10-Minute Fresh Cranberry Relish
Today I have my mom’s 10-minute recipe for fresh Raw Cranberry Relish for Thanksgiving. It is made with raw cranberries and orange. There’s no cook time so it is so easy! It is the perfect tangy sauce to go with your Roasted Turkey this year.
I originally published this recipe on November 22,2014. I have updated the text and images to reshare the recipe with you today.
Table of contents
My mom’s cranberry relish was one of those Thanksgiving traditions that we could always look forward to every year when I was a kid.
There were usually a few different cranberry sauces on the table: a cooked cranberry sauce, my mom’s fresh cranberry relish and then someone always brought the canned kind too! I usually took a little of each! (Yes even the canned kind! What can I say? I love cranberry sauce!)
Fresh Raw Cranberry Relish Recipe Highlights
- It only takes 10 minutes, maybe even a little less.
- It can be made 5 days ahead and even freezes well.
- Leftovers are amazing spread on homemade wheat bread with leftover turkey and gravy! (I even add on a little sausage stuffing on mine!)
- This is a small batch, but it can easily be doubled
- Sweeten it up to your flavor preference
What’s The Difference Between Cranberry Sauce and Relish?
Cranberry sauce is made from cooked cranberries. Cranberry relish is not cooked but instead made with ground or finely chopped raw fresh cranberries.
How To Make Raw Cranberry Relish
Use Whole Unpeeled Orange
- I’d say the best part of this recipe is the flavor the orange rind adds to this recipe. To start, cut it into two halves. Then cut one of the halves into six chunks. If you see any seeds, remove them with the knife tip.
- Process the orange chunks in the food processor by pulsing them until they are about the size of peas or small marbles.
Add Whole Raw Cranberries
- Add in the cranberries, and pulse some more until the mixture is chopped up finely. Don’t forget to scrape it down.
- If you want to use frozen cranberries, that is fine. I recommend thawing them first so they are easier to grind up. They will seem juicy, but that’s not a problem. Once the cranberries are ground and mixed with the sugar and jam and then refrigerated they will become juicier and juicier anyway, so the results will be almost identical.
Add Jam and Sugar to Sweeten.
If you want to use an unrefined sugar source try maple syrup or honey. Also if you prefer a non-nutritive sweetener, just skip the jam and add your preferred sweetener to taste.
- To add the jam, take a couple of tablespoons of raspberry jam and set them in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the jam to loosen it up.
- I use regular high-sugar jam (about 50 cal per tablespoon) for this recipe, since its purpose is to add sweetness. As I mentioned, only two tablespoons was sweet enough for me. If you like more raspberry flavor, add more jam and possibly a little less sugar.
- Add in sugar with the cranberry mixture and stir. Start with two tablespoons, taste and add more if you want. Just make sure to stir until the sugar is dissolved before you taste.
How to Store Raw Cranberry Relish
- Transfer the cranberry sauce to a resealable container and pop it in the fridge for up to five days before you serve it.
- This cranberry sauce will become moister, and let off liquid as it sits in the fridge. Stir it before transferring it to a serving bowl.
More Thanksgiving Recipes
- These Simple Skillet Green Beans are possibly one of the most popular recipes on my entire website, and they’re great for Thanksgiving because they’re made right on the stovetop in one skillet.
- This Easy Cheesy Stove-top Butternut Squash recipe is so savory and good, you’ll make it a tradition.
- You can’t go wrong with Simple Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, because when it comes down to it, you’re just gonna add on gravy anyway!
- This Make Ahead Cornbread Stuffing recipe is made with pecans, apples and a little splash of hard cider!
- Make sure you check out my Thanksgiving Planner to help plan out and get ready for your big feast!
Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!
Happy Cooking! ~Katie
Print10-Minute Fresh Cranberry Relish
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 1/2 cups 1x
Description
Today I have my mom’s 10 minute recipe for fresh Raw Cranberry Relish for Thanksgiving. It is made with raw cranberries, whole orange that has been ground in the food processor, then mixed with raspberry jam and sugar. It can be made up to 5 days ahead!
Ingredients
- 1/2 navel orange (with skin), cut into 6 pieces
- 12 ounces cranberries, picked over and rinsed
- 2 tablespoon raspberry jam, or to taste
- 3 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
Instructions
- Remove any seeds from orange (if there are any) and place in food processor fitted with steel blade attachment. Process until chopped into pieces no larger than a pea. Add cranberries and pulse until the cranberries are finely chopped.
