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A few years ago I shared a recipe for my favorite cranberry sauce that my Aunt has made for years! It’s a Thanksgiving, or Christmas side dish I look forward to all year round, it’s so good!

But, my Mom made this tasty cranberry relish for our immediate family for years as well. It’s so dang easy that I often got the job of making it as a kid.

This cranberry relish is a fun alternative to a more traditional cranberry sauce. It’s fresh, bright, tart, and sweet, and super crunchy. It’s also one of my favorite Holiday side dishes.

The best part is it can be made several days ahead of time and it keeps well for up to 1 week.

So, what’s the difference between cranberry sauce and cranberry relish?

Cranberry sauce has cranberries that are cooked down into a thick sauce-like consistency. It is often more sweet.

Whereas cranberry relish consists of raw cranberries, and often other fruit that is processed into small bits. It’s crunchy, and juicy. It’s generally a little more on the tart side, but of course, you can add as much sugar as you like.

Ingredients for cranberry relish:

fresh cranberries – tart, crunchy, fresh, and festive. The star of the recipe.
granulated sugar – to sweeten things up.
kosher salt – for a touch of balance.
an orange – yes, rind, and all. It’s pulsed right in with the cranberries.
sweet baking apple – crunchy, and sweet. This wasn’t in my mom’s original recipe, but it’s a lovely addition.
ground cinnamon – just a hint of warming fall spice
ground nutmeg – again for another nod to that warming fall spice.

That’s all you need to make this super easy, super delicious, and really pretty cranberry relish!

How to make cranberry relish?

pulse the cranberries and sugar in the food processor (working in batches, depending on the size of your food processor).
Pulse the apple and orange into small pieces also.
Stir everything together, including the salt, and spices.
Taste and adjust the sweetness as needed.
Chill – this cranberry relish is best when it’s chilled for 3 to 8 hours (or longer). This makes the perfect make-ahead side dish!

Don’t you just love that bright ruby red hue? Imagine how beautiful a bowl of this cranberry relish would be on your Thanksgiving, or Christmas table. A show stopper.

It’s super quick and easy to make. 15 minutes and you have a side dish checked off your list.

Yet, it’s an impressive side dish that tastes like it took hours to make!

Reasons you’ll love this cranberry relish:

It’s crunchy,
sweet, and tart.
It’s delicious.
It’s so simple to make – 15 minutes and done!
Only 7 ingredients needed.
No cooking is required.
It makes the most beautiful side dish on your table.
It’s so festive,
for Thanksgiving, or Christmas.
It’s a fun, and unique cranberry recipe that everyone will enjoy.
You can make it several days in advance.
It’s naturally gluten free,
dairy free,
and vegan.
So, it’s perfect for serving to a crowd.

I hope you enjoy this cranberry relish recipe as much as I always have.

More cranberry recipes:

More Thanksgiving sides for you to try:

Did you make this recipe?

Be sure to leave a comment down below, along with a star rating. This helps me out, and I appreciate hearing from you. Thanks!

Easy Cranberry Relish

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Author: Emily
Prep Time: 15 mins
chill time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
Yield: 10 to 12 1x
Category: sides, easy, 10 ingredients or less, 30 minutes or less
Method: blending
Cuisine: gluten free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian
Diet: Vegan

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Description

This easy cranberry relish is sweet and tart, crunchy, and fresh. It’s so easy to make – only 7 ingredients, and no cooking required. The perfect side dish for Thanksgiving, and/or Christmas.

Ingredients

Units Scale

24 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large naval orange, washed, quartered, remove any seeds
1 sweet baking apple (gala Honeycrisp, fuji etc), peeled, and quartered
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For garnish (Optional)

Extra orange, for zesting

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Instructions

Prepare the fruit: Prepare and cut the fruit as instructed above so that it’s ready to go.
Process the cranberries: Add half of the cranberries, and half of the sugar and all of the salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until all of the cranberries have broken down into tiny pieces (see photo in post). Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Then, return to the food processor and repeat with the remaining cranberries until all of the cranberries have been broken down. Note: If you have a larger food processor feel free to process all of the cranberries at once. I have a 7 cup food processor, so it’s best to do everything in batches so that it gets broken down more evenly.
Process the apples and oranges: Add half of the apple and half of the orange to the food processor. Pulse until those are broken down into small pieces – transfer to the mixing bowl with the cranberries. Repeat processing the remaining half of the orange and the apple. I found it’s best to process the apple and orange together to help the rind of the orange break down into smaller pieces.
Combine: Stir everything in the mixing bowl together, including the cinnamon and the nutmeg, until well combined. Taste and adjust the sugar as needed. The relish should be slightly tart, but not overly sour. I often end up adding another 2 tablespoons of sugar – this can vary depending on how sweet your fruit already is.
Chill: The cranberry relish is really best served chilled. Transfer it to an air tight container and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours, best if overnight. This is a great dish to make 1 to several days in advance from when you’ll be serving it. It will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
To serve: Once chilled, transfer the relish to a serving dish. Garnish with fresh orange zest, if desired.

Notes

How to serve: I know that the name relish can make you think of something like pickle relish which is often used to top hot dogs. However, despite it’s name, this cranberry relish isn’t a topping. It’s simply a side dish. It’s another option in place of cranberry sauce.

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