Fresh Cranberry Relish with Apples + Oranges
This fresh cranberry relish is bright, flavorful, and beautiful! It gives your Thanksgiving dinner a pop of color and texture, with a fresh flavor to balance the warm dishes. With apples, oranges, cranberries, and a touch of sugar, this no-cook recipe is easy to make and simply delicious.
A few years ago, my mom mentioned that her mom used to make a fresh cranberry relish, different from the usual homemade cranberry sauce.
In the interest of satisfying her nostalgia and trying something new, I gathered as much info as I could to recreate this old family recipe.
I’ve made it every year since, because it turns out fresh cranberry relish is really good!
Every year, I tinker with the ratios a little bit — I wanted to find the perfect amount of sugar in particular. I’m finally happy with the recipe, and it’s time to share.
This cranberry relish has a nice crunch and texture, while still striking the perfect balance between sweet and tart. It has such a fresh, bright flavor that is really enjoyable!
If you want a unique addition to your Thanksgiving spread, or you, too, are trying to recreate childhood memories, give this fresh cranberry relish a try!
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links, I will earn a small commission at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my full disclosure here.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- No cook: Skip the cooking and opt for this fresh relish instead! It takes a fraction of the time to make and is so easy.
- Fresh flavor: Cranberry relish has a bright and fresh flavor that is so delightful with your Thanksgiving meal! The tart cranberries, apples, and oranges are perfectly balanced with a little bit of sugar.
- Unique: We are all used to the regular cooked cranberry sauce, but relish is a fun and unique dish that will have everyone asking for the recipe!
What You’ll Need
- Cranberries: Fresh only for this recipe; don’t use frozen.
- Granny Smith apples: They add the perfect tartness and crunch!
- Orange: We’ll be using the entire orange, peel included, so I recommend buying organic!
- Sugar: Not too much! It gets too sweet pretty quickly, in my opinion.
- Food processor: I really like my Ninja food processor, but any brand will work!
How to Make Fresh Cranberry Relish
Step 1. Roughly chop the apples and the oranges (leave the peels on and remove the core and seeds), then combine in a food processor. Pulse the food processor until the fruit is finely chopped.
Step 2. Add the sugar and the cranberries to the apple and orange mixture. Pulse again.
Step 3. Continue pulsing the food processor until the fruit is finely chopped and well combined.
Step 4. Transfer the relish to a bowl and refrigerate for a few hours, or until the sugar is fully dissolved.
Tips
- If you like sweeter relish, feel free to add more sugar, but I recommend tasting it before you decide.
- Make sure you give the relish adequate time in the fridge so the sugar can dissolve. This is especially important if you are using sugar that’s on the coarser side, like organic cane sugar.
- Don’t skip blending the apples and oranges first — they take a lot more processing than the cranberries, and you don’t want to turn the cranberries into a puree.
- You don’t have to save this recipe for Thanksgiving! It would make a delicious side for a variety of meals, and it could even be served as a sort of fruit salad.
Recipe FAQs
Cranberry sauce is usually cooked down into a sort of cranberry jam, while relish is uncooked — the cranberries are instead minced in a food processor or grinder.
It will last around 1 week in the fridge.
Absolutely! In fact, I recommend making it a day in advance, so the flavors have time to develop.
It would be pretty hard to make this without a food processor. Apparently, my grandma made it with an old hand-crank grinder, so you could do that! A food chopper like the one I linked could also work (but it will take much longer).
Related Recipes
- Apple Cider Sangria Mocktail
- Lime Cranberry Tequila Cocktail
- Fall Fruit Salad Recipe
- Homemade Baked Pears with Honey and Maple Whipped Cream
🍏 Enjoy the seasonal flavors of autumn with this easy recipe! If you try this fresh cranberry relish and love it, I’d love it if you come back and leave a review. Thanks for visiting!
Fresh Cranberry Relish
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries 1 bag
- 2 granny smith apples
- 1 orange with the peel
- ½ cup sugar
Instructions
- Roughly chop the apples and the oranges (leave the peels on and remove the core and seeds), then combine in a food processor. Pulse the food processor until the fruit is finely chopped.
- Add the sugar and the cranberries to the apple and orange mixture.
- Continue pulsing the food processor until the fruit is finely chopped and well combined.
- Transfer the relish to a bowl and refrigerate for a few hours, or until the sugar is fully dissolved.
Notes
- If you like sweeter relish, feel free to add more sugar, but I recommend tasting it before you decide.
- Make sure you give the relish adequate time in the fridge so the sugar can dissolve. This is especially important if you are using sugar that’s on the coarser side, like organic cane sugar.
- Don’t skip blending the apples and oranges first — they take a lot more processing than the cranberries, and you don’t want to turn the cranberries into a puree.
- You don’t have to save this recipe for Thanksgiving! It would make a delicious side for a variety of meals, and it could even be served as a sort of fruit salad.
This cranberry relish is really the best of fall in one simple dish! It’s tart, sweet, and so fresh.