There’s a question we’re sure is on the mind of almost everyone this holiday season. Should cranberry sauce be reserved for Thanksgiving and Christmas season alone? With this healthy recipe, definitely not!

The truth is we all want to enjoy this amazingly delicious fermented Christmas cranberry sauce in all its glory. The beauty of it is that this recipe is healthy and easy to prepare. It takes only a few days or weeks before it’s ready and it is rich in antioxidants.

Since you want the best fermented cranberry sauce for Christmas, here’s how to make it.

Ingredients

• Two chopped apples
• Two cups of chopped cranberries
• Half cup of chopped pecans or nuts
• Quarter cup of maple syrup (you can use sugar or honey if you prefer)
• Half cup raisins
• Half cup apple cider or apple juice
• Half cup whey (kefir, sauerkraut juice, kombucha etc are also good substitutes).
• One teaspoon of salt

How to prepare

• Chop the nuts, apples and cranberries, then mix them together in a large bowl.
• Add the raisins, apple cider, maple syrup, and stir.
• Pour your starter liquid into the mixture and sprinkle some salt in it.
• Stir well and pack into a quart-sized mason jar.
• Top it with the apple cider until the food pieces are well covered.
• Press down with your glass fermentation weight
• Cover the jar with an airlock lid and store at room temperature.
• After two days, store the ferment in the refrigerator.
• In ten days, your cranberry sauce should be ready. However, it tastes best when you give it more time, approximately two weeks.

Note: If you need the cranberry sauce to last you through the winter holidays, double the recipe using a half-gallon jar. Another thing to note is that if left to ferment for longer periods, the sugar content in the cranberry fruit makes it alcoholic.