There is not any mistaking when cranberry season rolls round: Luggage of recent, ruby-red cranberries all of the sudden seem in produce aisle bins and grocery retailer shows, particularly as Thanksgiving attracts close to. Since fresh cranberries are easy to freeze for later, and different cranberry merchandise like juice, dried fruit, and canned sauce are all the time stocked in shops, you possibly can flip to this assortment of sweet-tart cranberry recipes year-round to create irresistible drinks and dishes.
For the vacation dinner and dessert tables, attempt recipes for a traditional fruit cake, a Christmas-themed Previous Common cocktail, Prompt Pot cranberry applesauce, or a giant batch of Jingle Juice. There are many wholesome cranberry recipes right here too, together with broccoli salad, copycat salads from Panera and Wendy’s, and a fall salad made with roasted butternut squash.
Should you’re into baking, you will love treats like cranberry orange cookies, baked cranberry oatmeal, and pumpkin cranberry cake. There’s even a recipe on this round-up that is excellent for Halloween: cranberry juice will get added to a darkish pink punch that holds spooky, floating “eyeballs.”
Take a look at these recipes and bookmark your favorites, so you possibly can add cranberry taste (and coloration) to each meal and drink of the day.
1. Copycat Panera Fuji Apple Salad
Dried cranberries give this favourite Panera salad a bit of sweetness and chewy texture all through — and because it seems, this recipe is very easy to make for your self at house. Use cooked hen breast leftover from dinner, or get it from a rotisserie hen, and cube the meat into small items. The recent greens are tossed with sliced tomatoes, onion, cranberries, apple chips, and feta cheese. We’ll present you tips on how to make the short French dressing, or use no matter salad dressing you like.
Recipe: Copycat Panera Fuji Apple Salad
2. Christmas Previous Common
Get into the vacation spirit by elevating a glass of this tasty spirit. A conventional Old Fashioned is made with whiskey, sugar, bitters, and orange peel — on this seasonal twist, cranberries are muddled into the combination so as to add a refreshing, tart taste. Sprigs of recent rosemary give the cocktail an intriguing natural part, and as a bonus, it seems to be like a bit of evergreen department, making for a horny, festive garnish.
Recipe: Christmas Old Fashioned
3. Cranberry Muffins
When baggage of recent cranberries go on sale, seize an additional one and stash it in your freezer — that manner, you may make a batch of tender cranberry muffins any time of the yr. This candy and easy recipe reveals you tips on how to combine up the muffin batter with complete cranberries in simply ten minutes. Bake the muffins till they’re puffed and golden brown. They’re scrumptious served with tender butter or orange marmalade, and you too can freeze the baked muffins to make them final.
Recipe: Cranberry Muffins
4. Joel McHale’s Cranberry-Orange Whisky-Glazed Pork Shoulder
5. Vacation Trifle
Trifles have been a favorite English dessert for over 200 years, and are made by layering fruit with custard and items of cake which are typically soaked in liqueurs. Make this holiday trifle recipe from Susan Olayinka in a big, clear glass bowl so the gorgeous layers are seen. It is made with strawberry Jell-O, vanilla pudding, berries, cranberries, and pound cake, all topped with whipped cream and slivered almonds. It is easy however elegant, and there are 10 servings, making it excellent for Thanksgiving or Christmas gatherings.
Recipe: Holiday Trifle
6. Cranberry Orange Cheese Ball
Dried cranberries add a playful pop of coloration to this festive cheese ball appetizer excellent on your subsequent gathering. The recipe comes collectively in lower than quarter-hour, and it may well even be made prematurely to drag from the fridge as your friends arrive. Cream cheese is mixed with orange, cranberries, and chopped nuts, then formed right into a ball and rolled in additional of those substances to create an eye catching coating. Serve this cheese ball with sturdy crackers or sliced bread.
Recipe: Cranberry Orange Cheese Ball
7. Christmas Meatballs
You might not have thought of folding cranberries into your meatballs, however they seem to be a surprisingly scrumptious addition. The sweet-tart taste works so effectively with the savory taste of those beef and pork meatballs, that are made with thyme and sage. For a completion, they’re briefly simmered in a glaze of inventory and brown sugar. Bigger meatballs will be served with potatoes as a fundamental dish, or make mini meatballs to set out with toothpicks as an appetizer on your subsequent occasion.
