Cranberry Relish

Last Updated November 26th, 2022 at 09:10 am by Lisa

The holiday season is filled with big meals and rich heavy food. Let your palate take a welcomed break with a few bites of a fresh cranberry relish along with your Thanksgiving turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

Make a cranberry orange relish, and delight your friends and family. It has a light fresh taste, a little bit of a crunch, and less sugar than a traditional cranberry sauce. It will be the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving dinner or a Christmas feast...

Cranberry Relish Recipe

Years ago I first tasted this homemade cranberry relish at a family friend's home for Thanksgiving and funny enough he still won't share the original recipe (can't blame him!). So It became a personal mission to do some recipe development and create my own flavorful cranberry relish recipe!

You just need a handful of ingredients for the best cranberry relish, and this recipe doesn't use much sugar so it is healthier. Good cranberries are easily available in grocery stores in 12-ounce bags, and this tangy fruit pairs so well with the pineapple and orange.

• fresh cranberries
• whole oranges
• Honeycrisp apple
• fresh pineapple with juice
• granulated sugar

1. Wash the oranges and the apple really well. Reserve a few extra cranberries for garnish on top.
2. Cut the orange into sections, so they grate well in the food processor. First, cut the bottom off the orange. Set the flat side down on a board, cut it down into wedges, then remove the white center pith which is bitter by running the blade of a small knife down the pith. Leave the orange peel skin on, and be sure to remove any remaining seeds and or white pulp.
3. Slice the apple open, and remove the seeds and core. Cut into chunks. Hold back a few cranberries and thin orange slices for garnish.
4. In a food processor, pulse the apple, two oranges with the peel on (trust me here), pineapple chunks, and the cranberries finely using a grating blade. Or grate the apple on a hand grater and hand chop the oranges, pineapple, and cranberries to a fine slaw-like mix.
5. Place the grated mixture in a large bowl, and toss with 1 tablespoon of granulated white sugar. Mix really well.
6. Make ahead up to two days ahead, and keep in the fridge until ready to serve in an airtight container.
7. Place in a nice serving dish with a spoon and serve chilled garnished with a few plump cranberries, orange slices, and or fresh orange zest.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• Make Ahead or At The Last Minute: Whether you make this as a Thanksgiving cranberry relish just a couple hours or a couple days for your party, the best part is the flavor is amazing!
• Compliments Rich Holiday Dishes: Traditional cranberry sauce is one of those classic holiday recipes we have on our Christmas table or Thanksgiving table with roast turkey but this recipe is light and not so sweet, and pairs so well with all the rich savory dishes.
• Leftovers and variations: If you have some leftover cranberry relish, you can use it in a variety of ways. Make baked brie wrapped in puff pastry with the cranberry relish or sauce on top. Or make a cracker dip, just pour over a cream cheese mixture with jam, and Candied Pecans, and serve with crackers. The next day, you can also make turkey sandwiches topped your relish, some stuffing, or any other yummy leftovers.
• Sugar Substitutes: Another option is to use one of the sugar substitutes in place of the white sugar in this recipe.
• Fresh Cranberry Salad can also be made using any leftover relish, extra fresh cranberries, pineapple, cream cheese, and whipped cream.

Cranberry Sauce versus Cranberry Relish

So what is the difference between a classic cranberry sauce and a cranberry relish?

Well basically, the main difference comes down to the sauce recipe is cooked, and the relish is typically not heated or cooked, and raw.

Raw Cranberry Relish

Raw Cranberry Relish is uncooked and made with raw ingredients grated finely into small pieces in a food processor or food grinder, or a meat grinder attachment. A fresh relish has a lower amount of added sugar in most recipes, because there is plenty of sugar in the different fruit. Relishes have fresh flavors balanced with a sweet and tart flavor profile of the natural fruit, and the best part is the little crunch in every bite from the raw cranberries and apples is really enjoyable.

Ingredients are shredded into a slaw-like consistency, and even the orange peel is mixed in with the tart cranberries, grated apple, chopped pineapple its fruit juices.

Whole Berry Cranberry Sauces

Whole Berry Cranberry Sauces are cooked sauces with a lot more sugar so they tend to be on the sweet side with a different texture than relish.

These sauces are usually cooked over medium-high heat, and the cranberries burst during the cooking process. That causes them to release pectin, a natural thickener. And that is why cranberry sauce is almost a chutney-like consistency. In addition, most cranberry sauces call for alot of sugar anywhere from ¼-1 cup of sugar. That helps to thicken and sweeten the mixture. For the best cranberry sauce recipe, try mine. It is a really easy recipe with a tropical island twist.

• 12-ounce bag of cranberries (fresh or frozen)
• fresh pineapple (canned is fine too!) and juice
• fresh orange juice and orange zest (navel orange)
• white sugar

More Holiday Cranberry Recipes

These are some of my favorite holiday side dishes and they work for your Thanksgiving menu to make year after year...

During the Christmas season, it is great to have a non alcoholic Christmas Punch along with holiday cocktails. Serve a few appetizers, and the party is on. But you need one delicious holiday party drink without booze! It has Ocean Spray cranberry juices, ginger ale, and limeade with a festive garnish!

A modern twist on Cranberry Sauce, this simple recipe as fresh pineapple and oranges. It has a wonderfully balanced sweetness with only 4 ingredients and is much lower in sugar than traditional recipes.

A festive, easy, Christmas Salad made with fresh ingredients and a Cranberry Vinaigrette (made in a Mason jar) will be the talk of your holiday party or Christmas dinner. Shape this salad like a Christmas tree and decorate it with "garland, ornaments, and snow".

A festive red and green Christmas Holiday Salad with an easy pomegranate vinaigrette Mason jar dressing, topped with gorgeous sparkling pomegranate seeds, D'Anjou pears for the little trees, spicy candied pecans, ruby red dried cranberries, and juicy raspberries.