Cranberry Relish – Serve With A Side Of Love
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My mother loves homemade cranberry relish, she always has. Me, I was a died-in-the-wool devotee of “the kind with the rings on it” from an early age and only discovered the beauty of homemade as an adult.
Yup, I loved the stuff from the can.
Since we only had cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving and at my grandmother’s house, I thought it was her “special” recipe. She always served it in an oval pressed glass dish, all sliced up and ready to go.
Which just goes to prove that even canned cranberry sauce can be the part of a cherished memory. When it comes down to it, it’s not about how many hours were spent on the food, whether it was Aunt Charlie’s recipe or from the Kroger deli (but we sure do love our Aunt Charlie’s recipes!), its the time together that counts and canned cranberry sauce can be served with just as much love as homemade.
But for those of y’all who like it how my Mama does (and myself these days, too!), here is a handy little recipe that can be made up quick as a wink and is sure to impress – almost as much as the fact that you loved them enough to make it.
Isn’t it wonderful to come from good people? ~sighs~ I sure think so.
You’ll need: Sugar, cranberries, walnuts*, Crushed pineapple, and lemon juice.
*You will only need one cup of crushed pineapple but I only had a large can so used that and ate the rest. ~sighs~ It’s a tough job…
*Walnuts are optional. Feel free to substitute pecans or leave the nuts out altogether if you like.
Drain pineapple juice into a cup. Add enough water to make one cup of juice.
Place cranberries in medium to large sauce pot.
Cranberries are so very pretty. Have any of y’all ever strung them for the tree?
Add pineapple juice/water
and sugar
Stir that up and bring it to a boil, stirring every now and then.
Continue boiling until all of the berries are popped and mixture is thickened.
You may actually hear them pop, which is pretty cool and impresses kids.
We have to impress them every chance we get.
Once all of the berries are popped, remove from heat and add all other ingredients (including lemon juice).
Remember, if you’d rather not add nuts that is fine, too!
I usually omit nuts from all of my recipes because of how expensive they are but I was making this for Mama and she loves them in it. I reckon if she brought me into this world and spent all those years at home raising me, I can spring for some chopped walnuts on the baking aisle…
Ooh yum!
Pour into bowl and allow to cool.
Once cool the mixture will be “jelled” and resemble store bought cranberry relish in texture, but much more impressive in taste – because YOU made it!
Cranberry Relish
- 12 ounce bag fresh cranberries
- 1 Cup crushed Pineapple (reserve juice and use remaining pineapple for another use*)
- 1/2 C Sugar
- 1/2 C Walnuts
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
Drain pineapple juices into measuring cup. Add enough water to make one cup of liquid. Place cranberries, cup of liquid, and sugar into a medium saucepot. Stir. Bring to a boil and cook over medium high heat until all of the berries are popped and mixture is thickened, stirring every now and then.
*My definition of “another use” in this case means that it gets to be your snack while you’re waiting on the cranberries to cook. ~grins~
Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of living.
~Kahlil Gibran
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I hope my Aunt Charlie sees this! ~hugs~
Gratefully,
Christy
I have an Aunt Charlie too and she’s a great cook! Hi to yours!
I might use this recipe this year. I have a great one but it’s much more complicated and being that this is my first year hosting (rather than just bringing the cranberries) something simpler might be in order.
Christy, this recipe looks and sounds delicious, but I have to confess that I still love canned cranberry sauce. My mother always sliced it and put in in a special Christmas dish also. I do the same.
Alright now Darlene, please tell me I’m not the only one who likes to take canned cranberry sauce and moosh it up into my dressing….
~waits with baited breath~
I’m counting on y’all here! lol
I like mine mushed up in dressing on top of turkey in between a buttery, flakey croissant for the day after sammich!
)
I just about passed out from sheer delight just thinking about that…
I wonder if you could use brown sugar with this recipe?
As a rule, I’m the one who likes the real cranberry
sauce – that is, the kind that slides out of a can (lol), but this
recipe looks easy enough that even I couldn’t mess it up!
Thanks, again, Christy, for taking the mystery out of cooking!
Being able to see all the ingredients, and then the step-by-step
photos has made dinnertime planning much less burdensome for me!
Thanks for all you do! It’s a simple thing, but it means more
than you know!
