart, cranberry juice tints a cosmopolitan, a sea breeze, and a holiday spritzer, and refreshes on its own over ice. Keep it cold and use within a week.
Cranberry juice is the tart, ruby-red juice of cranberries — bracingly sour and astringent on its own, which is why it's usually sweetened (as 'cranberry juice cocktail') for drinking. That sharp tartness and vivid color are exactly what make it useful in cooking: it brightens and balances rich, fatty, and sweet dishes, glazes poultry and pork, reduces into tangy sauces and dressings, and lends a festive crimson hue and tart edge to compotes, sorbets, and cocktails like the Cosmopolitan. It's a natural partner for the holiday table, but its sour-sweet snap works year-round.
- Measured in
- ml
- Storage
- Refrigerate
- Shelf life
- 7 days
Find it in
Types & varieties
Intensely tart — controlled-sugar cooking
Pre-sweetened — drinks and lighter uses
Milder, non-staining
How to use in cooking
Reduce cranberry juice (with a little sugar and orange) into a glossy glaze for turkey, chicken, duck, or pork, or into a tangy pan sauce. It brightens vinaigrettes, balances rich braises, and makes vivid sorbets and granitas. A splash sharpens a holiday compote or a barbecue sauce. Because pure cranberry juice is intensely sour, taste and sweeten to balance; the sweetened 'cocktail' is milder. Its acidity also helps set fruit preserves.
How to choose
100% cranberry juice is intensely tart and best for cooking where you control the sugar; 'cranberry juice cocktail' is pre-sweetened and milder, fine for cocktails and lighter uses. White cranberry juice is gentler and less staining. Pair with orange to round its sharp edge — the classic combination.
Common uses
Tips & pitfalls
- Pure cranberry juice is very sour — sweeten and taste as you go.
- Pair with orange to round the sharpness.
- Reduces into a glossy, festive glaze for poultry.
- Its acidity helps set jams and balances rich dishes.
Nutrition
Energy
192 kJ · per 100 g
Where the calories come from
Protein
0.4g
1% DV
Carbs
12.2g
4% DV
Fat
0.1g
0% DV
Fiber
0.1g
0% DV
Sugars
12.1g
of which
Sodium
2mg
0% DV
Source · USDA FoodData Central · approx. Cranberry juice, unsweetened
View on FDC →In the shops
Matched grocery products
€2.99Cranberry Juice-Based Drink in Bottle
GRANINI · l · Bonpreu
Good to know
- Flavor
- Tart, astringent, sour-sweet, fruity
- Use in cooking
- Glazes, sauces, dressings, reductions, cocktails
- Alcohol?
- No
- Substitute base
- Pomegranate juice, or red grape juice + lemon
- How to store
- Refrigerate after opening; use within ~1 week
Substitutes
- Pomegranate juice — Tart, ruby, similar tang
- Red grape juice + lemon — Sweeter base plus acidity
- Sour cherry juice — Tart red-fruit alternative
Also called
cranberry juice · zumo de arándanos
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