Cranberry juice has been a sort of natural home remedy for many health issues for years, helping to treat UTIs and keep immune systems in tip-top shape due to its high levels of vitamin C.
Some people love the taste of cranberry juice and use it as often as possible; others despise it. Either way, it is often used in cooking to help elevate sweet treats or to compliment lighter meats (such as chicken) in a sauce.
If you are not a lover of cranberry juice or are having a hard time finding it at your local supermarket, take a look at the rest of the juice shelf.
Our 4 Substitutes for Cranberry Juice
Raw cranberries are well known for their tart and sour taste. They are not often enjoyed by themselves which is why, when made into a juice, sweeteners are added to the cranberries to make the harsh taste more bearable.
Like any fruit juice, cranberry juice does have an intense cranberry flavour but it is much easier to digest. That being said, the juice is still very acidic.
Here are our top 4 substitutes for cranberry juice:
1) Cherry Juice
The flavour of cranberry juice is unique in how it balances out its various elements, but cherry juice is often used as a comparison to describe its taste.
Cherry juice has many of the same sour/ sweet/ bitter flavour notes as cranberry juice, just with a much milder balance. This makes it a more palatable choice for people who are sensitive to the harsh cranberry flavour.
There are a few varieties of cherry juice you can choose from.
The sweetened kinds will be the better substitute for cranberry juice as the unsweetened variety (also known as tart cherry juice) will be too tart to use in all the same ways. However, sweetened cherry juice can often be too sweet.
So long as you balance out either cherry juice in your dish, then you can use whichever variety you prefer.
How to Balance Cherry Juice In Your Dish
Use half as much sweetened cherry juice as you would cranberry juice to prevent overpowering your dish. Or, add some honey/ a sprinkle of sugar and lemon juice to balance the tart flavours of unsweetened cranberry juice.
2) Blueberry Juice
It may be harder to find than cranberry juice, but if your local supermarket does their own branded blueberry juice then it will be just as cheap as cranberry juice.
Blueberries share the same tartness as cranberries which are reflected in their juice, though blueberries are not as harsh as cranberries. Still, you will want to use sweetened blueberry juice to make the taste more enjoyable.
You can make your own blueberry juice at home if you can not find it in stores.
Blueberries are extremely plump and juicy when in season, so it will not be hard to produce a concentrated fruit juice from them. Just remember to add your own sweetener.
Which Blueberries Are Best?
If you do make your own blueberry juice, only use ripened blueberries. Under ripened blueberries are not just overly tart but very sour too and will require a lot of sweetener.
3) Red Grape Juice
Grape juice is often mistaken for non-alcoholic wine, with some people believing they are the same as wine if also made from grape. Their base ingredient is the only real link between the two.
But when it comes to cranberry juice, grape juice is much more comparable.
Like any fruit juice, grape juice enhances the tart flavour of grapes. As a naturally sweet fruit, you won’t have to worry about too much added sugar when using grape juice.
Use Red Grape Juice for the Aesthetic
There are two types of grape juice: white and red. To get the same deep red colour of cranberry juice, use the red grape juice.
4) Orange Juice
As a citrus-based juice, orange juice will provide some of the same technical functions as cranberry juice. Though it is not as sour or acidic as other citrus juices, its balance of flavours is the closest to cranberry juice.
Orange juice has more of a tang to it than bitterness, helping to emphasize the natural sweetness of the orange. That is why even commercial orange juices don’t need lots of sugar.
The best kind of orange juice to replace cranberry juice is freshly squeezed orange juice. This will have a much more concentrated flavour, so you will be able to taste the tartness more.
Experiment With Orange Flavours
Standard orange juice will have the flavour of a satsuma or orange, but there are other kinds of orange juice varieties out there that you could try.
For example, blood orange juice will have a slightly more acidic taste while some brands add apple to their orange juice to give a more refreshing flavour.
Other Substitutes for Cranberry Juice
The above substitutes are great for replicating the flavour of cranberry juice but can sometimes lack the acidity that is needed in certain recipes. Here are a few more options that will give your dish an instant sour acidity:
- Lemon Juice – Like cranberry juice, lemon juice is very concentrated, carrying the bitter acidity of fresh lemons.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – Used almost exclusively in cooking for its acidity, apple cider vinegar will have more of a vinegary tinge but will work fine for technical purposes.
Summary
Cranberry juice is best enjoyed when added to fruity drinks but has a range of uses in cooking because of its intense flavour and acidity.
Most other fruit juices will replicate its flavour but some will also have the same sourness and acidic purposes, such as cherry juice.