It’s the season for all things cranberry especially when you being to see those beautiful dark-red cranberries making their appearance in grocery stores, farmers’ markets and holiday menu suggestions. Honestly, cranberries have never been my favorite. Their tart flavor just doesn’t resonate with my palate making me wonder how other people seemingly love these beautiful berries. Fully well knowing all the amazing health benefits of cranberries, I really did want to like cranberries. Resigned to be an abstainer of all things cranberry, I discovered Festive Cranberry Jalapeno Dip quite by accident. Much to my delight, I can now say that I am definitely a cranberry fan–as long as they are in the form of this dip!
Festive cranberry jalapeno dip contains a mixture of fresh cranberries, cilantro, jalapeno peppers and green onions over a fluffy bed of cream cheese that makes for one delicious party dip! And because of the jalapeno and cilantro, it fits right in with most Texas cuisine. The sweet-tart flavor of the cranberries with added sugar and heat from the jalapeno balance out wonderfully. So if you’re in the process of getting ready for Christmas, Thanksgiving, a casual game-day party or a backyard get-together, you won’t go wrong with this delicious cranberry jalapeno dip.
Here’s the lowdown on how to make festive cranberry jalapeno dip. By making it the day before, it allows the berries, sugar and jalapeno juices to combine well.
Festive Cranberry Jalapeno Dip Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fresh, uncooked cranberries (one regular size bag)
- 1-2 fresh jalapenos, finely chopped
- 1/4 C green onions (4-5 green onions), chopped
- 1/4 C fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 – 3/4 Cup sugar or healthy sweetener of choice
- 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice
- 1/8 tsp Himalayan salt
- 16 ounces organic softened cream cheese (whipped – optional)
NOTE: Wear disposable gloves when cutting hot peppers; the oils can burn skin. Avoid touching your face and eyes.
Instructions
- Day before. Blender: Add cranberries to a food processor and pulse once. If after once pulse there are still a lot of whole cranberries, pulse once more. Your goal is for most of the cranberries to be cut but you don’t want to puree them. Hand Food Chopper: You can also choose to use a hand food chopper instead of a blender in order to get a better “chop”. While this takes longer, you will get less liquid and, in my opinion, a prettier dip.
- Pour cranberries in a bowl and mix with jalapenos, scallions, cilantro, sugar, lime/lemon juice and salt. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge to sit overnight. If you are in a time crunch, three hours will suffice.
- When you’re ready to put the dip together, whip the softened cream cheese for about two minutes and spread evenly into a pie plate or 9×9 dish.
- Remove the cranberry mixture from the fridge and place in a small-holed colander. Let as much juice drain from it as possible. Discard juice.
- Top cream cheese with cranberry mixture. Serve with homemade and/or organic crackers.
- Enjoy! And try to be gracious with all the compliments you will get.
By the way, this cranberry-jalapeno mixture goes great with turkey, grilled or roasted pork tenderloin, fish or chicken, and makes a killer spread on a turkey or ham sandwich. I bet you can come up with even more ways to serve Festive Cranberry Jalapeno Dip!
