Cumberland Sauce (a Classic English Sauce for Cold Meats)

Cumberland Sauce is an old English sauce that is traditionally served with cold meats and is excellent with lamb, pork and just about any game. The Oxford Dictionary describes Cumberland Sauce as a “piquant sauce served esp. with cold meat”. And it is indeed piquant, with a touch sweet.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Cumberland Sauce, red sauce in a white spoon
Cumberland Sauce

How do you make Cumberland Sauce?

The Traditional Cumberland Sauce has only a few ingredients:

  • redcurrant jelly
  • port
  • orange
  • lemon

There are many, many variations out there and the addition of mustard and ginger is quite a popular one that I think just enhances the acidity of the sauce and gives it depth. But not too much of either, a hint is perfect, because what do I always say?

Less is MORE!

Cumberland Sauce, red sauce in a white bowl
Cumberland Sauce

Cumberland Sauce Ingredients

Redcurrant Jelly

Click here for the recipe. Redcurrant jelly is a thoroughly English preserve, and is easily found in the supermarkets here in the UK. I can usually get redcurrants right up to the end of November, if not later, so I tend to make the redcurrant jelly too.

However, using shop bought redcurrant jelly is perfectly fine. Just be sure to use a good redcurrant jelly, check the ingredients and make sure that you have a very high proportion of currants to sugar. This is to avoid ending up with a sickly sweet Cumberland sauce.

Homemade Redcurrant Jam (aka Redcurrant Jelly) with scones on a small wooden board
Homemade Redcurrant Jam (aka Redcurrant Jelly)

Port for Cumberland Sauce

Always use alcohol that you would drink on its own. The same goes, in my opinion, for the port here. You don’t need to use a 10-year old Port, as I’ve done here. At £20 a bottle, it does rather seem like a waste. Shop around and find a port that is good enough to drink on its own.

Is Cumberland Sauce served Hot or Cold?

Cumberland Sauce is always served cold or at room temperature. As mentioned above, it is extremely good with cold cuts of meat whether it’s duck, goose, gammon and even turkey. And is also perfect with mixed game pie.

This is why we always have some during the Christmas holidays, when there is always some cold meat, of various forms, to be had, right up to the New Year.

Do you have a favourite sauce during the holidays?

If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!

And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood

Lin xx

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Cumberland Sauce, red sauce in a white bowl

Cumberland Sauce (a Classic English Sauce for Cold Meats)

Cumberland Sauce is an old English sauce. Sweet and sour, it is traditionally served with cold meats and is excellent with lamb, pork and just about any game. A must at Christmas for us.
4.98 from 44 votes
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Course: Sauces
Cuisine: British
Keyword: christmas, cumberland sauce, sauces
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6 (Serves 4-6)
Calories: 55kcal
Author: Azlin Bloor

Ingredients

  • zest and juice of 1 orange
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 5 Tbsp redcurrant jelly
  • 5 Tbsp port
  • 2.5 cm fresh ginger, grated OR ½ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp mustard powder

Instructions

  • Using a vegetable peeler, thinly pare off the zest of the orange and lemon in long strips.
  • Using a knife, slice the zest into thin strips.
  • Bring a small amount of water to boil in a small saucepan.
  • Add the sugar and the orange and lemon zest.
  • Lower the heat down and simmer for 3 minutes. This is to get rid of any bitterness in the peel.
  • Strain and leave aside until the end, throwing away the liquid.
  • Rinse and dry the saucepan and place the rest of the ingredients into it. So, the orange and lemon juices, redcurrant jelly, port, ginger and mustard.
  • Bring to a simmer and leave to cook for 5-10 minutes, to allow to thicken and for the flavours to deepen. The time depends on how you like your sauce, thick, strongly flavoured and almost syrupy, or light.
    I go the full 10 minutes for a lick-the-spoon Cumberland sauce! Take it off the heat when the time is up. For a perfectly smooth sauce, strain it. I rather like the bits of ginger in mine, so I usually leave it as it is.
  • Stir in the orange and lemon zests and the sauce is ready to be served, once cooled to room temperature. You can serve it at room temperature or straight out of the fridge.
  • Store in a clean jar in the fridge for up to a week.

Nutrition

Calories: 55kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 19mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 8IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg
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12 thoughts on “Cumberland Sauce (a Classic English Sauce for Cold Meats)”

  1. 5 stars
    Yum! Thanks! I’ll be using it for an Easter Ham!
    I LOVE Cumberland sauce and your recipe is wonderful!

  2. Dennis Watson

    I’ve never heard of this. I love your site for some of these old fashioned recipes you give us. Thank you, going out to the shops today to get the jelly and port.

  3. I really like the look of this. Do you think there is a difference between using shop bought jelly and making your own.?

    1. Hi Kath, I think homemade is always going to be better. Much of that has to do with the fact that homemade redcurrant jelly is going to be mainly redcurrants, with no added ingredients, apart from the sugar. But you can certainly get good quality jelly these days.

  4. Caroline Waters

    Thank you. One of my favourite things at Christmas is to have a collection of traditional sauces, usually about 6-8. I’ve never had this before, but it’s definitely going on this year.

  5. Ally Hopkins

    I just asked my mum if she knows this sauce, as I’ve not heard of it. Apparently, they used to have it at her grans every Christmas holiday, with the leftover goose! She’s asked me to make some for this holiday. So thank you, Azlin. I’m curious to try it! And I might just make that redcurrant jelly too, I know I saw some redcurrants last week.

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