Craveable Cranberry Sauce Recipes and Riffs

11 Ways to Riff on Cranberry Sauce, From Chutney to Relish

Create the sauce, chutney, or relish that complements your Thanksgiving menu.

Updated on October 31, 2023

Cranberry-and-Citrus Chutney with Fennel Pollen — Photo: Eva Kolenko

Sweet, tart, juicy, and jammy cranberries are a refreshing complement to meaty main courses around the holidays. Sure, you can use the jellied stuff from a can (and even upgrade it), but these simple, flavorful renditions of cranberry sauce incorporate apple, cherries, pomegranate, port, and even lemon for subtle complexity. Plus, we have cranberry chutney, a conserva, a kosho, and mostarda recipes to help you whip uo the condiment texture that best suits your spread. Here are our most craveable cranberry sauce recipes and riffs.

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Cranberry Kosho

Kosho is a fermented Japanese condiment traditionally prepared with yuzu. This version uses sweet-tart cranberries and gets some heat from jalapeños and their seeds. The resulting puree is sour, spicy, and salty.

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Lemon-Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

A quick whirl in a food processor is all it takes to make this fresh-tasting sauce — no cooking required.

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Cranberry-and-Citrus Chutney with Fennel Pollen

Top Chef winner Kristen Kish was inspired by her grandfather’s raspberry-studded Jell-O salad for this glossy chutney peppered with candied orange peel and spiced with fennel pollen.

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Jellied Cranberry Sauce with Fuji Apple

Melissa Rubel Jacobson molds the cranberry sauce so it's sliceable and adds an apple, which is loaded with pectin, a natural gelling agent.

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Port-Cranberry Sauce

In this version from former F&W editor Grace Parisi, the sweet-tartness of the cranberries is enhanced with the addition of port, orange juice, and orange zest.

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Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cherries

Dana Cowin adds dried sour cherries to this chunky cranberry sauce to make it appealingly sweet and tart.

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Cranberry Relish

This super-simple, uncooked cranberry-orange relish is perfect for making ahead.

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Cranberry, Ginger, and Orange Chutney

Fresh cranberries, juicy orange segments, plenty of ginger, and a splash of balsamic give this chunky relish nuanced acidity and a fresh, bracing flavor.

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Cranberry Mostarda

This jammy, mustard-seed-spiked condiment from chef and butcher Chris Eley is terrific served alongside everything from grilled sausage to roast turkey.

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