Recipe: Christmas Meatballs
8. Cranberry Fluff
This recipe is a nod to quaint, ambrosia-style desserts but with a decidedly holiday feel. The creamy deal with is made with sliced, recent cranberries folded into a mix of cream cheese, marshmallows, and cream. You’ll be able to even add additional dimension with flavors like vanilla, rum, or orange. The dish is fast to assemble and simply must be chilled earlier than serving, for least an hour or so long as in a single day. Cranberry fluff is bound to be a velvety, distinctive addition to your dessert desk.
Recipe: Cranberry Fluff
9. Chef Nyesha Arrington’s Chocolate Cranberry Ganache Tart
This decadent tart recipe was shared with Mashed by Chef Nyesha Arrington, who has appeared on “High Chef” and co-hosted Gordon Ramsay’s “Subsequent Stage Chef.” It is a beautiful dessert that is surprisingly straightforward to make. Arrington’s tart encompasses a base manufactured from crushed chocolate cookies, and it is topped with a chocolate-cranberry-orange zest ganache that comes collectively in minutes on the stovetop. Whereas the tart cools and units, make a batch of homemade whipped cream to serve with every slice.
Recipe: Chef Nyesha Arrington’s Chocolate Cranberry Ganache Tart Recipe
10. Jingle Juice
Be merry with this scrumptious punch that appears completely beautiful on the occasion desk. The drink is a mix of rosé, Cointreau, vodka, and orange juice, plus some glowing cider for fizziness. The recipe makes 12 servings and takes lower than 10 minutes to assemble. Garnish the punch with a great deal of ruby-red cranberries, orange slices, and recent mint. Or higher but, attempt Food Network’s idea to create a stunning ice ring with the cranberries and orange slices that can hold your punch chilled.
Recipe: Jingle Juice
11. Prompt Pot Cranberry Applesauce
Not solely can this deal with be loved as a extra flavorful twist on common applesauce, it may well additionally stand in for cranberry sauce on the Thanksgiving desk. It has a steadiness of candy and tart flavors without all the added sugar that is usually present in store-bought and home made cranberry sauces. Use your Instant Pot to strain cook dinner the fruit for under 10 minutes, then mash and permit it to chill. Your cranberry applesauce will be served heat or made prematurely and chilled.
Recipe: Instant Pot Cranberry Applesauce
12. Cranberry Bread
Fast breads like this one are really easy to make, since they require no kneading or rising time. The bread batter is made with orange juice, sugar, and cranberries; both recent or frozen cranberries work effectively within the recipe. Make sure to chop the cranberries earlier than including them to the batter in order that the items are well-distributed within the bread. (Complete berries will sink to the underside.) This can be a pretty bread for brunches, and it makes a considerate holiday food gift.
Recipe: Cranberry Bread
13. Broccoli Salad
On the lookout for a fresh-tasting facet dish or mid-week salad? We now have a superb suggestion: This broccoli salad recipe that options the sweet-tart chunk of dried cranberries. Together with broccoli florets, the salad contains crunchy apple, carrots, peanuts, and pink onion. Make the creamy dressing with mayonnaise, honey, and apple cider vinegar. The recipe is simple to arrange and makes 12 servings, which implies you possibly can feed a crowd or take pleasure in all of it week as a make-ahead lunch.
Recipe: Broccoli Salad
14. Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies
We love a superb oatmeal raisin cookie, and this recipe makes it much more attention-grabbing. These cookies are made with dried cranberries as an alternative, in addition to orange zest for a vivid, citrusy observe. That is not all — toasted, chopped pecans give the treats a bit of crunch. You can also make and eat these cookies shortly because the batter would not require any chilling. Make a batch for a cookie change, to share at Friendsgiving, or to offer away as vacation meals presents.
Recipe: Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies
15. Thanksgiving Rice Pilaf
Everybody expects to see mashed potatoes, inexperienced bean casserole, and stuffing as sides on the Thanksgiving table, however here is a recipe concept for one thing new – and actually scrumptious. This rice pilaf is filled with herbs and different savory flavors, plus candy bites of cranberry. It simmers in your stovetop for slightly below an hour so the wild rice can soften and absorb all of the flavors. Crimson pomegranate seeds and chopped, inexperienced parsley add festive coloration to the completed dish.
Recipe: Thanksgiving Rice Pilaf
16. Fall Salad With Roasted Butternut Squash
The autumn and vacation months are filled with candy desserts and heavy meals; to steadiness issues, do this kale salad that is filled with fall taste but additionally wholesome and recent. Begin by roasting cubes of butternut squash till they’re tender and flavorful, and this step may even be finished prematurely to make assembling the salads even quicker. Dinosaur kale becomes tender underneath a dressing of lemon juice, oil, and Dijon mustard. Toss the kale with the squash, pepitas, apple, and dried cranberries. The salad is a good facet to roasted meats or a hearty chili.
