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The Ultimate Thanksgiving Guide
30+ Cranberry Recipes for Thanksgiving

30+ Cranberry Recipes for Thanksgiving

Updated September 13, 2019

Credit: Victor Protasio

Think beyond cranberry sauce this year. Sure, we love the holiday staple⁠—and we've got plenty of recipes that'll knock that canned stuff out of the park. But that's not the only way you should use the festive berry at your table. From breakfast to dessert, we've got your cranberry cravings covered.

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Slow-Cooker Cranberry-Pear Butter

Credit: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Slow-Cooker Cranberry-Pear Butter Recipe

This Cranberry-Pear Butter is a nice change of pace from the usual pumpkin or apple butter, and is just as delicious spread on your morning biscuit or slice of toast. You could even serve it on a cheese plate, alongside toasted baguette slices or crackers.

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Cranberry Sangría Punch

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez

Cranberry Sangría Punch Recipe

This wintry, ruby-red spin on sangría is a staff favorite but comes with a warning: It goes down easy. Make it a day ahead, and add the Champagne right before serving.

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Cranberry-Apple Tartlets

Credit: Linda Pugliese

Cranberry-Apple Tartlets Recipe

Surprise your guests with these cute and delicious tartlets. Fresh or frozen cranberries can be used to make the tangy filling. If using frozen berries, don’t defrost them. Frozen cranberries act more like fresh cranberries than thawed ones do; the skins burst at a similar rate and they are less juicy.

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Transparent Pie with Whipped Crème Fraîche and Sugared Cranberries

Credit: Victor Protasio

Transparent Pie with Whipped Crème Fraîche and Sugared Cranberries Recipe

Put this pie in your holiday lineup for a little nod to Kentucky. We've topped the traditional transparent pie with some holiday embellishments: Sugared Cranberries and Whipped Crème Fraîche.

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Simple Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Credit: Jennifer Causey

Simple Cranberry-Orange Sauce Recipe

This lower-sugar cranberry sauce is fruity and tart, the perfect complement to the richness of turkey, stuffing, and gravy. A comparable amount of canned whole-berry sauce contains 60% more sugar and lacks the fresh flavor of ours.

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Sausage, Herb, and Cranberry–Stuffed Onions

Credit: Jennifer Causey

Sausage, Herb, and Cranberry–Stuffed Onions Recipe

Here’s a gorgeous dish you’ll be proud to add to the table. Red onion “blossoms” roast until tender with a savory-sweet bread stuffing. You can par-cook the onions, stuff with the filling, and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature, and then bake at 400°F until the stuffing is hot and lightly toasted (about 20 minutes).

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Roasted Grape, Apple, and Cranberry Sauce

Credit: Jennifer Causey

Roasted Grape, Apple, and Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Roasted grapes—especially black grapes—are super sweet and slightly tannic, with a concentrated fruit flavor. They help balance the tangy, astringent quality of the cranberries, allowing you to use less added sugar.

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Cranberry Fluff Salad

Credit: Antonis Achilles, Food Styling: Mary Claire Britton and Sarah Epperson; Prop Styling: Prissy Lee

Cranberry Fluff Salad Recipe

While it might not be the best-looking dish on the holiday table, it will be incredibly popular. Super sweet and creamy, this dish will work just as well as a side as it will as a dessert. We guarantee there won't be leftovers.

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Cranberry-Goat Cheese Pinwheels

Credit: TIFS

Cranberry-Goat Cheese Pinwheels Recipe

Entertaining is stressful enough (especially during the holidays)—keep the party starters simple. Tangy goat cheese dresses up canned crescent dough and canned cranberry sauce like you wouldn’t believe in these easy, 3-ingredient appetizers.

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Cranberry Cookies With Orange Glaze

Credit: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall and Kady Wohlfarth; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke

Cranberry Cookies With Orange Glaze Recipe

Oh, so festive! These cakey cranberry cookies are a perfect Christmastime snack, dessert, or even breakfast.

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Turkey Taquitos with Cranberry Salsa

Credit: TIFS

Turkey Taquitos with Cranberry Salsa Recipe

Yes, turkey soup and turkey pot pie are very good ways to enjoy your leftover holiday bird. But if you want to talk about great, we have to talk about turkey taquitos.

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Cranberry-Limeade Spritzer

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Cranberry-Limeade Spritzer Recipe

Sweet and tart meet vodka in this refreshing holiday cocktail.

