53 Sweet & Savory Recipes To Make With Fresh & Dried Cranberries Year-Round
Chances are, when you think of cranberries, we bet you immediately jump to cranberry sauce and… maybe not much else. No more of that! We’re here to alert you that these tart little berries are so versatile, and not just for Thanksgiving. Yup, there's plenty of sweet and savory uses for cranberries that you'll want to keep a bag of them on hand at all times, if not just for our recipe for apple and cranberry roasted chicken. Check out our 53 cranberry recipes for ideas—you’ll never relegate this great fruit to just sauce again.
Speaking of cranberry sauce, we think our recipe is the BEST. We like it so much, we’re using it to make a variety of other dishes, all fall long. Check out our cranberry-glazed turkey meatballs our cranberry brie bites, and our cranberry rosemary thumbprint cookies to see all that you can do with it. Not a fan of sauce (or need that burner space come Thanksgiving)? Try our cranberry relish instead.
Now that you’re set for Thanksgiving, let’s talk about the rest of the year. Fresh cranberries are hard to find year-round, so you’ll want to look to dried cranberries and cranberry juice to get your fix. Dried cranberries are a great addition to anything you want to have a little extra going on, both in texture and in flavor. They’re not dissimilar to raisins, but with a sweet-tart flavor that pairs well with cheese, like in our cranberry cheese ball bites or our sweet potato feta salad; with white chocolate, like in our copycat Starbucks cranberry bliss bars or our oatmeal cranberry cookies; or with citrus, like in our mandarin orange salad.
Where cranberry juice comes in clutch is in cocktails. It can add a fun spin to everything from mimosas to whiskey sours to Jell-O shots. The best part of these is that you can usually go for cranberry juice cocktail (sweetened or cut with other juice like apple) rather than the more expensive pure stuff. Try it out in all your favorite drinks too all year long.
Want other seasonal fruit inspiration? Check out our favorite orange recipes, our top apple recipes, and our best fig recipes.
Cranberry Bacon Green Beans
It takes just a little effort to take eating your vegetables from a “have to” to a “want to,” and this green beans recipe is a perfect example. Some crispy bacon, sweet cranberries, and creamy goat cheese enhance super-nutritious green beans into a Thanksgiving side dish that your family will be cheering for. The festive flavors and colors are ideal for the holidays and colder months.
Get the Cranberry Bacon Green Beans recipe.
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
While it’s overlooked by some, cranberry sauce is a key, recurring player on our Thanksgiving plate, right alongside our green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. While we understand the nostalgic appeal for the canned stuff, homemade cranberry sauce is 1,000x better. It's fresh, versatile, and so easy to make.
Get the Homemade Cranberry Sauce recipe.
Cranberry-Mimosa Breakfast Cake
This is exactly what cranberry-mimosa breakfast cake dreams are made of. Because we love our mimosas and our breakfast cakes, such as this blueberry-lemon one, we decided the world needed this fall-forward rendition.
Get the Cranberry-Mimosa Breakfast Cake recipe.
Sweet Potato Salad
This sweet potato salad is the perfect way to lighten up any autumnal dinner, and especially your Thanksgiving spread. Feta, dried cranberries, and red onions pair really nicely with the earthy sweetness of the orange super food. Did we mention it's great warm or cold (which means you can make it ahead!)?
Get the Sweet Potato Salad recipe.
Cranberry-Aperol Spritz
Cranberry adds a festive, colorful twist to your favorite cocktail, the Aperol spritz. Still bubbly and refreshing, it will make you feel like you're sipping the drink in the Mediterranean during the wintertime. It’s a fun drink to make for friends at your holiday brunch to get everyone in the festive mood too.
Get the Cranberry-Aperol Spritz recipe.
Apple & Cranberry Roasted Chicken
Some of our most popular recipes are one-skillet chicken dinners. This skillet combines chicken thighs with apples and cranberries—the perfect duo of sweet and tangy for this fall dinner.
Get the Apple & Cranberry Roasted Chicken recipe.
Cranberry Brie Bites
Our love for crescent roll recipes is no secret. Why make dough from scratch when everyone loves the canned stuff?! These are a fan favorite every fall. They always disappear within minutes, probably because the combo of salty, creamy brie, sweet-tart cranberry sauce, and crunchy pecans is PERFECT.
Get the Cranberry Brie Bites recipe.
Harvest Chicken Casserole
This satisfying casserole has ALL of your fall favorites—Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, cranberries. Make it for a big crowd, or pack it up and eat the leftovers for lunch. It's a meal prep DREAM.
Get the Harvest Chicken Casserole recipe.
Cranberry-Glazed Turkey Meatballs
This herby, savory-sweet dish is basically Thanksgiving in meatball form. With a sweet and tangy glaze made with cranberry sauce and thyme- and sage-speckled turkey meatballs, all you need is a scoop of fluffy mashed potatoes for cozy, autumnal bliss.