17. Cranberry Crumble Bars
If you wish to add flavorful cranberries to your baking, look no additional than these delectable cranberry crumble bars. They’re a straightforward deal with to make — merely press the crumbly batter into the pan and set a bit of apart to go on the highest. Make the fruity filling in your stovetop by simmering complete cranberries with orange juice and sugar. The bars take solely 20 minutes to arrange and about half-hour to bake. They’re yummy for holidays or simply for after-work snacking.
Recipe: Cranberry Crumble Bars
18. No-Bake Cranberry Orange Cheesecake
You’ll be able to assemble this pretty, no-bake cheesecake dessert in simply 25 minutes, and have it ready for you within the fridge to serve to friends or to convey to the occasion. Make the crust your self utilizing crushed Nilla Wafers cookies, or buy a premade cookie crust. The filling is a mix of cranberries, cream cheese, orange zest, and whipped cream. There are many methods to garnish the chilled cheesecake: Add twists of orange peel, candied complete cranberries, a layer of whipped cream, or perhaps a few curls of darkish chocolate.
19. Cranberry Brie Bites
That is undoubtedly a recipe price bookmarking, as a result of it is actually two recipes in a single. You may first learn to make glowing, sugar-coated cranberries — it is really easy to do and you need to use them to brighten every kind of vacation dishes like truffles, cranberry sauce, pies, and mousse. The recipe additionally reveals you tips on how to use these candied cranberries to make a easy appetizer with a sliced baguette, Brie cheese, and honey. The candy and savory flavors are excellent collectively, and the tart, tacky bites are elegant sufficient for any occasion.
Recipe: Cranberry Brie Bites
20. Cranberry Baked Oatmeal
What a easy, scrumptious, and hearty dish to make on your breakfast! As a result of this recipe makes eight servings, it is a fantastic selection when you might have in a single day friends or if you would like a dish you possibly can reheat for breakfast all week. Complete cranberries are baked with oats, milk, and flavorings like cinnamon and maple syrup, which supplies the completed oatmeal a fluffy texture and plenty of taste. You’ll be able to experiment with including different fruits along with the cranberries, like diced apples or pears.
Recipe: Cranberry Baked Oatmeal
21. Cranberry Jell-O Salad
Jell-O salads reigned supreme throughout mid-century America, and it was uncommon to discover a potluck or group supper desk with out one. Although a few of these salads went a bit of overboard (and contained questionable substances like tuna fish) lots of them have been truly very tasty. This recipe from Miriam Hahn for cranberry Jell-O salad is an ideal instance, suspending pineapple, complete berry cranberry sauce, and pineapple chunks in candy raspberry Jell-O. Because it must set in a single day, it is a fantastic make-ahead dessert choice, and scrumptious served with whipped cream.
Recipe: Cranberry Jell-O Salad
22. Candy Kale Salad
This can be a scrumptious salad any time of the yr, however particularly in fall and winter once you desire a recent facet to steadiness out all of the heavy meals of the season. Dinosaur kale is massaged to make it tender, then tossed with a sweet-tangy dressing of poppy seeds, orange juice, and olive oil. Brussels sprouts, dried cranberries, and diced apples give the salad coloration, texture, and autumn vibes. The recipe makes six servings to take pleasure in with dinner or to pack for work week lunches.
Recipe: Sweet Kale Salad
23. Turkey Salad With Cranberries And Pecans
You may select this recipe as a tasty manner to make use of up leftover turkey after Thanksgiving, but it surely’s a fantastic selection any time of the yr you desire a flavorful sandwich filling. Should you’d reasonably not cook dinner a complete turkey, choose up a bone-in turkey breast: They’re smaller and cook dinner by extra shortly than a complete chicken. Toss the shredded, cooked turkey with mayonnaise, pecans, pink grapes, and dried cranberries. Benefit from the salad on hearty bread, flaky croissants, and even wrapped inside lettuce leaves.