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Instant Pot Turkey Cocktail Meatballs with Cranberry Jelly

Credit: TIFS

Instant Pot Turkey Cocktail Meatballs with Cranberry Jelly Recipe

Turkey and cranberry sauce—they go together. Here, the classic combo is reimagined as an easy holiday appetizer that’s tasty enough to become a new tradition.

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Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

Credit: Caitlin Bensel Food Styling: Tina Stamos and Gordon Sawyer Prop Styling: Kay Clark

Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce Recipe

This powerful cranberry-apple sauce carries enough flavors to make it go far. Keep it traditional and serve with turkey, or think outside the box and use a dollop on this Instant Pot Pumpkin Soup. Although it's quick and easy to make, we'd suggest prepping it a few days in advance—this Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce only gets better with time.

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Sweet Potato-Cranberry Scones with Molasses-Orange Butter

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Prop Styling: Karin Olsen; Food Styling: Kellie Gerber Kelley

Sweet Potato-Cranberry Scones with Molasses-Orange Butter Recipe

These cranberry-speckled scones make the perfect food gift to bake for friends and family alike this holiday season. Seasonal flavors come together for a pastry as festive and mouthwatering as a hearty dollop of that Molasses-Orange Butter. These scones look great and travel well when tucked in a bowl wrapped up in a large linen kitchen towel. While you can enjoy these scones sans the sweet, citrus butter, we can’t think of a better way to complement the not-too-sweet scone. Not to mention, orange and cranberry work so well together!

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Cranberry Pull-Apart Bread with Orange-cream Cheese Icing

Credit: Greg DuPree

Cranberry Pull-Apart Bread with Orange-cream Cheese Icing Recipe

The entire family will love the sticky-fingered fun of tearing apart these sweet layers filled with tangy cranberries and bright orange zest. The recipe makes two loaves of bread; give one as a gift, and take the other to brunch.

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Chocolate-Cranberry Parfaits

Credit: Gentl & Hyers; Styling: Cindy DiPrima

Chocolate-Cranberry Parfaits Recipe

The cranberry steeping liquid clings to the berries and helps the sugar adhere for a sparkling, jewel-like effect. You can use the liquid (which is drained from the cranberries) in cocktails or over ice cream. If you can't find mascarpone cheese, use regular cream cheese.

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Brown Sugar Waffles with Orange-Ginger Cranberry Compote

Credit: Photo by Katie Foster

Brown Sugar Waffles with Orange-Ginger Cranberry Compote Recipe

A classic waffle recipe never needs much fussing over. But in this one, making the switch from white sugar to brown sugar is absolutely worth it. The brown sugar gives the waffles a slightly deeper, more caramelized flavor, that allows them to stand up to the other flavorful dishes on the table.

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Cranberry-Beet Chutney

Credit: Greg DuPree

Cranberry-Beet Chutney Recipe

For a twist on cranberry sauce this year, try this sweet, tart, and earthy beet-and-cranberry condiment. Toasted whole coriander and brown mustard seeds add warmth and take the chutney into savory territory.

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Balsamic Cranberry-Onion Jam

Credit: Jennifer Causey

Balsamic Cranberry-Onion Jam Recipe

This jam is an excellent, refined sugar-free alternative to the traditional, often too-sweet sauce, and tastes even better a day or two after it’s made. Because fresh cranberries are so tart on their own, be sure to use a sweet onion such as Vidalia in the jam.

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Cranberry Salad

Credit: Victor Protasio

Cranberry Salad Recipe

You’ll never go back to congealed cranberry salad once you try one Test Kitchen professional’s “riff on the traditional cranberry salad.” This cranberry salad has sliced celery and chopped toasted pecans (walnuts work, too), which give it a surprising crunch that most cranberry salads lack.

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Cranberry-Apple-Ginger Salad

Credit: Victor Protasio

Cranberry-Apple-Ginger Salad Recipe

Fresh ginger and a pinch of black pepper add heat to this cranberry salad. Heat and cranberry salad are two words you’ve probably never heard together. We know, it sounds unconventional (and it is), but this Cranberry-Apple-Ginger Salad is absolutely delicious, and there’s still plenty of sweetness from the cranberries and apple cider.

