This tasty, fresh 5-ingredient cranberry relish recipe is easy to make in about 10 minutes in your food processor or blender. It's tart, sweet, fruity, and can be made in advance to save time the day-of.
This is a classic cranberry relish recipe that uses cranberries, an orange, and an apple. Plus some orange zest for added fruity flavor. It's sweetened with honey, although you could also use maple syrup or white sugar.
What makes cranberry relish so tasty is the balance of flavors: it's tart and sweet, fruity and fresh. It's the perfect pairing to a Thanksgiving or holiday dinner. The flavors are festive and go perfectly with all of your typical holiday meals.
If you need ideas of what to serve it with, check out these favorites: Thanksgiving Turkey or Easy Oven Roast Beef.
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this recipe. The full recipe and ingredient list can be found at the bottom of the page.
- Cranberries
- Orange juice & zest
- Apple
- Honey
- Cinnamon, optional
Instructions
Here's how to make this recipe in 5 simple steps:
- Prepare the orange: grate 1 tablespoon of orange zest. Peel your orange, remove any pith and cut it into sections (roughly into quarters or eights, so that it will fit in your food processor).
- Prepare the apple: chop the apple into quarters, leaving the skin on and cutting out the core.
- Blend: add the apple, orange, and cranberries to your food processor or blender. Pulse until blended but still chunky. Blend in batches if needed and scrape the sides as you blend.
- Add honey & cinnamon: stir in honey and an optional pinch of cinnamon. Add more to taste.
- Serve: If time allows, store in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving. This will strengthen the flavors and soften the cranberries. Serve cold.
Substitutions
Here's some of the most popular substitutions and additions for this recipe:
- Honey: swap this out for maple syrup, white sugar, or your favorite sweetener.
- Apple: sweet red apples like Honeycrisp, Gala, or Fuji work best.
- Orange: use a naval orange or any similar large orange.
- Cinnamon: this is optional but it adds a lovely hint of warmth to the recipe! Highly recommended.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cranberry relish is made of cranberries, apple, and orange blended and then sweetened. It's slightly chunky, spreadable and used as a topping (most popularly served with turkey at Thankgiving). It's tarter and fruitier than cranberry sauce.
Cranberry relish is traditionally served as a side or topping to roast meats (like turkey, ham, roast beef, etc). It's especially popular for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's also tasty as topping for pancakes, waffles, or as a spread on bread. Serve it cold.
Yes, you can make cranberry relish ahead of time. Properly stored, it will stay good in the fridge for up to 10-14 days. And it's recommended to make it at least an hour ahead of time. The longer this recipe sits, the more the flavors strengthen.
Equipment
The only kitchen gear you'll need for this recipe is a food processor or blender. You'll add the fruit for this recipe and pulse until it's blended. Here's our favorite one to use: Food Processor.
Storage
- In the fridge: store your relish in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10-14 days.
- In the freezer: it's not recommended to freeze this recipe as it will become watery.
Top Tip
The trickiest part of this recipe is blending your relish the right amount. If you like a chunkier relish, pulse your blender only a few times. And be careful not to over-blend your relish — you'll want a few chunks otherwise it will taste mushy.
Blend your relish in batches if needed, for example if you are using a smaller food processor. Stop to scrape the edges between pulses to make sure that everything is blending evenly.
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment & rating at the bottom of this page!
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Cranberry Relish Recipe
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
This tasty, fresh 5-ingredient cranberry relish recipe is easy to make in about 10 minutes in your food processor or blender. It's tart, sweet, fruity, and can be made in advance to save time the day-of.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries
- 1 naval orange
- 1 red apple
- 3 tablespoons honey, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- Pinch of cinnamon, optional
Instructions
- Prepare the orange: grate 1 tablespoon of orange zest. Peel your orange, remove any pith and cut it into sections (roughly into quarters or eights, so that it will fit in your food processor).
- Prepare the apple: chop the apple into quarters, leaving the skin on and cutting out the core.
- Blend: add the apple, orange, and cranberries to your food processor or blender. Pulse until blended but still chunky. Blend in batches if needed and scrape the sides as you blend.
- Add honey & cinnamon: stir in honey and an optional pinch of cinnamon. Add more to taste.
- Serve: If time allows, store in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving. This will strengthen the flavors and soften the cranberries. Serve cold.
Equipment
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- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: cranberry, relish, fall, autumn, thankgiving, holiday, christmas, party, winter, orange, apple, side dish
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