Get the Cranberry-Glazed Turkey Meatballs recipe.
Cranberry Apple Quinoa Salad
We don’t believe in boring salads at Delish, and crunchy apples and tart cranberries bring a lot of life to this one. The slightly sweet and lemony dressing is easy to make, and you’ll want to have extra on hand to pour it over everything.
Get the Cranberry Apple Quinoa Salad recipe.
Cranberry Whipped Feta Dip
This cranberry-topped whipped feta dip is here to save your holiday appetizer planning. Fresh feta cheese is combined with herbs, garlic, and cream cheese, whipped until super-smooth, then topped with tart homemade cranberry sauce, toasted pistachios, and honey. The result is a salty, creamy, sweet, tart, and absolutely irresistible dip.
Get the Cranberry Whipped Feta Dip recipe.
Lemon Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
Tart, tangy, and sweet, these cheesecake bars are sandwiched between a pastry crust that just happens to be super-easy to make (thank you, store-bought crescent roll dough and leftover cranberry sauce!). Plus, we snuck in one of our favorite spice combos to add a cozy touch: pumpkin spice.
Get the Lemon Cranberry Cheesecake Bars recipe.
Maple-Cranberry Baked Brie
Get your holiday parties started right with this seasonal spin on the classic appetizer. Rather than reaching for a jar of jam, prepare an easy-to-make homemade maple and cranberry jam and layer it into the buttery puff pastry-wrapped brie. To display the beautiful cranberry filling, don’t fully wrap the cheese in the puff pastry. Just fold and drape the four corners up, leaving gaps.
Get the Maple-Cranberry Baked Brie recipe.
Cranberry-Apple Sangria
Sangria is a perfect cocktail for the holidays because it’s made all in one big pitcher and can be done ahead. This recipe is fairly traditional but with a holiday twist, featuring flavors like tart cranberries and warm cinnamon. Seltzer isn’t so authentic, but I like this addition because it makes the drink a little less potent, so guests can indulge in more than one glass.
Get the Cranberry-Apple Sangria recipe.
Cranberry Apple Pie
Just like sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes, apple pie is a Thanksgiving staple. Why not push it further into the holidays by adding tart fresh cranberries into the mix?
Get the Cranberry Apple Pie recipe.
Friendsgiving Nachos
Friendsgiving nachos are the ultimate way to enjoy Thanksgiving (with minimal effort). It’s all the elements of Thanksgiving—turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce—PLUS cheese served on top of a bed of crunchy nacho chips. Gather your friends and family around this Thanksgiving tray for a Friendsgiving meal or any time you want to switch up the classic party app.
Get the Friendsgiving Nachos recipe.
Apple Cranberry Brussels Sprouts
This cranberry and Brussels sprouts salad just screams holiday time. This salad has all of my favorite seasonal flavors: apples, cider vinegar, cranberries, nuts and sharp cheese. It’s the perfect side dish for all your holiday get-togethers, especially the fancier dinners.
Get the Apple Cranberry Brussels Sprouts recipe.
Cranberry-Orange Star Bread
Star bread is magical because, although it looks incredibly impressive (and therefore difficult to make!), it’s actually very easy. Rolling the dough out into circles and sandwiching them with homemade cranberry sauce builds the layers that produce those brilliant red spirals when the bread is shaped.
Get the Cranberry-Orange Star Bread recipe.
Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole
For some, there is only one thing better than the Thanksgiving dinner: leftovers! Think of this casserole like a cheesy stuffing- and mashed potato-topped pot pie. Layer the turkey pot pie
mixture into a baking dish and top with mashed potatoes, cheese, and stuffing, then, once it comes out of the oven, serve it with whole or jellied cranberry sauce.
Get the Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole recipe.
Holiday Roasted Vegetables
The dried cranberries and balsamic vinegar add some sweetness and tartness while the pecans add an extra crunch to these holiday-worthy vegetables. We use Brussels sprouts and carrots, but feel free to add extra vegetables or swap in some of your favorites.
Get the Holiday Roasted Vegetables recipe.
Cranberry Cake
This cranberry loaf cake is the perfect balance of sweet and tart. The cranberries will burst and release all of their juices while baking, making each bite exciting. The sugar topping adds a subtle crunch and the sour cream keeps this cake moist for days.
Get the Cranberry Cake recipe.
Cranberry Bread Pudding
This autumnal take on bread pudding is the perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and rich. With bright pops of cranberries, almond- and clove-scented custard, and a sweet icing made with orange zest, it’s impressive enough to serve for dessert at a dinner party, and not to sweet to serve as breakfast.
Get the Cranberry Bread Pudding recipe.
