Cranberry Salsa
November 26th, 2011 § 24 Comments
It is two days after Thanksgiving.
My fridge is still filled to the brim with leftovers.
Yet, the first thing I decide to make is cranberry sauce.
More cranberry sauce.
Wait! Don’t press the red X at the top of the screen just yet!
Allow me to explain myself.
This isn’t your average sauce with cinnamon and boatloads of sugar. We’ve all had enough of that this week.
This cranberry sauce, er…salsa, is different.
It’s packed with jalapenos, garlic, cilantro, and freshly-squeezed orange juice. 
It’s a flavor explosion of sweet and spicy!
Serve it with tortilla chips for an appetizer, or just spoon it over top chicken, pork, or leftover turkey.
People will think you’re a genius for thinking of this. Your family will ask you for the recipe. Your friends will put this on their Christmas lists!
Warning: Due to the addictive nature of this salsa, one batch might not be enough. I recommend doubling or tripling this recipe just to be safe! 
Cranberry Salsa
Adapted from Guy Fieri and Boulder Locavore
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ¼ cup yellow onion, minced
- 1-2 jalapeno chile peppers, cored, seeded and minced
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
- 3 tablespoons orange juice
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Combine cranberries and 4 cups of water in a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes. Drain.
- In a mixing bowl combine the garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, onion and cranberries. Mix by hand, squeezing some of the berries to a pulp and leaving the rest whole.
- Add the orange juice, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Yield: ~1 ½ cups salsa
Enjoy! 
Love! I should make cranberry sauce more
I am so glad I found your blog! I love meeting other teenage foodies.
And why wouldn’t we make Thanksgiving food right after Thanksgiving? I was planning on making stuffing tomorrow, because I crearly haven’t had enough already.
You can never have enough stuffing! I am obsessed with it!
Aw man that sounds awesome!! I love fruity salsas. I don’t have any leftover cranberry sauce, but I want to buy some cranberries to try cooking and baking with – I’ve never used fresh ones before!
Once you get the cranberries (and make this salsa!) you should also try making cranberry orange muffins. I made them last year using this recipe http://www.livelaugheat.com/2010/12/06/cranberry-orange-nut-bread/ and loved them!
This is SO clever and creative! I love it!
Cranberry sauce with jalapeno chile peppers in it??!! That would probably be too spicy for me, but my dad would love it!
I just love the sweet and spicy combo, so I know I’d love this!!
This salsa is gorgeous! What a clever twist on salsa. Yum. x
i think i could get down with this
That sounds SO unique and my interest is piqued for sure! Cranberries are on sale…(:
I made cranberry sauce for the first time this year and vowed never to eat the canned stuff again… this is an amazing twist on it! I love savory/sweet combos, and I can practically taste the spicy sweet heat!!
I actually prefer fruity salsas over spice ones, so I am quite sure I would enjoy this
I wish I could take photographs like you – where did you learn?
I just taught myself. Lots and lots of practice, too!
I’ve never eaten cranberries on thanksgiving, i dunno why! i love them in salads – im sure i would love salsa too.
Love how festive this salsa looks! The spiciness with the cranberries sounds delish!
Mhmm this looks delicious! I love how different and unexpected the flavours are. You could totally play a prank on someone and hand them a bowl of this with their ice cream…
Love it!
I’ve burned through all my Thanksgiving leftovers and am totally ready for this!
this sounds perfect..two of my fave foods in one!
Cranberry salsa is such a genius idea!
Yum! This looks fantastic, and my family always has cranberry sauce at Christmas. This year I can make it from scratch!
I bet it would be delicious! I had some atop a pork chop a few days ago and loved it!