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Stewed Cherries, Sweet Or Savory

Aya Brackett

BY The Editors

PUBLISHED November 3, 2024

Here’s a simple treat: Go sweet and it’s like cherry pie without the crust. Veer savory, and it’s a lovely sauce for chicken or duck or any kind of game bird, pork, lamb, or juicy and rich steak. To make it savory, use stock or wine and add sugar just to taste, especially if you’re using sour cherries; to make it sweet, use wine or water and add as much sugar as you like.

 

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Stewed Cherries, Sweet Or Savory

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Makes 4 to 6 servings 1x

Time 30 minutes

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds cherries (preferably sour; thawed frozen are fine), pitted
  • 1 cup water, red wine, or stock (see headnote)
  • Sugar
  • Salt and pepper (for savory)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (for sweet; optional), or 1 sprig fresh thyme (for savory; optional)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice if using sweet cherries, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon chopped lemon zest (for sweet; optional)

Instructions

  1. Put the cherries and liquid in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cherries are very tender, about 20 minutes.
  2. Stir in the sugar, salt, pepper, and/or cinnamon if you’re using them; taste and add more seasoning, including the lemon juice and zest if you like. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.

— Recipe from How to Cook Everything: Completely Revised Twentieth Anniversary Edition

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