Cranberry Salsa over Cream Cheese

This Cranberry Salsa with cream cheese is the perfect holiday appetizer. Fresh cranberries minced up with jalapeno and cilantro. It’s fresh, simple and absolutely delicious!

(Originally published November 21, 2018)

I posted this Cranberry Salsa with Cream Cheese recipe six years ago and with the holiday season here, I thought it was definitely worthy of being back in the spotlight and updated with new pictures (and a few minor adjustments with the ingredients). 

I don’t know about you, but my family has a whole spread of appetizers before our big Thanksgiving dinner. This salsa was added to our spread several years ago after my mom got the recipe from a friend, and to say we all love it is a bit of an understatement.

Next to our family favorite cheese ball, this salsa is my favorite Thanksgiving Day appetizer. I have to be careful not to make a pig of myself with this (and all the other appetizers), but it’s just so dang hard sometimes because it’s soooo good!

Anytime I have taken this to a holiday party, it’s devoured and I always get asked for the recipe.

How Do I Make It?

• To make it, add the cranberries, jalapeno and green onions, and cilantro to a food processor and pulse a few times until ingredients are finely chopped (don’t over do it, you don’t mushy here! ). Pour this mixture into a bowl and add sugar, cumin and lime juice and stir until well combined. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple hours so the flavors can meld together.

• Spoon the salsa over softened cream cheese on a serving platter or spread cream cheese evenly into a shallow dish or pie plate and then spread cranberry salsa over the top. Serve with crackers and enjoy.

I love this with Wheat Thins, Ritz and Town House crackers, but you can use any of your favorite crackers (or even tortilla chips).

TIPS FOR MAKING CRANBERRY SALSA with CREAM CHEESE:

• Don’t over-pulse this when using your food processor. . . you don’t want this to be mush.
• If you want more kick, you can leave the seeds and membrane in the jalapeno and/or add another jalpeno.
• Make sure you give this time to chill in the fridge a few hours so the flavors can meld.
• I start with 1/2 cup of sugar and depending on how tart the cranberries are, I might add more sugar. Adjust it according to your tastes.
• This easily makes enough to pour over two blocks of cream cheese. You can also spread your cream cheese onto a plate (or a pie plate works) and then pour some salsa on top. (You can see that’s how it was done in my old picture.)
• If you use Ritz and/or Town House crackers, make sure you use a knife to spread some on because they’re not strong enough crackers to dip into the cream cheese and they will break.

I LOVE how festive and pretty this is, don’t you?

This is the perfect appetizer for you to make all holiday season long! So if you’re looking for something new to try, then you definitely need to make this!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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(Originally posted December 21, 2012 and then again November 21, 2018 with updated photos)