Thanksgiving Leftover Tacos
People love a Thanksgiving sandwich, but there’s something about using a tortilla (see our Thanksgiving Crunchwrap) that takes Turkey Day leftovers to a whole new level. Especially when you top that with turkey that has been made brand-new in a pseudo-mole sauce spiked with gravy, chipotle chiles, and dark chocolate.
Get the Thanksgiving Leftover Tacos recipe.
Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls
These swirly beauties feature a soft, fluffy tangzhong dough, brown sugar cinnamon butter, and cranberry sauce, creating a sweet-tart contrast that will make you want to sneak a second helping. Topped with a creamy sweet orange glaze and baked in a bit of heavy cream, this dessert (or breakfast!) is sure to become the star of the sweets table at your next holiday party.
Get the Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls recipe.
Cranberry Brie Turkey Melts
Since Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday that screams cheese, we’ve made it our mission to employ the idea in leftovers. These cranberry brie turkey melts are precisely what they call for: rustic slices of artisan bread, tangy cranberry sauce, creamy buttery brie, and a mound of garlicky leftover turkey. We’re always into sandwiches that mimic a couple of classics.
Get the Cranberry Brie Turkey Melts recipe.
Thanksgiving Crunchwrap
Tired of the same ol' leftover Thanksgiving sandwich? This crunchwrap is the perfect way to shake things up. Don't have all the leftover ingredients? No worries! Just use what you've got. Everything short of pumpkin pie will work just fine. 😎
Get the Thanksgiving Crunchwrap recipe.
Cranberry Orange Whiskey Sour
We crave cranberry cocktails all winter long, and this is our go-to cocktail this holiday season. It's warm and spicy from the whiskey and ginger beer, but refreshing and tart from the cranberry and citrus. The perfect cocktail combo.
Get the Cranberry Orange Whiskey Sour recipe.
Thanksgiving Leftover Salad
We'll always love a leftover sandwich, but sometimes after the big day, we could use something a little lighter. Enter: this perfect salad. Leftover stuffing gets turned into irresistible croutons, and a vinaigrette is made from any remaining cranberry sauce. Feel free to add any leftover veggies from Thanksgiving too.
Get the Thanksgiving Leftover Salad recipe.
Copycat Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars
This is the easiest Starbucks copycat recipe. These chewy blondies are studded with white chocolate chips and cranberries and then get a sweet orange cream cheese frosting and an extra drizzle of white chocolate just for fun.
Get the Copycat Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars recipe.
Cranberry Mimosas
While the classic mimosa combo of 4 parts champagne and 1 part fresh orange juice can certainly hold its own, this recipe adds in a fun holiday twist by swapping the orange juice with fresh cranberries, cranberry juice, rosemary, and a hint of lime.
Get the Cranberry Mimosas recipe.
Broccoli Salad
This is how you get broccoli haters to eat the green stuff. Thank you, bacon! Lightly coated in an apple cider vinegar dressing, and tossed with almonds, carrots, red onions, and bacon, this salad is loaded with flavor and texture. It's the perfect make-ahead side for a summer BBQ.
Get the Broccoli Salad recipe.
White Chocolate Cranberry Orange Biscotti
A lot of treats consider themselves coffee/tea companions, but none hold a candle to the crispy, crunchy goodness that is the humble biscotti. The dough for these biscotti is a classic flavor combination of cranberry and orange, but the finished cookie is dipped in white chocolate and coated in chopped pistachios to add a little extra indulgence.
Get the White Chocolate Cranberry Orange Biscotti recipe.
Ginger-Cranberry Whiskey Sour
This wintery version of a whiskey sour features punchy ginger flavor and tangy cranberry juice. Though it requires minimal ingredients, it’s full of strong, bright flavors that perfectly complement rich holiday hors d'oeuvres like baked brie and bacon-wrapped dates.
Get the Ginger-Cranberry Whiskey Sour recipe.
Cranberry Pie
The filling of this pie tastes like a combination of coconut panna cotta, cranberry curd, and, mysteriously, raspberry sorbet. The crust, made of crushed Biscoff, is the perfect foil for the sweet-tart filling. Plus, it tastes like cookie butter.
Get the Cranberry Pie recipe.
Cranberry Bread
Few flavors go together as well as cranberry and orange. This cranberry bread is full of warm spices and a sweet orange glaze that gets drizzled on while the bread is still slightly warm so that it can seep into the bread. Check out our cranberry cheesecake banana or our sparkling cranberry cheesecake too for even more cran-orange flavor.
Get the Cranberry Bread recipe.
Cranberry Brie Biscuit Dip
Not only is this dip perfect for fall parties, it's the best way to use up any extra homemade cranberry sauce! If you don't have any of those, canned works too. Just make sure you use whole berry—not jellied—canned cranberry sauce.
Get the Cranberry Brie Biscuit Dip recipe.
