How to Fix a Too-Sweet Cranberry Sauce | McCormick (2024)

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How to Fix a Too-Sweet Cranberry Sauce | McCormick? ›

To use citric acid to save over-sweetened cranberry sauce, simply use it like you would MSG in a savory dish, and stir in little pinches until your sauce is as tart as you desire. But don't stop there. You can use citric acid in a cloying apple pie filling, a one-note turkey brine, or heavy, stodgy stuffing.

And one last overlooked remedy for cranberry sauce: a pinch of salt. While you won't taste it, salt helps equalize the sweet-tart flavor of your cranberry sauce while making it a better pairing for the rest of your savory sides and, of course, the turkey.

Add A Splash Of Vinegar

Their sharp tang counteracts bitter flavors without having to add extra sugar. While citrus is a natural pairing for cranberry sauce, bright, savory vinegars like sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and apple cider vinegar play well with the bitter-tart berries.

"Instead, start by stirring in one tablespoon maple syrup and one teaspoon of a sweet drink like apple juice, orange juice, or fruity white or red wine. Add more to taste. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt (in small amounts, it intensifies sweetness)."

Adding a teaspoon or two of fresh lemon or orange zest, a tablespoon of chopped candied peel, or even a splash of juice to your canned sauce will brighten flavors and bring in some homemade flavor.

Diluting a sweet tomato sauce will dull its sweetness, so you can add water or chicken or vegetable broth, a little at a time until the sauce tastes better. Or, if you like spicy food, you can try spicing the tomato sauce with some crushed chili flakes, which should help balance out its sweetness.

Try reducing the sauce down even further so more of the liquid cooks off and the mixture thickens. If that doesn't work, add a thickener like gelatin, pectin or a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch whisked into juice or water). Let the sauce cool before refrigerating to completely set.

How Do You Neutralize Sour Taste in Food? If a dish is too sour, add a little bit of sugar! Sweetness balances out sour flavors, so if something makes your mouth pucker, a dash of sugar may help soften the blow of the sour food.

You can smooth out your sauce and remove the tartness by adding cream, butter, cream cheese, and/or grated cheese such as Parmesan.

How to Make Food Less Acidic. Add a fat such as butter, heavy cream, sour cream, cheese, or olive oil to coat the tongue and physically block some of the acidity from your taste buds. You might also try adding a sweetener such as sugar, honey, or maple syrup.

How do you reduce tartness in sauce? ›

Cinnamon and nutmeg to eliminate tomato sourness

If you use canned or bottled peeled tomatoes, you can "soften" the sourness by adding half a teaspoon of cinnamon or nutmeg while cooking.

To start, we add a little salt. The salt helps to make the sugar taste sweeter, masking a little of the bitterness. Some suggest that adding a small pinch of baking soda helps by limiting the acid in the sauce. And while tannic acid is what makes up some of the tannins in cranberries, it's not all tannic acid.

Tartness is a subset of sourness, but it implies that the acidity is coming specifically from citrus. It's easily counteracted with a small amount of sugar, honey or maple syrup.

Stir-in one (or more) of the following add-ins to one can of whole or jellied cranberry sauce: 2 Tbsp. of orange juice plus 1 tsp. of finely grated orange peel.

Cranberry sauce is best served at room temperature or slightly chilled. (You've got enough things on the menu to warm up! Don't make the list longer!) I tend to make cranberry sauce a few days before Thanksgiving and then set it on the table about an hour or two before we plan to eat.

One or more of the following sweetening ingredients may be added: sucrose, liquid sugar, invert sugar syrup, or high-fructose corn syrup (40% or greater). The use of food additives (color, flavours, or acids) into cranberry juice depends on the percentage of cranberry juice or concentrate by volume.

You can smooth out your sauce and remove the tartness by adding cream, butter, cream cheese, and/or grated cheese such as Parmesan.

Tip: Sugar can also soften acidic flavors, as in a sweet-and-sour sauce. To see how, make an overly sour vinaigrette, then whisk in sugar a pinch at a time until the vinaigrette tastes less harsh but not sweet.