I Tasted 11 Varieties of Canned Cranberry Sauce and The Best Was Obvious

Thanksgiving is speeding toward us, and regardless of how you feel about it, cranberry sauce is a huge part of that. The classic fall condiment is probably gonna be on your table, and when it is, you want the best cranberry sauce possible. 

I had no idea what brand rules the cranberry sauce world, so I grabbed nine kinds of canned cranberry sauce, along with two jarred sauces, and gave them a good, old-fashioned taste test. Here they are, ranked based on taste and utility as a condiment.

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$1.98 from Target

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I’ll be honest with you: I did not care for the experience of tasting 11 types of cranberry sauce. I really had to put my dukes up on this one. I tasted every jellied sauce in a slow, solemn movement, trying to decipher flavors and conquer textures.

It was a different experience with Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, and I guess I should have seen that coming. It is, after all, a company famous only for cranberries, which is pretty insane when you think about it. Ocean Spray’s jellied sauce is smooth, very tart, and really reminds you of the Spray’s cranberry juice. It’s an all-around win.

$2.79 from Amazon

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Of all the jellied sauces I tried, this tastes the most reminiscent of something that actually exists in nature. I should certainly hope so, considering Whole Foods charges about a dollar more for this can than most other retailers. 

Visually, it’s cleaner and more appealing than the other jellied sauces you’ll find. Heat it up, hit it with a little orange zest, and you’ve got an incredibly solid roast turkey sandwich condiment.

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Here’s the thing about a taste test like this: Most of them taste almost identical. With the exception of Ocean Spray and Whole Foods, there are incredibly minor differences between the rest of the sauces. 

In Sweet Harvest’s case, we’re getting about 10% more real cranberry flavor than the rest, and I’m not here to dock points for something like that.

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$1.98 from Walmart

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No big surprises here. As far as the whole berry sauces go, nobody can top Ocean Spray. This tastes like their flagship sauce, just with some toothsome cranberry pieces swirled throughout. Though I’m not a huge fan of this style, Ocean Spray’s is just so much easier to eat.

Related: Creative Cranberry Recipes for Thanksgiving and Beyond

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This is entirely forgettable, but I see how that might not be a bad thing. This isn’t a full side dish we’re talking about; it’s a spread. 

Food Lion’s cranberry sauce isn’t too tart, and less dry than brands like Publix. It’s probably the best route to take if you want to pretend you're not actually eating it.

Related: Cranberry Sauce and Other Thanksgiving Dishes People Love to Hate

$2.52 from Kroger

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I suppose I should be relieved that the inside of this can contained a healthy serving of some wet substance that never quite molded to the rest of the jelly. I suppose that should imply that this is somehow more natural and organic, kind of like how that works in natural peanut butter. 

Unfortunately, I am weak and it just grossed me out way too much. This is a big no-thanks for me.

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The difference between the whole berry and jellied sauce that Publix is selling is just so slim. This is more or less just a jellied sauce with stems, but since the jellied sauce is so dry, the texture is something this sauce needed very much.

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Dry. Pasty. Bitter. No sweetness. No juiciness. No fruitiness.

These were my initial thoughts about what Publix has to offer in this department. I love Publix and it pains me to say it, but you can do so much better.

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You may notice the photo I’ve chosen for this sauce is a little different than the others I have carefully curated. This is because I felt it important that you know exactly what I saw with my eyes when I opened the container.

After promptly scraping off that first layer, most likely composed of whatever weird mushrooms grow in the "Stranger Things" Upside Down, I was able to taste this sauce. Much like the other whole berry sauce, the texture is incredibly challenging, and though I can see this making a decent sandwich spread, you won’t catch me staring down the barrel of that nightmare ever again.

$2.99 from Trader Joe's

There is no verbiage on the jar of Trader Joe’s cranberry sauce that says if it’s jellied or whole, so I had myself a bit of an omakase situation here as I went in for the taste.

It is so very rare when I have bad things to say about a Trader Joe’s product, but I am not remotely here for this. It’s almost like a jellied sauce that’s been whipped together with flattened, empty cranberry skins. Oh, and it’s far sweeter than it is tart, like some sort of cold pie filling. Please don’t make me eat this again.

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I don’t understand what happened here, because the jellied sauce is pretty decent. The texture, though, is pure hell, and the feel of those cranberry skins betwixt your teeth is hard to get past. I’ll need to be dragged kicking and screaming toward another bite.