Christmas Punch
This holiday punch forgoes all the added sugar and instead derives its natural sweetness from apple cider. Add some spice from ginger beer and tartness from unsweetened cranberry juice, and you have a sophisticated, festive punch for your next Christmas party.
Get the Christmas Punch recipe.
Cranberry Brie Pull-Apart Bread
Pull-apart bread reaches a whole new level, thanks to brie and cranberry sauce. Use your favorite homemade sauce recipes, but store-bought works too if you're short for time.
Get the Cranberry Brie Pull-Apart Bread recipe.
Mandarin Orange Salad
When it comes to dinner-worthy salads, this one takes the cake. The mandarin oranges give it a burst of freshness while the Parmesan gives it a bite of sharpness and nuttiness. Its homemade poppy seed vinaigrette (super-simple!) is unbelievably delicious—you'll want to make it all fall long.
Get the Mandarin Orange Salad recipe.
Virgin Cranberry Basil Sangria
Sangria without the wine? Yes, please. The fruit is the real star here—use whatever’s in season and get creative with the combination (think cranberries, orange slices, and rosemary for the holidays and mixed berries and mint for summer).
Get the Virgin Cranberry Basil Sangria recipe.
Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
Looking for a super-satisfying new favorite cookie? We found it: This amazing cookie has the kick of tangy cranberry balanced with creamy, sweet white chocolate, all rounded out with satisfying, good-for-you oats.
Get the Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies recipe.
Cranberry Stuffing
You don't need meat to make a stuffing everyone will love. This vegetarian option is filled with everyone's favorite Thanksgiving flavors—apples! cranberries! sage! thyme!. If anyone complains about meatless stuffing, just send them home without dessert. 😉
Get the Easy Cranberry Stuffing recipe.
Fruitcake
Fruitcake is an iconic holiday dessert that doesn't get the love it deserves. This is the one you should take the risk on though. Freshly baked, fruitcake is delicious and studded with dry fruit and pecans and warmly spiced. The glaze is optional, but is a helpful sweet addition.
Get the Fruitcake recipe.
Cranberry Jell-O Shots
The second-best use for fresh cranberries, if you ask us. These are the perfect end to a raucous Friendsgiving.
Get the Cranberry Jell-O Shots recipe.
Cranberry Rosemary Thumbprint Cookies
Cranberry sauce isn't just a side for turkey anymore. To add even more festivity to this thumbprint cookie, we speckle the dough with finely chopped rosemary—and it tastes just as good as it looks.
Get the Cranberry Rosemary Thumbprint Cookies recipe.
Fresh Cranberry Relish
Unlike traditional cranberry sauce, this easy relish doesn't require any cooking and can be made entirely in the food processor—which means one more free burner and one less dirty saucepan to clean. Win-win!
Get the Fresh Cranberry Relish recipe.
Mistletoe Margaritas
Tart cranberries go perfectly with tequila and triple sec in these seasonal margs. If you prefer your margaritas on the rocks, feel free to skip the blender step (they'll be just as delicious).
Get the Mistletoe Margaritas recipe.
Cocktail Meatballs
Cranberry sauce, BBQ sauce, sweet chili sauce, and Worcestershire sauce combine to make the incredible sauce for these meatballs. It's sweet, smoky, and salty, and your Thanksgiving party guests won't be able to stop eating them.
Get the Cocktail Meatballs recipe.
Apple Salad
While we love this recipe for its tangy blue cheese, bittersweet cranberries, and fresh shallot vinaigrette, this salad is endlessly customizable. Add some grapes and make a pseudo-Waldorf salad. Toss in some croutons or roasted chickpeas for crunch. Whatever you do, don't skip on the apple or leafy greens!
Get the Apple Salad recipe.
Harvest Bowls
These brown rice bowls have all your fall favorites—Brussels sprouts, kale, cranberries, and sweet potatoes. You're going to want to put the Dijon apple cider dressing on everything.
Get the Harvest Bowls recipe.
Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad
Take your chicken salad into fall with the addition of cranberries and walnuts. This is equally good on a sandwich as it is in lettuce wraps or on its own.
Get the Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad recipe.
Spiced Walnut & Spinach Pinwheel Christmas Tree
This adorable appetizer is guaranteed to be a hit with your family and Christmas party guests. First, roll up spinach, goat cheese, and walnuts into pre-made crescent rolls and slice into pinwheels. Then simply arrange those pinwheels in a tree shape and bake, and finally top with cranberries and candied walnuts.
Get the Spiced Walnut & Spinach Pinwheel Christmas Tree recipe.
Sparkling Cranberry Cheesecake
This cheesecake will be the star of all your holiday parties this year. Sugared cranberries look crazy impressive on top, but are actually very simple to make.
Get the Sparkling Cranberry Cheesecake recipe.
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