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Orange-Cranberry Honey Butter

Credit: All photos by Teresa Sabga

Orange-Cranberry Honey Butter Recipe

In this fruit-flavored butter, orange zest lends a citrusy zing, craisins add a little bite, and honey adds the perfect touch of sweetness.

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Cranberry-Orange Rolls

Credit: All photos by Teresa Sabga / Styling by Jiselle Basile

Cranberry-Orange Rolls Recipe

In these cranberry cinnamon buns, fresh cranberries are kept warm and snug intertwined in a cozy bed of carbs. Then they’re drizzled with a simple orange glaze. You can totally freeze the cinnamon rolls in the pan before baking.

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Cranberry-Infused Gin

Credit: All Photos by Alex Tepper / Styling by Jiselle Basile

Cranberry-Infused Gin Recipe

Infuse your booze this holiday season with leftover cranberries. Make cranberry gin and raise a toast to a win-win situation. After a day of soaking and sitting, you’re left with fruit-infused alcohol and a handful of alcohol-infused fruit.

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Make-Ahead Cranberry Sauce

Credit: Photo by Teresa Sabga / Styling by Jiselle Basile

Make-Ahead Cranberry Sauce Recipe

When Thanksgiving rolls around, you might opt for canned cranberry sauce over the fresh kind. (No shame—it's convenient and delicious.) If, however, you’re hosting a feast for friends and family who are opposed to jiggly red gelatinous logs, try this homemade cranberry sauce, infused with fresh rosemary sprigs and combined with white balsamic vinegar.

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Cranberry-Ginger Shrub Cocktail

Credit: Jennifer Causey

Cranberry-Ginger Shrub Cocktail Recipe

Homemade shrubs, or fruit-infused vinegars, couldn't be easier to make at home. This 5-ingredient version uses festive flavors like tart fresh cranberry, fragrant orange peel, and warm ginger. Beyond the cocktail glass, use as the acid in a salad dressing or to pep up sparkling water. Sealed in an airtight container, the shrub will keep for several months in the fridge (the vinegar tang will mellow over time).

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Cranberry Sauce with Gin

Credit: Annabelle Breakey; Styling: Robyn Valarik

Cranberry Sauce with Gin Recipe

Because why not? It's Thanksgiving, after all. Cut corners and get your booze and cranberry sauce fix at the same time.

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Cranberry Sangria

Credit: Luca Trovato

Cranberry Sangria Recipe

This festive, wintertime spin on a summer favorite is sure to be a hit at your Thanksgiving table--or anytime, really.

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Cranberry Relish and Goat Cheese Toasts

Credit: David Fenton

Cranberry Relish and Goat Cheese Toasts Recipe

On the hunt for a simple Thanksgiving appetizer? Look no further. These adorable toasts are as easy as they are attractive.

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Acorn Squash with Sage-Cranberry Rice Stuffing

Credit: Victor Protasio

Acorn Squash with Sage-Cranberry Rice Stuffing Recipe

With this recipe, you’re basically treating the slow cooker like a small steam oven. The ice slows down the cooking so the squash doesn’t overcook.

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30+ Cranberry Recipes for Thanksgiving

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Slow-Cooker Cranberry-Pear Butter

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Cranberry Sangría Punch

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Cranberry-Apple Tartlets

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Transparent Pie with Whipped Crème Fraîche and Sugared Cranberries

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Simple Cranberry-Orange Sauce

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Sausage, Herb, and Cranberry–Stuffed Onions

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Roasted Grape, Apple, and Cranberry Sauce

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Cranberry Fluff Salad

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Cranberry-Goat Cheese Pinwheels

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Cranberry Cookies With Orange Glaze

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Turkey Taquitos with Cranberry Salsa

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Cranberry-Limeade Spritzer

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Instant Pot Turkey Cocktail Meatballs with Cranberry Jelly

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Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce

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Sweet Potato-Cranberry Scones with Molasses-Orange Butter

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Cranberry Pull-Apart Bread with Orange-cream Cheese Icing

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Chocolate-Cranberry Parfaits

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Brown Sugar Waffles with Orange-Ginger Cranberry Compote

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Cranberry-Beet Chutney

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Balsamic Cranberry-Onion Jam

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Cranberry Salad

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Cranberry-Apple-Ginger Salad

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Orange-Cranberry Honey Butter

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Cranberry-Orange Rolls

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Cranberry-Infused Gin

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Make-Ahead Cranberry Sauce

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