Cranberry Jalapeno Dip (Cranberry Salsa)

Cranberries don’t just have to be relegated to the sauce for turkey; they can also be used to make some interesting dips! This recipe combines spicy jalapenos and cranberries and turns them into a spicy, sweet, and tart dip, perfect for almost anything! 

Make sure to make your own Whipped Cream Cheese for this recipe! Or, make the ultimate holiday treat check out this Bacon & Brown Sugar Chex Mix recipe to go with your dip!

Cranberry Jalapeno Dip (Cranberry Salsa)

Cranberries usually only get used when it comes to the holidays as part of a giant, gelatinized dip for turkey.

However, cranberries have this unique blend of tart bitterness and almost citrusy sweetness that makes them perfect for pairing with other flavors, especially ones with their own unique characteristics, like jalapenos.

This recipe for a tart, sweet, and spicy cranberry salsa will taste like nothing you have ever had before and will pair with basically anything, especially when you serve it with some homemade whipped cream cheese.

Cranberry Jalapeno Dip Ingredients

Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.

• one 12 ounce bag cranberries (fresh or frozen
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

• one 12 ounce bag cranberries (fresh or frozen
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 3-4 green onions rough cut into pieces (white bulb included)
• 1 jalapeno pepper (seeded and minced)
• 2 limes (juiced)
• ¾ cup white sugar (divided)
• salt to taste
• one batch whipped cream cheese

How to Make Cranberry Jalapeno Dip

• Place the cranberries, cilantro, onions, pepper, lime juice from the two limes and 1/2 cup of the white sugar in a food processor or blender; pulse until finely chopped.
• Taste test and adjust with more sugar if needed.
• Spoon out into a bowl and cover with a lid or plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate overnight to let the flavors blend together and the ingredients to macerate.
• Bring the salsa to room temperature when ready to serve.
• If desired, you can eat as is with crackers or chips, but it is excellent with the cream cheese as follows.
• Prepare the basic whipped cream cheese recipe.
• Spoon the cream cheese onto a shallow bowl or rimmed plate into an even layer
• Place the salsa on top in an even layer.
• Serve with crackers and/chip scoops.

What’s Better For This Recipe: Fresh or Frozen Cranberries?

There is always a debate when it comes to using fruit in any kind of recipe – should you use fresh fruit or frozen?

A good rule of thumb is always to consider using fresh fruit if it is at all possible like, for example, you grow them yourself, or you happen to live somewhere where you can get fresh fruit at a decent price.

However, if not, you should never feel bad for using frozen fruit instead.

Despite the running rhetoric that frozen fruit is somehow worse, frozen fruit is usually flash frozen within hours of having been picked, which actually makes them fresher and usually more juicy than many fresh alternatives.

Plus, when you are going to blend the fruit into a salsa anyway, you don’t really need to worry about the texture of the fruit, as it is all going to turn into a homogenous mush anyway!

This is the perfect sort of recipe to make using frozen fruit, as blending it really well with the other ingredients only makes it better, so you will never be able to tell the difference between fresh or frozen fruit anyway.

Can You Use A Different Herb Instead Of Cilantro?

Cilantro is the go-to herb for any kind of salsa or anything even vaguely Mexican in flavor.

Cilantro has this delicate, herbaceous, and intense flavor that pairs perfectly with a lot of really great savory flavors.

However, cilantro is also famous for being one of the few things that some people are genetically predisposed to not liking.

For a small subset of the population they have a harmless gene mutation that causes them to be unable to taste cilantro as anything other than the taste of soap!

For those that are unfortunately in this camp, feel free to use any other green herb here. Parsley would work perfectly, and even fresh basil leaves would work well, so long as you don’t mind the addition of a bit of basil flavor.

Could You Use A Spicier Chili?

Most recipes out there that use chilies tend to veer towards the jalapeno, primarily because of how cheap and prolific they are all over the world.

Despite how common they are, they also have a ton of flavor in them as well, with plenty of sweetness and almost floral spiciness that a lot of other chilies just don’t have.

However, while jalapenos are undoubtedly great, they aren’t really all that spicy.

If you are one of those people that looks forward to some real heat in their food, then you can also try subbing out the jalapeno for something with more punch to it.

For some crazy spiciness, try using habaneros instead of jalapenos, but be warned! Habaneros are not for the faint of heart, though they do have a really tasty flavor.

If you do this, just make sure to have some milk on hand, just in case, it proves too much!

Looking for more delicious Salsa, Guacamole, and Dips recipes this holiday season? Try these out:

• Garlic Aioli

• Cheese Fondue

• Baba Ganoush Recipe (Roasted Eggplant / Aubergine Dip)

Happy Cooking

Love,

Karlynn

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