Fresh cranberry salad

Looking for a fresh spin on cranberry sauce? Try this fresh cranberry salad. It is made with sweet fruit like apples, mandarin oranges and pineapple to balance the tart flavor of the fresh cranberries. Honey is added for some additional sweetness while pecans give it some crunch. Your family will love this fresh cranberry salad for a Thanksgiving side dish.

A Fresh Thanksgiving Side Dish

Cranberry sauce is one of those Thanksgiving staples that has never actually been a staple in my family.

I can't really remember ever eating it to be honest.  Especially not the jellied cranberry sauce from the can that is traditionally served alongside roasted turkey.

While that speaks tradition to many people, it doesn't to me.  I do however love a good cranberry salad made with fresh cranberries.

Fresh cranberries have a very distinct bitter taste and definitely don't taste very good on their own.  My daughter wanted to taste one, and I tried to warn her.  The bright red color fooled her though into thinking it would be sweet.  Boy was she in for a surprise.  She spit that puppy out extremely fast!

This fresh cranberry salad is sweetened with other naturally sweet fruit and honey.  It still has a bit of a tart and bitter bite that cranberries are known for, but it's hidden in the background instead of front and center.  I like pecans in my salad, an entire cup in fact, but you can leave them out and it's still a tasty salad.  I personally love the crunch and nutty flavor that they give to add some interest to the salad.  My daughter on the other hand is highly allergic to pecans and other tree nuts, so I leave a small portion without pecans for her to enjoy.

This is perfect to accompany your traditional Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, to take to a potluck, or to just enjoy on its own.  It comes together extremely fast if you have a food processor.  Dump the ingredients in, pulse, pulse, pulse, and add some honey.  It doesn't get much easier than that. If you don't have a food processor, you will have to finely chop everything by hand and it will take a few minutes longer, but it's still easy.

How to make fresh cranberry salad

This salad is so easy to make. Here are the step by step instructions.

1. Cut up pineapple and apple into large chunks and place into food processor.
2. Add washed cranberries to the food processor as well and pulse a few times until the fruit is evenly chopped into small pieces.
3. Add mandarin oranges and pulse a couple more times.
4. Transfer chopped fruit to a bowl.
5. Place pecans in the food processor and pulse them a few times to chop them.
6. Add the pecans to the fruit salad.
7. Pour honey over the salad and stir together until well combined.
8. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Fresh cranberry salad FAQs

• I'm allergic to pecans. Can I substitute anything?

You could omit them or substitute walnuts, shelled pumpkin seeds, or shelled sunflower seeds for some crunch.

• Can I make this the day before?

Yes, but I would add the pecans the day of serving so they don't get soggy while in the fridge.

• Can I use another sweetener instead of honey?

Yes I'm sure you could use maple syrup or sugar instead to sweeten instead of honey. Keep in mind the sweetness may be different depending on what you use, so you may have to add a little more or less and taste as you go. I would start with ¼ cup and work my way up.

• What if I don't have a food processor?

If you don't have a food processor, no worries. Use a good knife and chop away. It will take longer to finely dice everything but it will still work.

I hope you give this easy cranberry salad a try! I think you will love it.

Make sure to leave a rating and review if you make it in your own kitchen.

Print Pin

5 from 1 vote

Fresh cranberry salad

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 cup fresh pineapple
• 1 apple
• ½ cup mandarin oranges I used a jarred variety not in syrup or 1 orange
• ⅓ cup honey warmed to make pourable
• 1 cup pecans

Instructions

• Cut up pineapple and apple in large chunks and place in food processor.
• Add cranberries and pulse several times until evenly chopped.
• Add mandarin oranges and pulse a couple more times.
• Transfer to a bowl.
• Pulse pecans in the food processor to chop them.
• Add them to salad.
• Pour honey over salad and stir together.
• If you don't have a food processor, just chop everything finely by hand and stir together.

More tried and true Thanksgiving recipes:

• best Thanksgiving turkey
• turkey gravy from drippings
• Grandma's cornbread dressing
• maple roasted sweet potatoes
• spinach and apple salad
• southern boiled cabbage
• green bean casserole from scratch
• honey roasted beets and carrots
• roasted delicata squash
• best homemade rolls
• pumpkin risotto