Cranberry Salsa

Cranberry salsa made with fresh cranberries, red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro tossed with sweetened lime juice.  Serve this super easy dip over softened cream cheese and watch it disappear!  

My sister hosted a white elephant party last Christmas where we all brought our favorite dips and sides to share.  My mom brought this cranberry salsa and I’m pretty sure I stood in the kitchen and ate half the bowl myself.  She served it over cream cheese with crackers, but it was seriously eat-with-a-spoon good!

My homemade guacamole, caramelized pecan brie, and spicy cheeseball are also great holiday appetizers!

Cranberry Salsa Ingredients

Don’t let the ingredients scare you off… I’m not a big fan of red onion individually (or even cranberries for that matter), but something magical happens when you mix this all together. 

The tart cranberries, the heat from the jalapeños, the acid from the lime juice, and sweetness from the sugar… it just works!

For this recipe, you will need:

• Cranberries
• Red onion
• Cilantro
• Jalapeño
• Lime juice
• Sugar
• Cream Cheese
• Crackers

How to Make Cranberry Salsa

I don’t like big chunks of any one ingredient in my fresh cranberry salsa, so I try to mince everything into tiny, uniform, little pieces. 

You can chop the cranberries by hand, but it’s best to use a food processor or blender.  It only takes 15-20 pulses; be careful not to turn them into mush.

To make this holiday appetizer, you will:

1. Use a blender or food processor to chop the cranberries.
2. Add the cranberries to a large bowl, set aside.
3. Mince the onion, jalapeño (seeds removed), and cilantro.  Add to the bowl with chopped cranberries and stir well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the juice of one lime and sugar.  Whisk to combine and pour over the cranberry mixture.
5. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors develop.
6. Serve over cream cheese with crackers.

My mom tends to add a little extra sugar to just about everything (ha!) so we like a heaping 2-3 tablespoons in this recipe. You can scale it back to one tablespoon, but I wouldn’t omit it entirely because you will want it to help balance out all of the tart flavors.

How to Serve

Once the salsa has time to meld and marry, spoon it over a brick of softened cream cheese.  Serve this holiday appetizer with sturdy crackers (like Wheat Thins or Triscuits) if you want to use them to scoop the salsa. 

I prefer to eat this with buttery Ritz crackers, but they aren’t quite strong enough to handle the firm cream cheese so I use a cheese knife to spread the cranberry salsa over the crackers.

Tips for Making this Recipe

• You can eat this right away, but it will be quite tart.  The flavors really pop after they’ve had time to mix and mingle.
• Take the cream cheese out to soften on the counter when you put the salsa in the fridge to chill.
• To freeze: scoop the salsa into an airtight container and freeze (without the cream cheese).  Let it thaw overnight in the fridge before placing it on a fresh brick of cream cheese and serving it up with your favorite crackers. 

More Holiday Appetizers

• Easy Guacamole
• Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
• Instant Pot Popcorn