Every great BBQ starts long before the grill gets hot.
The flame is only half the story. It’s the marinades, glazes and sauces that turn everyday burgers, wings, ribs and chops into the foods we crave all summer.
And one of the most delicious ways to dial up all three has been hiding in plain sight!
Cranberry sauce belongs on more than just turkey! With its built-in sweet-tart flavour, it can glaze, caramelize, balance heat and stand up to the biggest flavours coming off the grill.
Three Canadian culinary talents put that versatility to work, creating a series of BBQ favourites made with their favourite can of Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce.
Glaze It: Cranberry-Glazed Pork Chops
A juicy, charred pork chop is already a summer standout. Lacquer it with a glossy cranberry glaze and sweet-tart meets smoky and savoury in all the right ways.
Food Network Canada’s Matt Basile combines cranberry sauce with lemon, honey, garlic and apple cider vinegar for a glaze that caramelizes over the heat while cutting through the richness of the pork. Full recipe here.
Make It Sticky: Cranberry-Maple Chicken Wings
Few things disappear from a backyard spread faster than a platter of sticky wings.
Female grillmaster Kara Quigley combines cranberry sauce with maple, brown sugar, Worcestershire and garlic for a rich BBQ sauce that caramelizes beautifully over smoky grilled wings. It’s so good, she says you could drink it. Full recipe here.
Stack the Flavour: Cran-Jalapeño Smash Burgers
Masterchef Canada Andy Hay’s Cran-Jalapeño Smash Burgers put cranberry sauce to work twice, folding it directly into the beef before it hits the grill, then mixing it with mayonnaise, pickled jalapeños and pickle brine for a creamy sauce on top.
Sweet, tart, rich and spicy, it may have you reconsidering the ketchup bottle. Full recipe here.
Sweet Meets Heat: Gochujang Beef Ribs with Cranberry-Kimchi Slaw
Matt Basile uses cranberry sauce on both sides of the plate, adding sweet-tart depth to his gochujang rib glaze while weaving it into the fermented tang and spice of the kimchi slaw for a hit of contrast that makes every bite better. Full recipe here.
The Grill Has a New Plus-One
Four BBQ favourites. Four completely different uses for one familiar can.
Cranberry sauce may be famous for Thanksgiving, but its ability to glaze, caramelize, complement smoke and play against heat makes a pretty convincing case for keeping it close all summer.