Fresh cranberry salsa with cilantro, jalapeño and citrus has big, bright flavors and comes together in just 5 minutes! Goes great with crackers or bread with cream cheese for an appetizer, served with chips, over baked brie or on sandwiches!

We had such an amazing Thanksgiving holiday! Here's just a few of the highlights:

• Lots of shopping, prepping and cooking time with my mom in the kitchen. Makes it so much more fun! ❤️
• Our first family 5K turkey trot. Normally my husband and I run it, but this year we walked it and had the kids along with us. We all made it to the finish line so that was a win!
• We got in a boat ride, fishing from the dock, some beach time, a visit to the Children's Museum that our kids just adore and lots of good family time. 
• On Saturday, we returned home in time to catch Home Alone set to our local symphony orchestra, which was a fun - although late - night with the kids.

So, with both my belly and my heart full, I'm ready to dive back into real life, work, school and all the laundry this week.

Today’s recipe amuses me because I never used to like cranberry anything.

I didn’t eat cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving until I was well into my 20s. I'm not really sure if I had tried it and didn’t like it or if I just passed it by without a taste.

But now I love the stuff!

I make a 15-minute easy cranberry sauce at least a couple of times during the holiday season.

I eat it for Thanksgiving dinner of course, but also love having it on hand for cranberry balsamic pork chops, whole wheat cranberry sauce muffins and just to use with sandwiches!

Today I’m taking cranberries for a fun spin with this easy fresh cranberry salsa!

It’s a little bit sweet, a tad bit spicy with all kinds of bursting-in-your-mouth citrus flavor!

Wondering how to make a cranberry jalapeño salsa?

It’s SO easy!

You put all of your ingredients into a food processor and pulse it to break everything down.

You want the mixture to be a little bit chunky, so don’t let the machine just run until it's all mush.

But otherwise, that’s it! Add to the food processor, pulse a few times and serve it up! It really takes just 5 minutes!

You can make this a spicy cranberry salsa by adding in a second jalapeño or just leaving the membranes in from the jalapeño. Taste and adjust as you want.

Notes on fresh cranberry salsa:

• I prefer using lime juice and zest, but you could substitute a lemon instead. I’ve also seen a cranberry orange salsa so I think even orange zest and orange juice would work here.
• As mentioned, you can leave some membranes in or add a second jalapeño if you want to spice this up a bit. As is, it’s pretty mild.
• You need to prep this ahead of serving it because it needs to go in the fridge for at least an hour to help the flavors combine and mellow.
• You could possibly get away with just ⅓ cup of sugar in this recipe, if you are looking to reduce it, but I wouldn’t go below that. (It also will depend on how tart your cranberries are.)
• This salsa will release more juice as it sits. You can strain it a bit or used a slotted spoon if you need it to be drier when you go to serve it.

I love that this is such a beautiful, festive dish too! ❤️

And while it of course works for Thanksgiving, with the cranberry tie-in, it’s also a great dish to use for a holiday appetizer.

That bright, gorgeous red color and the pop of green from the fresh herbs gives it such a Christmas and holiday-time vibe!

(Which is lovely, too, cause I don’t know about you, but I feel like I need ALL kinds of appetizer ideas and recipes during the holiday season. There's always so many parties!)

As for serving up this easy cranberry salsa, you’ve got lots of options!

I think my favorite is to pair it with cream cheese.

I think cranberry and cream cheese go so well together because they really balance each other out and make a great creamy, but bright combo.

(See my leftover Thanksgiving turkey cranberry cream cheese sandwich!)

You can use crackers or baguette slices to put those two together for a party appetizer. Everyone will love it!

But that’s not the only option!

Ways to serve cranberry salsa:

1. Serve with tortilla chips or buttery crackers for dipping.
2. Top baked brie with the salsa and some fresh herbs for a beautiful and festive appetizer. (I am SO doing this over the holidays!)
3. Use it as a garnish for turkey sandwiches or wraps.
4. Make nachos with your leftover Thanksgiving turkey and use this salsa on top.
5. And as mentioned, my go-to is to pair it with cream cheese on some crackers or baguette slices. You can add some extra fresh herbs or green onions for a garnish.

Lastly, I should mention that this keeps for at least a week in the fridge.

The herbs begin to lose their color after a few days, but I’ve had this 10 days later and it still tastes great!

I hope you have a warm and wonderful holiday season, with plenty of good eats!

XO,

Kathryn

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Yield: About 2 ½ cups

Fresh cranberry salsa {5 minutes}

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Fresh cranberry salsa with cilantro, jalapeño and citrus has big, bright flavors and comes together in just 5 minutes!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 (12 oz.) bag fresh cranberries
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ cup green onions, roughly chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped (see notes)
• Zest and juice of 1 lime (see notes)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients into a large food processor and pulse until well mixed. Be careful not to over mix, you want a slightly chunky consistency and don’t want it to turn into liquid mush.
2. Transfer the cranberry salsa to a bowl cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours before serving. (This helps the flavors blend and mellow.)
3. Serve with crackers or chips, or with cream cheese over baguette slices. Or serve over baked brie for a holiday appetizer or use to add to a sandwich or wrap.

Notes

You can add a second jalapeño or leave some of the membranes in if you want to spice this up a bit. As is, it’s pretty mild.

I prefer using lime juice and zest, but you could substitute a lemon or even an orange instead.

You could possibly get away with just ⅓ cup of sugar in this recipe, if you are looking to reduce it, but I wouldn’t go below that.

This salsa will release more juice as it sits. You can strain it a bit or used a slotted spoon if you need it to be drier.

This salsa keeps for at least a week in the fridge. The herbs begin to lose their color after a few days, but I’ve had this 10 days later and it’s still great!

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