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This simple and delicious orange cranberry relish will go perfectly with any dish, from roast turkey, to enjoying it on sweet crackers! A true classic recipe! Most relish recipes tend to contain an enormous number of different convoluted ingredients, but you often don’t need all that fuss. I do believe that this recipe was on the package of fresh cranberries for years and years, it’s a vintage classic!
This recipe would go incredibly well spread on my Cranberry Orange Muffins. However, if you’re not a fan of the tart orange pairing in this relish, maybe try some Homemade Cranberry Sauce instead.
Orange Cranberry Relish
A big problem with a lot of relish recipes, or any kind of sauce recipe for that matter, is that they are usually only to be used with either savory or sweet dishes. However, an orange cranberry relish goes equally well with both sweet and savory dishes – you could serve this with both meat and dessert and enjoy it in different ways each time, which is why it is a holiday classic!
Plus, it keeps incredibly well! So here’s how to make a sweet, tangy, and long-lasting orange cranberry relish.
Ingredients for Orange Cranberry Relish
- A large orange (make sure you remove the seeds first!)
- Fresh cranberries
- White sugar
- Cinnamon (or whatever spices you like; cloves or nutmeg would go really well here.
How to Make Orange Cranberry Relish
- Pulse together your orange and cranberries in a blender or food processor
- Spoon into a lidded container and stir in the white sugar
- Refrigerate for two hours before serving
Make Sure You Let It Sit
After blending all the ingredients together, you might be tempted to get started eating it right away – the tangy fruit flavors will smell incredible and seem super inviting. However, make sure you fight the temptation and keep it in the fridge for at least two hours first!
The orange and cranberries’ acidic tartness needs time to fully mix with the sugar and meld into one delicious relish. If you try and taste it too soon, you’ll be able to taste the distinct pieces of fruit, as well as the granules of sugar, instead of a perfectly mixed sweet, and tangy relish.
So give it time! It’s the kind of thing that keeps getting better the longer you wait.
How Long Will Your Orange Cranberry Relish Keep?
- While this orange cranberry sauce definitely keeps getting better over time, it sadly won’t last forever. The high sugar content helps keep this relish safe to eat for a few weeks at a time, but it will eventually go off.
- To help make it last even longer, make sure to limit its contact with the air. As you use it, compress the extra relish with a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper, pressed down to remove any and all air bubbles.
- If you seal it in a lidded container at the same time, you can extend the life of your relish by quite a bit!
Enjoy! This is such a classic recipe, some people enjoy it on sweet and savory crackers, roast turkey, on leftover turkey sandwich and more!
Love,
Karlynn
Orange Cranberry Relish
Ingredients
- 1 large navel orange washed, cut into segments and seeds removed
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries washed and dried
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon cloves or nutmeg (optional)
Instructions
- Place the orange and the cranberries into a food processor.
- Pulse to chop, until the pieces are very finely chopped.
- Spoon the mixture out into a medium-sized lidded container.
- Stir in the white sugar, starting at 1/2 cup then adding sugar to taste.
- Place the lid on the container and refrigerate for at least two hours to let the flavors blend.
- Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
- A serving is around 2 tablespoons, you should end up with around 2 cups of the relish.
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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Chuck Stout says
This recipe proves that simpler is better! After eating so many by-the-numbers cooked cranberry sauces, whether jellied or whole berry, this relish is truly an inspiration! Dean Foods in the US used to sell a frozen cranberry-orange relish which you had to defrost before serving, but the company stopped selling it years ago. Your recipe is a close duplicate of that relish, which I thought I would never experience again. Now, whenever I want a cranberry-based side dish, I will make this and never cook a cranberry for sauce again! Many thanks for such a great recipe!
Karlynn Johnston says
You’re welcome! So glad it was a hit!
Sheri says
I have been making this since I was a child. But growing up we made this with a meat grinder. I remember my mom screwing the grinder to the side of the table and then my brother and I took turns turning the grinder handle. I have to admit I enjoy using my food processor instead. But I use 2 medium size juice oranges to every pound of cranberries.
Sky says
Mom has made this since the ‘50’s. I buy lots of cranberries and make a bunch of this relish then put in freezer bags pressing out the air and have “fresh” cranberry relish all year from the freezer. We use on salads, crackers, cottage cheese, sandwiches, veggie burgers, meats. It is just a really “fresh tasting” side to go with any meal. Craving it right now…..!
Karlynn Johnston says
Oh on cottage cheese sounds amazing!!! It really is all purpose, isn’t it?
Kate Pigula says
I made a recipe similar to this,Seems like the raw berries and orange rind had a very bitter taste.
Sky says
The bitter comes from the white pith of the orange. Use a thin skinned orange or peel off the orange peel and then separate the sections from the pith. The pith is very nutritious though a little bitter.
Karlynn Johnston says
Sky has a great tip about the pith. It also REALLY matters what oranges you use. You have to get the best quality, full of juice, sweet oranges you can find!
Millie says
You don’t cook this recipe ???? all the other recipes I have found you cook the cranberries
Karlynn Johnston says
Hi Millie, you don’t cook a cranberry relish, you do cook cranberry sauces though! They are two hugely different things. This is a fresh fruit recipe, a fruit relish that isn’t cooked at all. It’s always been an uncooked recipe that I think was originally on the fresh cranberries bag at one point!