Now Carla, you are asking a brown sugar L-O-V-E-R so YES, I’d definitely put brown sugar in if if you are inclined to. I’m actually kicking myself for not having done that now that you mention it!
You are so very sweet, thank you for your kindness! I have to admit its comments like this that keep me going! ll
Love and Gratitude,
Christy
Oh my gosh, this sounds SOOO good! I am trying to wean my ‘Bama boy off “the stuff with rings”! Oh, it is okay in a pinch, but this sounds so good (he loves pineapple) that we may just have a winner here! Thanks Christy!!!!
I love cranberry sauce in a can. I can make some cornbread dressing and eat on it forever. Well.. until I start to turn purple anyway.
I think I am the only one in the whole wide world who makes cranberry relish from uncooked cranberries. I have never, ever seen the recipe any where, but it is the BEST! Basically process your cranberries, a peeled, skinned orange, sugar and walnuts in a food processor and allow to sit for 24 hours so the flavors come together. It is YUMMY!
Not that I would refuse this version because this is almost exactly as my mother in law makes it. But I’m hosting Thanksgiving this year so I can have my cranberry relish the way I like it!
Hi Heather. You are not alone. My mother made a relish much the same way, but I don’t remember the nuts, and as I recall, her relish had some peel in it. Thanks for reminding me. =-)
I also make this uncooked cranberry relish–actually I make both kinds so there is a choice. I LOVE the uncooked kind. I make it with black walnuts (which I buy in the South when I go home and bring back with me to NY–I am a displaced Southerner).
I place a bag of cranberries, a quartered navel orange (with skin) & 1/2 cup white sugar into the food processor. I “pulse” till chopped. Then add walnuts………chill & it is yummy. No need to cook.
The navel orange skin is NOT bitter but gives a deeper orange taste. For those who want it sweeter, add more sugar!!
I’m a die hard canned fan! My nanny always sliced it up and put it on a pretty dish. Now I do the same at Thanksgiving on one of her small relish dishes.
I’m always tempted to try making my own because it’s so pretty, but my hubby won’t touch the whole berry kind in a can so I’m not sure if he’ll go for this one. Maybe I’ll just splurge and have both. Can’t have too much food on Thanksgiving, right?
Mama has ALWAYS served both!!!
I love the pretty dishes!
Oh, darned if I didn’t forget to say how good that relish looked!
A note to Heather… You are not the only one who makes cranberry relish from uncooked cranberries. I do a very similar recipe, but I grind the cranberries, a whole orange (including rind) that has been seeded and cut into wedges and pecans. I then add about 1/2 cup of sugar. Sometimes I make a small box of rasberry jello using only the 1cups of hot water, then pour that into the cranberry mixture and chill.
My mama also adds chopped celery and chopped apples.
But I too like the sauce from the can. It has it’s own special place!
I still love the stuff with the rings in it.
But I actually love real cranberry relish too..especially with a bit of orange peel grated into it..yum…
In response to Heather @ Not a DIY Life about making cranberry relish with uncooked cranberries, well I do just that EXCEPT being from the South, I naturally use Jell-O and make it congealed!!! And here it is!! Now Heather, I’m not implying that you aren’t from the South, but I just don’t know where you are from. So I’m not being mean or anything!!! LOL! And I LOVE the way you say you fix your cranberry relish. I’ll have to try it.
Claudine from Texas
Claudine’s Cranberry Holiday Salad
2 cups raw cranberries — washed and coarsely ground*
2 cups Mandarin oranges — drained and cut up
1 (8 oz)can crushed pineapple — drained
1 cup sugar
1 (6 oz) package Black Cherry Jell-O
2 cups boiling water
4 stalks celery — chopped
3/4 cup walnuts — (OR pecans) chopped
*CLAUDINE’S NOTES: The cranberries grind better if they are frozen.
Wash and sort cranberries; grind coarsely and add the sugar.
Mix well and set aside.
Dissolve Jello in the boiling water and let cool.
Add cranberries and sugar mixture, Mandarin oranges, pineapple, celery and walnuts.
Mix well.
Pour into a 2 quart mold or dish and chill until firmly set.
Unmold onto a plate and pipe a design around edges and top with cream cheese if desired.
When I first developed this recipe, Jell-O did not have the Cranberry flavor. You might want to try the Cranberry flavor instead of the Black Cherry flavor. You could use Strawberry flavor, also.
My first cranberry relish using fresh cranberries. Thank you for sharing.
