The easiest Sour Cherry Sauce you are ever going to make, this recipe comes together in 15 minutes and is made with frozen cherries, so can be enjoyed in any season! What is more, you won’t even need any wine for this sauce – just a dash of balsamic vinegar! This is a perfect sauce to go with duck, pigeon, pheasant or even beef or venison. We used sour cherries but dark sweet cherries will work too!
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Cherry Sauce Without Wine or Port
There are so many great recipes out there for Cherry Sauce, but most require lots of red wine and port. We hardly ever have port and whilst we love wine reduction sauces, we feel that a perfectly flavoursome sauce can be made without it! What we use instead is balsamic vinegar!
What to Serve Sour Cherry Sauce With?
This Easy Cherry Sauce recipe is meant for savoury dishes. Perhaps the most popular way to use sour cherry sauce is with a nice Pan-Fried Duck Breast or our Duck Confit. Simply smear some sauce in a ‘chefy’ manner on the side of the plate – it will look very ‘Michelin-star-like’.
Apart from Duck, this sauce goes well with other gamy meats, including venison, pigeon and pheasant. We have even tried it with a beef fillet steak and thought it worked very well!
How to Make the Sauce in 15 Minutes?
Place frozen cherries, 2 tablespoon of water, brown sugar, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt and pepper in a saucepan. Heat on low-medium heat until the cherries soften and release the juices, helping them along by stirring and pressing down with a spoon. This will take about 10 minutes.
Pour the sauce through a fine sieve and squeeze any juices from the cherries pressing them down with a spoon against the sieve. Discard the cherries, and pour the sauce back into a saucepan. Add the balsamic vinegar.
In a small bowl, mix the cornflour and a tablespoon of water. Pour the mixture into the cherry sauce and stir. Heat the sauce, stirring continuously for 1-2 minutes. It should thicken ever so slightly (add a splash of water if it thickens too much) and have a lovely shine to it!
Serve the sauce warm!
People Also Asked
Our sauce is made with a pinch of nutmeg, but if you’re not keen on the flavour, omit it altogether, or replace it with a pinch of cinnamon or even allspice!
Whilst it can be reheated later, it will thicken as it cools, so you may need to add an extra splash of water! The sauce may lose some of its shine too, but should be just as flavoursome!
Recipe Card
Easy Cherry Sauce for Duck (With Frozen Cherries)
Ingredients
- 200 g frozen cherries we used sour cherries
- 20 g light brown sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch)
- 3 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Place frozen cherries, 2 tablespoon of water, sugar, nutmeg, a pinch of salt and pepper in a saucepan. Heat on low-medium heat until the cherries soften and release the juices, helping them along by stirring pressing down with a spoon. This will take about 10 minutes.
- Pour the sauce through a fine sieve and squeeze any juices from the cherries pressing them down with a spoon against the sieve. Discard the cherries, and pour the sauce back into a saucepan. Add the balsamic vinegar to the cherry sauce.
- In a small bowl. mix the cornflour and a tablespoon of water. Pour the mixture into the cherry sauce and stir. Heat the sauce, stirring continuously for 1-2 minutes. It should thicken ever so slightly (add a splash of water if it thickens too much) and have a lovely shine to it!
- Serve the sauce warm with duck, pigeon or other gamey meat!
Nutrition
Katherine
The flavors of cherry and balsamic are incredible together!
Ieva
Absolutely!!! 🙂
Dannii
I have had duck with orange, but not cherries. I need to try this, as it sounds amazing.
Ieva
We love duck a l’orange! But the cherry sauce is definitely just as good with the duck 🙂
Natalie
I was skeptical about this cherry sauce but curious. Made it with my chicken instead of duck, and it was delicious, thanks!
Ieva
That’s great! We love it with chicken thighs too. Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Ana F.
I made this sauce to go with roasted chicken and the combination was delicious! Can’t wait to make it again. Thanks for the recipe!
Ieva
Thanks, Ana! Love that you used it for roasted chicken! Need to try that myself 🙂 Thanks for the idea!
Jane
Once made, can the sauce be frozen to use later on?
Many thanks.
Ieva
Hi, Jane. Unfortunately not, sauces made with cornflour do not freeze well and have an unpleasant texture after thawing. I hear that using arrowroot instead of cornflour is better for freezing (however, I’ve not tried it myself, so cannot guarantee it). Hope this helps 🙂
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
I love cherry sauce with duck but the cherry season is so short here. So great that I can make this with frozen cherries. Thanks!
Ieva
Oh, I know… And in the season, I just want to eat all the cherries fresh, so even when they’re in season I use frozen ones. I’m just too greedy when it comes to fresh cherries 🙂