These fermented cranberries are the perfect way to get some gut healthy probiotics into your diet for the holidays! Lacto-fermented cranberries are delicious and so easy to make.
Lacto-fermented Cranberries for the Holidays
The holiday season is here and it makes me so happy! I really do love this time of year, and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (probably because it revolves around food, ha!).
I was always the kid who was picky about food but liked weird things like pickles, olives, and cranberry sauce. But, the cranberry sauce that I liked back then was in the shape of a can.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still occasionally eat that jellied stuff for nostalgia’s sake, but I much prefer real cranberries these days because there are so many delicious cranberry recipes to try!
I usually cook up a batch of my simple spiced cranberry sauce every year with orange, ginger, honey, cinnamon, and cloves or a version safe for canning. If I’m short on time, quick pickled cranberries are my go-to way to preserve cranberries in a hurry.
For this lacto-fermented cranberries recipe, I thought I’d take those same ingredients and ferment them, and they turned out awesome! You could even add them to this delicious cranberry champagne cocktail for an extra health boost!
Oh hey! This recipe is for Lacto-Fermented Cranberries in brine. If you’re looking for my popular recipe for fermenting cranberries in honey, you can find it here: Fermented Honey Cranberries
Fermentools Kit
{This post is sponsored by Fermentools}
To make these fermented cranberries I used the Starter Kit from Fermentools. This is a great kit to have for any kind of vegetable ferments.
It also makes a perfect gift for anyone who is interested in fermenting!
Here is what comes in the Fermentools Starter Kit:
- stainless steel lid with a rubber gasket that fits onto any wide mouth jar
- two rubber stoppers (one with a hole and one that is solid)
- fermenting airlock
- glass fermenting weight
- bag of Ancient Himalayan salt
- cloth bag to keep it all in
Fermented Cranberries Recipe
This recipe makes about one quart of fermented cranberry goodness.
First, gather all of the necessary ingredients.
Prepare the Cranberries
Then you want to smash up the cranberries a bit to burst their skins a bit. You can pulse them in a food processor a couple of times if you wish, but I like to be hands on so I mashed them up with a potato masher.
This will result in mostly whole berries, which I like, but do it however you like it. The idea is to try to “pop” most of the berries.
Then put the mashed berries into a wide mouth quart sized jar.
Then add the brine from another ferment (I used some from my lacto fermented dilly beans) or whey.
Whey is the clear liquid that comes from yogurt or milk kefir. If you make milk kefir cheese, you will have plenty of whey.
Basically, fermented brine or whey is added to help the whole process get going a little quicker. Don’t worry if you don’t have any, it will probably work anyways, it just might take a little longer.
Add the brine or whey if you have it, salt, cinnamon stick, cloves, and grated ginger to the jar.
Then juice the tangerines or orange right into the jar. Use a small strainer for the seeds if need be.
Next add the honey or maple syrup.
Ferment the Cranberries
Fill the jar with unchlorinated water, leaving about 1 inch of head space. Cover with a lid and shake to get everything incorporated.
Then uncover and put in a fermenting weight to keep everything under the brine.
This little weight from Fermentools is really handy to have, as you need to keep everything under the brine when you ferment in order to prevent mold. Cranberries are especially floaty, so I was really glad to have this!
Then put the rubber gasket on the rim, top with the Fermentools lid, and screw it down with a wide mouth jar band. Put the airlock attached to a rubber stopper into the hole in the lid.
Make sure the airlock has some water in it. Pretty darn simple!
I was amazed by the quality of the Fermentools kit, the lid is stainless steel and is made very well.
Of course, you can always come up with another weight for your veggie ferments, like a zip top bag full of water or some other creative thing.
You also don’t need to use an airlock for your ferments, covering the jar with a clean towel works just fine, but it can be helpful in preventing mold and other unwanted nasties.
Put the jar in a dark and quiet corner of your kitchen. After about 5 days my cranberries were bubbling quite nicely!
How to Serve Fermented Cranberries
I pulled some out to taste, fearing that they would be too tart, but to my surprise they were quite mellow and pleasantly fizzy.
Somehow the fermentation process took out all of the astringent and sour bite that fresh cranberries usually have.
These fermented cranberries would be a perfect addition to your holiday table! They are gorgeous in color to start with. They also taste wonderful!