24. Fruit Cake
Cranberries play a starring function on this recipe for traditional vacation fruit cake. Although it is typically maligned, this recipe from Kristen Carli proves that, when made well, fruit cake is completely scrumptious. Slices are filled with sweetness because of dried cranberries, apricots, figs, cherries, and different fruits, plus a beneficiant glug of darkish rum. The recipe makes two loaves, so you possibly can take pleasure in one and provides the opposite one as a present. Serve slices of fruit cake with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Recipe: Fruit Cake
25. Cranberry Orange Espresso Cake
One of many best breakfast treats out there’s espresso cake. (Which, regardless of the title, usually contains no actual coffee.) It is candy, filled with taste, and appears gorgeous though it is easy to make. This espresso cake recipe by Autumn LeAnn folds sweet-tart cranberry sauce with orange zest into the batter, and candied orange slices are pretty on the powdered sugar-dusted cake prime. The cake takes about an hour to bake, and it may be made prematurely for a straightforward morning or afternoon nosh.
Recipe: Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake
26. Pumpkin Spice Granola
The start of autumn means it is time to have fun cranberries AND the flavors of pumpkin spice. This home made granola recipe brings them collectively in a single dish which you can take pleasure in as a wholesome breakfast or hearty snack. Toss dried cranberries, pumpkin pie spice, canned pumpkin puree with oats, pumpkin seeds, and chopped nuts. The combination bakes up in about half-hour, and is flippantly sweetened with maple syrup. As soon as the granola is cool, you possibly can add different mix-ins like chocolate chips, and luxuriate in servings with milk and recent fruit.
Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Granola
27. Halloween Eyeball Punch
Want a recipe for this year’s Halloween party? You can also make this blood-red punch in simply 10 minutes, however beware as a result of it has a spooky shock: eyeballs! The punch is nice and flavorful, made with cranberry, orange, and pomegranate juices. To make the “eyes,” search for canned lychees, a tropical fruit from China with a candy, floral taste. Canned lychees are pitted, which leaves a gap within the middle of the fruit — push a blueberry into each. Every time somebody stirs the punch, they’re going to see the lychee roll over to disclose the deliciously spooky blueberry eyeball.
Recipe: Halloween Eyeball Punch
28. Copycat Wendy’s Apple Pecan Salad
This favourite Wendy’s salad is very easy to recreate, and making it at house means you possibly can customise it any manner you would like. Toss salad greens with diced apples (each pink and inexperienced) then add in complete pecans and tart, dried cranberries. Haven’t got time to cook dinner up some hen? Use hen leftover from dinner or shredded rotisserie hen. The ultimate touches are crumbled blue cheese and a candy pomegranate dressing. Make this salad for lunch for the week, or as a light-weight facet dish with soup or chili.
29. Thanksgiving Pizza
A fridge filled with Thanksgiving dinner leftovers means house cooks have to search out actually artistic methods of utilizing all of them up. This recipe is likely one of the most artistic ones on the market! Make a home made pizza crust, or if you happen to’re pressed for time use store-bought pizza dough or a prebaked pizza crust. High the crust with mashed potatoes, shredded turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. A mix of goat cheese and Cheddar cheese melts within the oven to convey all of the substances collectively.
Recipe: Thanksgiving Pizza
30. Cranberry Pineapple Marshmallow Salad
On the lookout for a Thanksgiving or vacation dessert, however do not wish to go along with the standard pies and cookies? Your loved ones will love this fruity, creamy salad. Assembling this candy, refreshing salad could not be simpler: Simply stir collectively diced cranberries, pineapple, cream cheese, and marshmallows. Enable a couple of hours for the salad to sit back, which lets the flavors meld and the feel set (you possibly can even put together it the day earlier than), after which it is able to serve.
31. Copycat Dealer Joe’s Rooster Salad
It is onerous to beat the comfort of grabbing ready salads at Trader Joe’s, however here is a cause to attempt making this one at house: It tastes even higher! The salad contains tender items of hen, dried cranberries, pecans, and poppy seeds, all with an apple cider vinegar and honey dressing. It is scrumptious in sandwiches (particularly on croissants) and on flatbreads. Save time by utilizing precooked hen breast or shredded rotisserie hen. The recipe makes 4 cups of salad, so you possibly can take pleasure in it for days.
32. Non-Alcoholic Christmas Punch
This recipe makes a vacation punch that everybody can take pleasure in: It has a lot sweetness and taste and no alcohol is required. The recipe by Jaime Bachtell-Shelbert combines cranberry juice with pomegranate juice and seeds, plus ginger ale. What actually units it aside is a rosemary-infused easy syrup, which supplies the drinks an exquisite natural observe. Serve glasses of this punch with an additional dose of festive coloration by garnishing with recent rosemary sprigs.
