Fresh Cranberry Salsa Recipe

Enjoy a light and refreshing salsa with this fresh cranberry salsa recipe, perfect any time of the year.

Cranberry Salsa Recipe

A fresh salsa is delightful any time of the year. Whether you’re hosting a party, preparing a side for dinner, or just want a quick snack you can’t go wrong with salsa.

While tomato-based salsas are tried and true, there’s something fun and especially bright about sweeter salsas. Mango salsa is a staple in our house, but recently my husband introduced me to a new salsa that I’ve come to crave: cranberry salsa.

I know, at first it sounds strange. Cranberries are a Thanksgiving thing, right? Sure, but why relegate such an interesting berry to just once a year? This cranberry salsa recipe is light, tangy, sweet, and perfect all year round. And if you still can’t break the Cranberry-Thanksgiving connection, why not serve it as an appetizer for your next Thanksgiving? But I think you’ll want to try it sooner.

With just four simple ingredients you can make this fresh cranberry salsa recipe with minimal effort.

Ingredients

1 package cranberries (12oz)

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1/3 bunch green onions, diced

2/3 cups sugar (or more to taste)

Preparation

Rinse cranberries and place in a food processor.
Blend the cranberries until the cranberries are in small fragments. Be careful not to over-blend and turn into a mush.
Pour the cranberry fragments into a small serving bowl.
Add the cilantro, green onion, and sugar and stir to combine.
Cover with plastic wrap and let the salsa sit in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.

Now, you may be tempted to just put all the ingredients in your food processor and blend at once. And you could. But you run the risk of everything turning into a slimy mush. By breaking the cranberries down only partially, you still get perfect-sized chunks that are well suited for a salsa. Then the sugar combines with the natural juices from the cranberries to merge the flavors together as they rest in the refrigerator.

This recipe is designed to let the cranberries really stand out, but if you prefer a milder profile you can always add more cilantro, green onions, or sugar. The sugar really balances out the tartness of the cranberries. If you get a particularly tart package of cranberries you’ll want to add more sugar in 1/4 cup increments until it suits your taste.

This salsa really is incredibly delicious. And if you’ve never made salsa before, this is definitely an easy recipe to try to ease yourself into the world of fresh salsas.

So go on, give the cranberry its time to shine.

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