These lacto-fermented cranberries are slightly bubbly and, well, just like a cranberry that isn’t sour! So interesting what fermentation will do. I was popping these guys like candy!
Before serving to a crowd, I suggest adding a little drizzle of honey or maple syrup at the table, just for a touch more sweetness and a gorgeous presentation.
There you have it, fermented cranberries! Plus a super cool Fermentools kit that you should check out. Honestly, it’s worth the price for the weight and the salt alone!
You should definitely make these fermented cranberries for the holidays, you won’t be disappointed.
Plus you’ll intrigue all of your family and friends, guaranteed. You might even talk a few of them into fermenting things themselves!
Fermented Vegetables
Dig a little deeper and find recipes for even more of our favorite fermented vegetables!
- Fermented Cherry Tomatoes
- Sauerkraut
- Fermented Green Tomatoes
- Fermented Asparagus with Garlic
- Fermented Cucumber Pickles
- Lacto-Fermented Dilly Beans
Fermented Cranberries
Ingredients
- 12 ounces whole cranberries
- 2 tangerines, juice only or 1 orange
- 1 knob ginger grated
- 2 Tbsp raw honey or maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp brine from another ferment or whey, optional
- ½ tsp salt non-iodized
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 whole cloves
- unchlorinated water
Instructions
- Smash up the cranberries a bit to burst their skins a bit. You can pulse them in a food processor a couple of times if you wish or use a potato masher.
- Put the mashed berries into a wide mouth quart sized jar and add the salt, cinnamon stick, cloves, and grated ginger to the jar.
- Add the brine from another ferment or whey if you have it.
- Juice the tangerines or orange right into the jar. Use a small strainer for the seeds if need be. Then add the honey or maple syrup.
- Fill the jar with unchlorinated water, leaving about 1 inch of head space. Cover with a lid and shake to get everything incorporated. Then uncover and put in the fermenting weight.
- Then put the rubber gasket on the rim, top with the Fermentools lid, and screw it down with a wide mouth jar band. Put the airlock attached to a rubber stopper into the hole in the lid. Make sure the airlock has some water in it.
- Put the jar in a dark and quiet corner of your kitchen. After about 5-7 days the cranberries should start bubbling. They are ready to eat anytime after that.
Notes
- This recipe is for Lacto-Fermented Cranberries in brine. If you’re looking for my popular recipe for fermenting cranberries in honey, you can find it here: Fermented Honey Cranberries
- Any kind of weight will work for veggie ferments, like a clean rock or a zip top bag full of water.
- You don’t need to use an airlock for your ferments, covering the jar with a clean towel works just fine, but it can be helpful in preventing mold.
- To serve, drizzle honey or maple syrup at the table for a touch more sweetness and a gorgeous presentation.
Hello.
I just made my cranberry honey. So excited how this is going to turn out. I purchased your book and follow your blog. I just want to say thank you! You’re so generous with sharing your knowledge. I love your recipes.
You are so welcome. Enjoy!
Hello, I’m wanting a receipe like this for adding to smoothies or adding to water for drinking. I’m trying to get some probiotics in my diet. I apologize if this has been asked in other comments. I didn’t have time to read all of them. Do you see any problems with this approach?
Hi Robert. No, that sounds like a great way to use fermented cranberries!
How long should I continue to use them if they’re stored in the fridge?
Hi Melody. Fermented cranberries will stay good for at least a few weeks, perhaps longer. If they still smell good, they’re safe to use.
Thank you for putting up such a wonderful recipe! Made it a week ago and tried some last night and it was delicious! Will try mashing the cranberries more next time because the more broken ones had a great flavor in them.
Glad you liked this recipe, Amanda!
HELLO! I STARTED FERMENTING MY CRANBERRIES IN THE RAW HONEY ABOUT 3 WEEKS AND I STILL SEE NO SIGNS OF FERMENTING…………..IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO AT THIS POINT TO GET THE PROCESS STARTED? I DID ORIGINALLY ADD FRESH SQUEEZED ORANGE JUICE. THE HONEY THINNED OUT AND GOT RED AND THEY SMELL GREAT BUT NO SIGN
OF FERMENTATION. WHAT CAN I DO?