Recipe: Non-Alcoholic Christmas Punch
33. Pumpkin Cranberry Cake
Not solely will this straightforward pumpkin cake look nice positioned entrance and middle on the vacation dessert desk, it is also easy sufficient which you can make it mid-week to take pleasure in with espresso or tea. The cake batter contains Greek yogurt, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spices, and recent cranberries. Chop the cranberries first so they’ll keep distributed all through the cake and never sink to the underside. Your cake might be prepared in about 35 minutes, and is scrumptious served with whipped cream or a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
Recipe: Pumpkin Cranberry Cake
34. Jungle Juice
Use your cranberry juice to make a candy and fruity punch that is a bit of boozy, too. Vodka is the spirit of selection on this occasion cocktail, which lets the flavors of the opposite substances shine. Mix cranberry juice with orange juice and fruit punch, together with sliced fruit. The recipe makes 12 servings and you may even put together it forward of time and have it ready within the fridge. Desire a nonalcoholic model that everybody can take pleasure in? Simply exchange the vodka with extra juice or additional sliced fruit.
Recipe: Jungle Juice
35. Thanksgiving Leftover Egg Rolls
Among the finest issues about Thanksgiving dinner is developing with tasty methods to make use of and luxuriate in all these leftovers. Should you agree, you then simply have to do this recipe that piles Thanksgiving leftovers like turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce into egg roll wrappers. Slightly cheese is added in there too, so that every chunk is melty and divine. Fry the wrapped egg rolls till they’re brown and crispy, then serve them extra leftover cranberry sauce and even leftover gravy.
Recipe: Thanksgiving Leftover Egg Rolls
36. Apple Walnut Salad
It is superb the best way dried cranberries make a salad a lot extra scrumptious, giving every chunk a potent dose of sweet-tart taste. Kristen Carli’s recipe options peppery arugula greens tossed with recent, diced apples and crunchy walnuts, plus feta cheese and dried cranberries folded in. The dressing is completely easy: a mix of pink wine vinegar, oil, and honey that has a daring tang however would not obscure the opposite flavors. The recipe makes sufficient salad to serve 4, or to take to work for lunch all week.
Recipe: Apple Walnut Salad
37. Sluggish Cooker Swedish Meatballs
With this recipe in your facet, you do not have to make the trek to IKEA for Swedish meatballs. And making them in a sluggish cooker means the meatballs are a cinch to arrange for dinner or as an appetizer. A conventional accompaniment for Swedish meatballs is lingonberry jam, however this recipe makes use of cranberry sauce, an ingredient that tends to be simpler to search out within the States. It pairs rather well with the savory meatballs, and the tartness of cranberry balances the richness of the meat and gravy.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs
38. 15-Minute Granola
As we speak’s the day you stop buying granola and start making your own. With store-bought granola you are letting another person determine what goes into the combination; once you make your personal you get to decide on extra of your favourite substances and skip any undesirable ones. This recipe has a mix of oats, nuts, and dried fruits like cranberries and raisins, and all of it bakes collectively to turn into browned and crunchy. Use your 15-minute granola to make path mixes, vitality bars, or take pleasure in it with milk or yogurt for breakfast.
Recipe: 15-Minute Granola
39. Cowboy Ciao Salad
This salad was one of many best-loved menu items at the former Scottsdale, Arizona restaurant Cowboy Ciao. Not solely is it filled with healthful substances like pepitas, smoked salmon, and couscous, the substances are specified by rows over the arugula base, making it hanging in presentation. Construct your Cowboy Ciao salad with dried cranberries, shoepeg corn, and feta, together with a home made pesto ranch dressing. It is scrumptious for lunch or for a light-weight dinner served with slices of crusty bread.
Recipe: Cowboy Ciao Salad
40. Fruit Bread
Consider this loaf as an easy-going cousin of the ornate vacation fruit cake. The recipe is a straightforward fast bread that is filled with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, plus raisins and dried cranberries for candy and chewy bites in each slice. The loaf bakes up in about an hour, and the aromatic, flavorful slices are scrumptious unfold with butter or softened cream cheese. Serve the bread for breakfast, brunch, or with afternoon tea.
Recipe: Fruit Bread
41. Vacation Rooster Salad
Embrace this salad as a wholesome choice in your Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner tables this season — or put together it as a light-weight, recent lunch. Utilizing cooked hen breast from leftovers or a store-bought rotisserie hen, this recipe comes collectively in solely 10 minutes. The salad combines spring combine greens with diced bell pepper, dried cranberries, pecans, and a easy balsamic French dressing. Variation concept: As a substitute of hen, make this salad utilizing shredded turkey leftover out of your vacation meal.
Recipe: Holiday Chicken Salad