- Whisk raspberry jam in a medium bowl to loosen. Add cranberry mixture and sugar and stir thoroughly until the jam is incorporated and the sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until serving.
Notes
It is fine to use frozen cranberries, but it is easier to grind them in the food processor if they are thawed first. They will be more juicy initially, but after everything is mixed together and refrigerated for several hours, will be indistinguishable from relish made with unfrozen cranberries.
If you do not like to use plain white sugar, sub in maple syrup or honey. If you prefer a non-nutritive sweetener, skip the jam and add preferred sweetener to taste.
Can be made up to 5 days ahead.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 cup
- Calories: 43
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 2 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 0 g
Please don’t tell your life story, I just want the receipe.
Hey Karen, So nice of you to come by. I really appreciate your perspective. Feel free to use the “Jump To Recipe” button I provide at the top of the page. It’s there for those of you who don’t care about me or my life story. Have a great Thanksgiving.
This is absolutely amazing! Such a great addition to our Thanksgiving menu!
Hi Toni. So glad you like the relish. Happy Thanksgiving.
This is so delicious! I love the texture and all the flavor!
Hi Laura. So glad you like the relish. Thank you for coming back to rate too. Have a great day!
I already printed this and can’t wait to try it!
This has become a family favorite!! Sometimes I add chopped walnuts too. Thanks for a great recipe
This is the perfect side dish for the holidays! I love it so much!
such a beautiful dish! perfect for the holidays!
My mother used to make this, and I’ve continued. We add chopped walnuts to it, for some crunch. I’ve also started freezing small containers of it before fresh cranberries disappear from the markets; it freezes beautifully and is so refreshing with poultry or pork on a hot summer day!
I love the idea of adding walnuts to this recipe. Thanks for the tip about freezing it! What a great idea. I’ll have to make another batch just for that purpose!
When my husband and I were first married, I found recipes for cranberry orange relish, cranberry apple relish and I think there were a few more. It seems that they were written on the Ocean Spray cranberry bag. I made them all and they were wonderful. I might add that I’m practically a vegetarian and don’t eat meat gravy. I absolutely love putting cranberry sauce on my mashed potatoes. It’s both beautiful and delicious. The idea of putting the leftover relish on pancakes that you are making sounds intriguing. I love all the memories you included. In our local extended family, there were fifteen members and we had fantastic potluck feasts for every conceivable holiday. How I miss those great times! Many of the people are now dead. I live far away and haven’t had a feast with the extended family in over forty years.
Just wanted to say, my mom had the same set of silverware…what memories.
I am a huge spoon collector. I love the detail on the handles. What a lovely classic set to remember from your childhood.
Hi Kate, I am going to make this later today. Can I use frozen cranberries or should I have my husband pick up some fresh? I have more than 10 pounds frozen cranberries from Azure Standard so I hope frozen is good to go. 🙂
I think it will work okay, but I haven’t tested it that way. It may be a little more juicy (and be darker red) than normal is my only thought. Let me know how it goes!
OK relish = made. I was thrilled to try something that had less sugar! Joy of Cooking suggested a cooked version with 2 CUPS – yowza! Plus this was super easy which is appreciated 😉
Hey lady! I missed this comment coming in last week. How did it go? Glad you tried this one. I made this one and the one from last year. Both were a hit. I am so honored that you did this. And 2 cups… that’s a lot! Hope all is well with you and the book project.
This cranberry relish looks incredible! Great for the Holidays! Beautiful pictures!
So glad you like it Mira, and I am glad you stopped by.
I’m impressed there were multiple cranberry sauces available haha- this looks delicious and I reckon would go so well in a sandwich- turkey too!
When we were kids I know for a fact we always had the canned variety too for sure. And heck yes on a sandwich, this is gold.
We make this too!! This is my husband’s absolute favorite. I sometimes use leftovers in pancakes. Just drop a few teaspoons on top of the pancake before flipping it. Happy Thanksgiving Katie!
What a great idea Sally! I love the idea of this in pancakes. Maybe we’ll have that on Friday or Saturday while we have a full house. My mom said she also uses it in my Grandmother’s jello mold recipe with sour cream and pecans. I told her that sounds really retro and totally delicious to me.