Deep ruby red and robustly flavored, homemade lingonberry sauce is one of the most versatile kitchen staples I know. I try to keep a jar on hand at all times. It serves as a tasty accompaniment (and sometimes indispensable ingredient) for an incredibly wide variety of dishes, both sweet and savory. While integral to a cozy dish of Swedish meatballs, it is also fabulous at the breakfast table. Musky sweet, delightfully tangy, and gorgeously dramatic in color, lingonberry sauce will lend a little exciting forest flair to any dish.
Lingonberry sauce is particularly wonderful served on top of some hearty oatmeal pancakes (along with generous dollops of whipped cream, of course).
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Ingredients for Lingonberry Sauce
- lingonberries
- water
- sugar
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions for Lingonberry Sauce
Combine the lingonberries, water, and sugar in a small heavy saucepan.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
Reduce the heat to a lively simmer and cook until the mixture thickens and begins to gel, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
If storing for later use, first allow the sauce to cool completely.
Then transfer to a container. (Preferably something glass that has a lid.)
Use at once or store in the refrigerator.
Hint: If using frozen lingonberries, there is no need to thaw them before cooking the sauce.
Uses
If you happen to be wondering precisely what I mean when I say that lingonberry sauce is extremely versatile, here are just a few of the delicious ways you might employ it in your kitchen...
- spread on toast
- stirred into oatmeal
- mixed into yogurt
- added to smoothies and milkshakes
- dolloped onto Swedish pancakes
- spooned onto potato pancakes
- paired with cheese…such as camembert, brie, or roquefort
- swirled into the sauce for Swedish meatballs, as well as served alongside
- served with meat and game…such as pork tenderloin, venison, and schnitzel of all sorts
Variations
Lingonberries have a unique and delicious flavor profile all their own, but lingonberry sauce can also be enhanced in order to complement a wide variety of sweet and savory applications, if so desired. Here are a few ideas for flavoring additions that really work well with lingonberries...
- lemon or orange zest
- ground allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, or cloves
- crystallized ginger (chopped fine)
- orange liqueur (i.e. Cointreau)
- fresh rosemary or thyme (chopped fine)
- balsamic vinegar
Storage
Lingonberry sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for a very long time. One particular reference source from the "wild berry" section of my cookbook shelf suggests storing it for no longer than a month. That said, I should probably make a confession here...I frequently keep lingonberry sauce in my refrigerator well beyond this guideline. Lingonberries don't last forever, but they are full of natural preservatives.
Top tip
If you prefer to keep all of your lingonberry sauce ingredients as close to nature as possible, you can easily substitute honey for the sugar in this recipe. If using honey instead of sugar, simply reduce the measurement from ½ to ⅓ cup.
Related
Looking for more recipes featuring berries? Try these:
Pairing
Here are a few of my favorite drinks to serve when lingonberry sauce is making an appearance on the dinner menu:
📖 Recipe
Lingonberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups lingonberries fresh or frozen
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup sugar
Instructions
- Combine the lingonberries, water, and sugar in a small heavy saucepan.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a lively simmer and cook until the mixture thickens and begins to gel, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
- If storing for later use, allow the sauce to cool completely before transferring to a covered container.
Amy says
This was so easy and good!
John says
Really nice, relatively easy