Donna in Texas
Ooh, my oldest daughter and I love cranberry orange relish too. She will be missing it this year and it will make me sad as she is living overseas, My grandmother always made it when I was growing up and she always brought it in a beautiful green glass dish. She gave me the dish when I got married 31 years ago so I could use it in my owm home.
Christy, why not serve all 3. The “solid” cranberry sauce in the can, the cranberry sauce with whole berries in the can and the “really good stuff” made with cranberries and oranges done in your food processer. All you have to do is toss the berries, the orange that has been cut into chunks and just a bit of sugar to taste. I always make mine about a week prior to serving so it can meld in the fridge. It is “really good stuff, Maynard”. (it is also good served with pork). Try it, you just might like it.
Foustein,
You’re absolutely right!
Gratefully,
Christy
I HAVE to tell you what my son did about cranberry sauce….everyone ate all the cranberry sauce (canned-solid stuff) so my son used grape jelly instead…even convinced everyone else that it was just as good…so this Thanksgiving we will have cranberry sauce AND grape jelly
Now THAT is CHEAP!!!!
Christy,
I had to smile at the cranberry sauce sliced and served in an oval pressed glass dish. Ditto. Mom did it, and so do I.
Have you ever canned the relish went it was hot? I wanted to add these to some harvest baskets for gifts.
Hey Tina! I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t can this, especially with the acidity of the cranberries. I’d just pack it hot into the sterile jars and be sure to process it in a hot water bath according to the size jars you use.
GREAT IDEA!
Thanks for the recipe – I have a sensitivity to Red dye #40 and have had problems eating the canned stuff. For years I have just deprived myself. I shall try a new tradition this year!
This sounds wonderful! I will have to try it, thank you Christy for another recipe. I am learning so many cool, neat tips and tricks to improve my “kitchen game” from SP.
I always had cranberry sauce from a can (GASP!!!) I knooow…….. and I am from the South too, wow, deprived childhood, huh?
So, years ago, I convinced my small son to eat it by telling him “It is jellied jello.” with a straight face. It worked, he ate it. I love it when kids try new things to eat.
~waves~ Happy Thanksgiving. Blessings on all ya’ll too.
Terri, I just had to thank you for that “jellied jello” line. I’ve always wondered how to convince little ones to try it. Usually the second you say cranberry, their faces scrunch up and they refuse to touch it. I’ll try your line and see if it doesn’t work. ^_^
The photos of the cranberries is so pretty. I actually made my own cranberry sauce last year for Christmas and took photos that I put on my FB. lol I just thought they were too pretty not to.
The cranberries, being tart as they are, were still a little too sour after I made it, but then I only made mine with the cranberries, water and sugar. The pineapple juice sounds like a good addition.
I usually make the cranberry sauce with just cranberries, water, and sugar (and sometimes cloves). This year I’ll have to try your version, it looks so delicious!!
This is great! I’d always wanted to try my hand at making a cranberry relish but hey, the stuff in a can *is* good. ^_^
I’ll give this a go this Thanksgiving. Although, I might substitute oranges instead (my family isn’t too big on the texture of cooked pineapple for some reason).
I make the cranberries that are ground raw with orange and I always grind an apple into it as it makes it sweeter and a bit milder. We always called it cranberry relish. I consider it an “essential” at the Thanksgiving feast. It freezes well too. I love the canned jellied stuff sliced thin and it on a cold turkey sandwich and adds moisture.
[...] Cranberry Relish – Serve with a side of love [...]
Oh, MY!!! Thank you! I’m a southern gal stuck in MI and really, really wanted to make cranberry relish for my family this year (can take the girl out of the south, but not the south out of the girl). This is precisely the recipe I was looking for. I probably will add a little chopped apple (after the relish cools) for a little added crunch. So very glad to find this website!
If you want a really Wonderful taste. Try putting a can of Vernor’s Ginger Ale Soda in with the cranberries. That ginger taste mixed with the tart cranberry flavor and some orange peel just has that special Holiday smell and taste to it. I always use brown sugar as well. And a pinch of salt. It is O.M.G. Good. (Oh My Goodness) Good.
Hope Everyone one has a wonderful time with their special folks this Thanksgiving. ” Remember ” Treat every special gathering like it might be the last. For some it truely might be. With Love to all. Stephanie-SoutherngirlinOcala.