The traditional Thanksgiving table in America usually has a big roast turkey surrounded by mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and, of course, cranberry sauce. There may be some variations based on family traditions or cultural backgrounds. Advertisement.
No matter if you like it fresh or in a can, most Americans agree that we should wait until November to eat this sweet and sour side dish. But where did the tradition come from?.
Come Thanksgiving, few pairing are as iconic as turkey and cranberry sauce. The juicy sliced turkey savory gravy and tart, ruby-red cranberry sauce have become a tradition on dining room tables across America. But this classic combination elicits an obvious question – why cranberries? What is it about this peculiar fruit sauce that has made it a ubiquitous teammate to roast turkey for decades?
As a curious food writer, I decided to dig into the history and logic behind Turkey Day’s dynamic duo. While the tangy sauce may seem like an odd choice, there are solid reasons cranberries and turkey are served together year after year.
A Brief History Lesson on Cranberries
To appreciate why we enjoy cranberry sauce with turkey, it helps to first understand a bit about the background of cranberries themselves These small, red berries are one of only a handful of commercially grown fruits indigenous to North America. In fact, archeologists have traced the consumption of cranberries back more than 8,500 years!
Cranberries grew wild in New England, where they were a dietary staple and utilized by Native Americans for food, medicine, dyes, and other purposes. When European settlers arrived in the 1600s, the tart berries quickly grew popular abroad as well.
By the 1800s, cranberry harvesting had flourished into a booming industry in the U.S. Advances in cultivation and mechanical harvesting made cranberries more abundant and affordable than ever. Their peak season in the fall made them a fitting choice for holiday feasts.
How Cranberries Came to Thanksgiving Tables
With cranberry production thriving in America in the 19th century, the berries found their way onto more and more dinner tables, including Thanksgiving. But how did they become so strongly tied to turkey specifically? There are a few probable explanations:
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Both cranberries and turkey are native North American foods, so pairing them together was a nod to tradition.
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The tartness of raw cranberries balances out the typically salty, savory flavors of roasted turkey.
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The sweetness provides contrast to the meat’s richness.
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Cranberries offered important nutrients like vitamin C to supplement the large meal.
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The berries stored well through winter when Thanksgiving occurred.
Cranberry Sauce’s Rise in Popularity
On their own, cranberries are quite sour. But colonists learned they made a tasty sauce when sweetened. The first published cranberry sauce recipe appeared in Amelia Simmons’ 1796 cookbook American Cookery.
However, from-scratch cranberry sauce was laborious. The innovation of canned cranberry sauce by Ocean Spray in 1912 was a game-changer. With ready-made cranberry sauce, enjoying it with Thanksgiving dinner became quick and easy. Today, over 70% of Americans eat canned cranberry sauce on Turkey Day!
Why Cranberry Sauce Works So Well with Turkey
With its convenience, nostalgia factor, and balance of sweet-tart flavor, it’s clear why cranberry sauce stuck around on our holiday tables. But specifically, here are some reasons the sauce makes an ideal pairing with turkey:
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Contrast in flavors – The tartness cuts through the often dry, salty turkey meat. The acidity cleanses the palate.
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Color and texture – The ruby sauce pops against the slices of beige meat. Its smooth texture contrasts the turkey’s fibers.
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Easy preparation – Canned sauce means minimal fuss. Even homemade sauce comes together quickly.
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Nostalgia – For many, it’s not Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce!
Enjoying Cranberry Sauce Beyond Turkey
Cranberry sauce isn’t just relegated to Thanksgiving feasts. Its unique flavor profile lends itself to being enjoyed year-round in both sweet and savory applications:
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On breakfast foods like pancakes, waffles, oatmeal
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Swirled into yogurt or cottage cheese
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As a glaze or sauce for poultry, pork, fish
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In muffins, breads, cookies, bars
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As a spread on sandwiches
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As a dip for fruit, pretzels, graham crackers
So this Thanksgiving, appreciate how the cranberries complement the turkey, while also reflecting on the history behind the dish. The tart, festive sauce truly merits its place on our holiday tables. Pass the cranberries, please!
Cranberries are one of the only Native American fruits
Many people know that cranberries, blueberries, and Concord grapes are the only fruits grown commercially in the United States that are native to the country. So if youre going to pick a fruit to represent the American harvest, this is it.
While we cant know for sure what exactly was on the menu at the first Thanksgiving (despite what your elementary school teacher may have told you), there are records of the Pilgrim governor Willam Bradford sending four men on a “fowling mission,” which could have meant hunting for turkey, goose, duck, or swan, according to the History Channel. Advertisement
Other than that, we can only speculate as to what was on the menu. Native Americans were known to eat cranberries regularly and use them as a natural dye for clothing, so chances are they were found on Thanksgiving Day, 1621. But sweetened cranberry sauce was not an invention until later.
The original cranberry sauce recipe origins
Even if cranberries were natural found in the Americas, it could not be sweetened. The History Channel says that the first Americans brought sugar cane to the new land, but it took them almost 50 years to figure out how to make it grow.
Native American recipes for simple cranberry sauce made with sugar and water were written down as early as the mid- to late-17th century. By the 18th century, cranberry sauce was known to go with game meat like turkey. Advertisement.
The first acknowledgment of a cranberry sauce recipe can be found in the 1796 cookbook American Cookery by Amelia Simmons, which calls for serving roast turkey with “boiled onions and cranberry-sauce,” according to The Washington Post.
Basic 3 Ingredient Cranberry Sauce (Plus Variations!)
FAQ
Why is cranberry sauce associated with Thanksgiving?
Is cranberry sauce supposed to go on turkey?
Why does turkey and cranberry go together?
What meat do Americans traditionally eat cranberry sauce with?
Does cranberry sauce go with Turkey?
And one of cranberry’s earliest documented appearances with turkey can be found in the 1796 cookbook American Cookery, where author Amelia Simmons suggests pairing roast turkey with cranberry sauce and boiled onions.
Is jellied cranberry sauce good for our health?
That infamous block of canned cranberry sauce! Cranberry sauce can be rich in antioxidants and overall can be part of a healthy diet. I encourage you to look at the nutrition label and see how much added sugar is in the container as this will have more of an effect on our health. Ideally we want to minimize the amount of added sugar in our diets, but this is challenging for cranberries as they are tart and sour by nature. Most people do not find this palatable. So you can either elect an option that is lower in added sugar, or modify your portion size so it does not have a tremendous effect. I hope this helps. Thanks for your question! Noah, RD
Did you eat cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving?
While plenty of people eat turkey, mashed potatoes, and pie year-round, it seems like cranberry sauce almost exclusively exists in the Thanksgiving universe. Although we don’t know for sure whether it was eaten at the very first Thanksgiving, the jiggly, gelatinous side dish does have deep roots in the history of America’s fruited plains.
What is cranberry sauce?
Cranberry sauce is one of the most important components of the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Cranberries are one of the few commercially grown fruits native to the United States. The traditional cranberry sauce, made with sugar, did not become popularized until the 19th century.
Does cranberry sauce come out of a can?
Cranberry sauce is a Thanksgiving necessity, even when it comes straight out of the can. What’s red and jiggly with ridges all over? Canned cranberry sauce, otherwise known as a highly polarizing American holiday tradition that divides Thanksgiving into two camps: Team Homemade and Team Canned.
Where did cranberry sauce come from?
Canned cranberry sauce, on the other hand, has a clear point of origin: It was invented by a lawyer-turned-cranberry-grower named Marcus Urann in the early 20th century. Back then, cranberries were considered a seasonal fruit, available only between September and November.