Hi Patricia. It’s tough to say what’s going on with your ferment. If it’s too cold in your home, you can try moving your jar to a warmer location to speed up fermentation.
Greetings! I followed this recipe to the tee and I see I have mild developing. What would cause this? So bummed.
Hi Roxy. Were your cranberries completely submerged under the brine? Sometimes that can cause mold to develop. Also, are you sure it’s mold? If the “mold” appears as a white film covering the top of your ferment, it may actually be kahm yeast. Kahm yeast is a very common occurrence on fermented fruits and vegetables that is totally safe. Simply skim it from the surface and you’re good to resume fermenting or consuming!
I have some whey from yogurt I made. It has been in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Is it still ok to use in this cranberry ferment?
It should be!
Can I use lemon instead of orange?
You sure can!
Gave this a try for Canadian Thanksgiving with a few changes – used pink grapefruit juice as I accidently mistook it for an orange in the store, and I omitted the cloves and cinnamon, since I normally don’t use those in my cran sauce. I mashed the berries up more than the photos, and think that likely this helps to speed along the fermentation. Scooped half out for cran jelly with tonight’s turkey dinner, and poured the extra liquid from that bowl into some carbonated water – delicious. I think I will add a sprig of rosemary to the remainder of the jar while they continue to ferment, and for the liquid will drink it with gin and soda later down the road for a very seasonal cocktail.
Looks and sounds yummy and am eager to start. Question. Would adding some orange peel cause any problems? I love the combo when making cranberry sauce.
It just blows me away how you were making fermented cranberries years before I ever saw the idea! You are such an inspiration! For those of you asking about using the liquid, last year I mixed it with champagne and sparkling water and made a festive punch to celebrate the winter solstice!
Hi,
Would this work with frozen cranberries form last season (foraged not store bought). Also the honey fermented recipe?
Thx!
Yup!
I made this just over a week ago and I am not seeing any bubbling action. I used whey in the recipe. Should it be bubbling. Smells fine and there is no sign of mold.
Thanks
There should be some bubbles, although they may be slight and not very noticeable. If it smells fine then I’m thinking that everything is ok. Give it a taste and see how it is!
So would you use this in place of cranberry sauce?
This is a great guide on how to make my own homemade fermented cranberries. I really want to try and make some, but I’ve only really ever made sauerkraut. Do you know how often and how common it is to get moldy ferments if you don’t use the fermentools airlock stuff? I am trying to decide if its worth purchasing or not. I guess it all depends on how often I plan on fermenting.. Anyways, thank you for sharing!
I tried making saurkraut years ago without a proper ferment weight and fashioning my own airlocks using wine equipment and making holes in the lids of mason jars. Total fail. Mould. Fruit flies. Yech. This year I invested in 8 silicone airlocks and 4 weights for about $30 CAD and it’s been super! Highly reccomend if you want to not waste your time and produce!
Can you ferment cranberries without adding sugar? With the goal of having VERY low sugar content in the ferment. I’m must avoid all sugar.
Yes, you can leave the honey/maple syrup out, it’s mostly just for a little added sweetness since the cranberries are so tart.
Would kombucha work as brine?
I don’t think so, because it is not a lacto-ferment. If you don’t have any veggie brine around, it’s fine to do it with no added brine, just start from scratch. But, now you have me thinking about cranberry kombucha, which sounds amazing!
Can I use brine from sauerkraut or dill pickles?
Yes, that would work! Just go easy on it as you might not want your cranberries to taste like sauerkraut…
lol I wondered that also so I only used a little from the sauerkraut I had just fermented( I was too impatient to wait for the apple, cranberry orange sauerkraut to be ready to use that brine). Tried one today and not quite ready yet. Super excited for my family to try this.
I love this recipe… going to have pick up some tangerines today because I have a bag of cranberries just dying for me to use them already.
How long should I let these ferment?
I’m going to ask this question anyway, knowing full well that fresh is the best thing. I have a ton of frozen (fresh) cranberries. Can I use them to ferment?
I’ve never tried it myself, but I’m guessing it would work just fine!
THese look so yummy! thanks for sharing with us
These look so pretty in your green bowl. Was there a winner for the recipe book?
Sounds delish! Can you use the liquid afterward?
I’m sure you could, it tastes pretty good!