With bright pops of citrus and a pleasant freshness, this cranberry relish recipe is a welcome addition to the holiday table. It's easy to make and takes only a few minutes.
Jump to Recipe | Key Ingredients | Tips | Variations | Questions
You'll need fresh cranberries, citrus fruit, and a little sugar for sweetness. Then, after just a minute or two in the food processor, the relish is done. It's the perfect complement to Thanksgiving turkey and a great alternative to traditional cranberry sauce.
I love the vibrant, tart flavors of this easy cranberry relish. It's one of my favorite ways to use cranberries and a great alternative to cranberry compote and other cooked sauces.
Why you'll love this recipe
- This is an easy recipe. You'll combine all the raw ingredients in a food processor, pulse until finely chopped, and that's it.
- It features fresh ingredients at the peak of ripeness: tart cranberries, pops of citrus, and just a little sweetener for balance.
- It's easy to make this recipe ahead, and it keeps in the fridge for a few days.
- You'll use the whole citrus fruit, including the peel, minimizing food waste and clean-up.
- Cranberries and citrus fruits are antioxidant powerhouses. Fresh orange zest is rich in quercetin and hesperidin, two potent antioxidants that help calm inflammation. Cranberries are rich in anthocyanins, which give them their beautiful color.
Key Ingredients
- Fresh, raw cranberries are the cornerstone of the recipe. They give the relish a beautiful tart flavor touched with a delicate bitter note.
- Citrus fruit complements the cranberries and gives the relish moisture. Orange is popular, but mandarin oranges are my favorite thanks to their sweet flavor, pleasant acidity, and floral undertones. You'll use the entire orange in this recipe, including the rind and the flesh.
- Sugar provides much-needed sweetness to cranberry orange relish. It also tempers the bitter notes from the orange peel while allowing its more delicate floral notes to shine. Whole, unrefined cane sugar, such as rapadura, is our favorite, but you can also use white or brown sugar.
- Apple and lemon juice help the relish to come together. Apple juice lends sweetness, while lemon juice adds another layer of acidity, ensuring the relish is sharp, sweet, and acidic all at once.
- Coriander is a warming spice with a delicate, citrus-like flavor. It's an excellent companion to both cranberries and citrus fruits and adds a light element of spice to the relish.
- Grand Marnier or another orange-flavored liqueur such as Cointreau amplifies the citrus flavor, bringing another level of intensity to the recipe.
Recipe Tips
- Sort your berries first. The bags of cranberries you find in the store often have soft, wrinkled, or mushy berries. Buy extra cranberries because there's bound to be some loss when you pick through them.
- Make sure to remove the seeds from the mandarin oranges. Or, opt for a large, seedless orange instead.
- Chop the oranges into small pieces (about ¾-inch) before adding them to the food processor; that way, the relish will be more uniform in texture.
- Use a food processor to make cranberry relish to ensure uniformity. Blenders will work but may result in inconsistent texture. Alternatively, many people prefer to use an old-fashioned food grinder, too.
- Taste the relish as you go, and make adjustments by adding sugar, more lemon juice, or more orange zest. Since fresh fruits vary in flavor by season and farm, you may find your oranges are less sweet than you prefer or that the relish needs more acidity.
Serving Suggestions
We serve this fresh cranberry relish recipe throughout the holiday season at the Thanksgiving table and for Christmas dinner.
Its vibrant acidity and pop of flavor make the relish a delicious accompaniment to slow-roasted turkey or glazed ham. It's also delicious when you mix it with cream cheese and added to a leftover turkey sandwich.
Variations + Substitutions
You can skip the orange-flavored liqueur and add ¼ teaspoon of orange extract and 1 tablespoon of orange juice instead.
Use one whole orange instead of the mandarins for a classic version of cranberry orange relish.
Try a different sweetener. We love the complex flavor of unrefined cane sugars, such as sucanat and rapadura. But you can substitute an alternative sweetener such as brown or white sugar.
A shredded fresh apple works well in this recipe, too. Many home cooks like the variation it offers. If you do add them, choose tart green apples (such as Granny Smith apples). Additionally, you might consider tossing a pinch of cinnamon, too. When adding apple, replace the orange-flavored liqueur with apple brandy.
Love this relish? Try these other Thanskgiving recipes, too.
Recipe Questions
How long does it keep?
You can keep cranberry relish in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Can you freeze it?
Yes. You can freeze it in a small, freezer-safe container. Allow it to thaw completely in the fridge before serving. Freezing may alter the texture slightly.
Can I use frozen cranberries?
No. You need to use fresh, raw cranberries for this recipe.
Can I use maple syrup or honey instead?
No. Since both maple syrup and honey are liquid sweeteners, they change the consistency of the relish. Instead, consider a dry sweetener such as coconut sugar or maple sugar.
Can I use less sugar in this recipe?
Yes. The sugar only provides sweetness in this recipe. But reducing or eliminating the sugar will dramatically change the flavor and increase the bitter notes from the orange peel.
Liz says
Yum! What a clever way to use cranberries!
Julie says
This cranberry relish is AMAZING! Thank you for sharing it.
I read this recipe the other day and had never heard of Satsuma Mandarins. I then went to Whole Foods a couple of days after reading the recipe, and wouldn't you know that WF had the Satsuma Mandarins. God has an amazing way of bringing new foods into my life. I will read a recipe with a new food I have never heard of, and then go to Whole Foods, and that food will be in the store. This happens to me on a regular basis. Pretty cool.
Brandis says
My grandma makes a similar relish, with a few differences- first it has a staggering amount of sugar in it (white sugar, of course). And she adds apple to it. I may marry the two (your less and better sugar, her apple) and see what I get.
The Milk Maven says
My mom makes this every Thanksgiving, and now that I have my own family, I do too. I'm so excited to see it here! We've never used mandarins. We usually only have navels or valencias. My mom's recipe is just: one whole orange, one bag of cranberries, and enough sugar to make it taste good. I'll try adding the apple juice this year.
Jess says
A yummy recipe! I made it with clementines and it was fabulous on top of waffles the next morning, too. Thanks for an awesome blog 🙂
allergy momma says
This recipe looks sumptuous. I can't wait to try it. Thanks!
heidi robb says
Your recipe looks so bright and refreshing.
Mary P. says
I love this uncooked cranberry relish, it is so good. I make it too, but my recipe doesn't include apple juice. I will try it with this time, thanks!!