Cranberry Jalapeño Dip
This cranberry jalapeño dip is just what your party needs this holiday season! It’s festive, flavorful, and easy to make, which means you can whip it up for last-minute parties. A spicy and tart mixture of fresh cranberries, jalapeños, onion, and sugar is all spread over cream cheese for a creamy dip with the perfect balance of flavors. Serve this cranberry jalapeño cream cheese dip with butter crackers like Ritz or your favorite crackers – it’s the perfect holiday appetizer.
Visual appeal, unexpected flavors, and minimal effort. ✅
This dip is the ultimate make-ahead party dip! It’s fresh, festive, and looks stunning on a platter. It comes together in just 15 minutes or can be prepped ahead.
Pro tip! Save a few extra cranberries and jalapeño slices for the top of the dip for a pretty garnish like you see here. It’s…
🎨 Bright and delicious: You can’t help but love the vibrant colors and bold flavors. It tastes as good as it looks!
🌶️ Sweet, spicy, tart, and creamy flavors: Perfect balance of contrasting tastes in every single bite.
🥒 Made with just 6 ingredients: You don’t need much to bring this appetizer to the table.
⚡ Easy to make last-minute: No stress when you need to bring something to an unexpected gathering, this dip is so simple and easy.
🎉 Perfect for holiday parties: Festive red and green colors make it ideal for Christmas gatherings.
You’ll also want to try my baked brie, Old Bay steamed shrimp, Trader Joe’s charcuterie board, or lemon feta dip next time.
Ingredient Notes
You’ll need just six ingredients to pull off this holiday dip: cranberries, jalapeños, yellow onion, sugar, cream cheese, and crackers.
- Cranberries: We’re using fresh, raw, and tart cranberries; they have the best flavor and look festive and gorgeous.
- Jalapeños: Use fresh jalapeño peppers. You can adjust this to fit your spice preference. Remove seeds and stems for less heat, or keep them in and add extra jalapeños if you want it spicier. Jalapeños will vary immensely in spice levels, so you might need to sample and adjust. I found that the relish smelled spicier than it tasted after it was processed together.
Emily’s Tips & Tricks
- Pro tip: Save a few extra cranberries and jalapeño slices for the top of the dip for a pretty garnish like you see here.
- Taste and adjust spice: The relish might smell spicier than it tastes after processing, so sample before deciding to add more jalapeños.
- Variations: Use whipped cream cheese for extra lightness, or try different sweeteners like honey or agave.
Cranberry Jalapeño Dip Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This cranberry jalapeño dip is just what your party needs this holiday season! It’s festive, flavorful, and ready in just 10 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cranberries (8 oz.)
- 2 medium jalapeños, plus more for garnish (1/2 cup roughly chopped)
- 1/4 medium sweet yellow onion (1/2 cup roughly chopped)
- 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- ritz or butter crackers
Instructions
- Add fresh cranberries, onion, jalapeño, and sugar to a food processor. Process until coarsely chopped and mostly combined. You shouldn’t see any large chunks of onion or jalapeno.
- Spread the softened cream cheese on a serving platter or plate about 1/2 inch thick. Spread 1/2 of the cranberry mixture (drain any excess liquid if necessary) over cream cheese and scoop onto crackers with a knife.
- Garnish dip with fresh cranberries and sliced jalapeños.
- Store leftover cranberry relish in the fridge for another batch.
Notes
This makes enough cranberry jalapeno relish for two batches of dip, perfect for the busy holiday party season. You could also cut it in half if you only want one batch.
Storage: Store the extra cranberry and jalapeño dip in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days.
Ingredient notes: Fresh cranberries are essential for texture and flavor. Adjust the amount of jalapeños, according to desired spice level.
Prep ahead: Because the cranberry portion can be made ahead, it’s easy to prep in advance. When you’re ready to serve, all you need to do is soften the cream cheese and spread everything on a platter.
Helpful tools: A food processor makes quick work of chopping, though a chopper or knife works too.
Serve with: Ritz crackers, tortilla chips, water crackers, pretzel chips, or gluten-free rice crackers.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this cranberry cream cheese jalapeño dip with crackers or chips, here are some favorites:
- Butter crackers like Ritz
- Tortilla chips
- Water crackers
- Triscuits
- Pretzel chips
- Rice crackers (these are typically gluten-free)
FAQs
No, fresh is really best for this cranberry cream cheese dip as it offers up a crunchy texture and really nice tart and sweet flavors. Dried cranberries wouldn’t work well, but if you have trouble finding fresh cranberries, you could use a thin layer of cranberry sauce and top that with jalapeño slices. It won’t be quite the same, but would still have sweet and spicy flavors.
More Easy Appetizer Recipes
If you love this cranberry jalapeño dip recipe, you might also like some of these other easy appetizer recipes:
About the Author
Emily Dingmann is a recipe developer, nutrition expert, and founder of My Everyday Table. She specializes in creating easy, healthy recipes that help busy parents feed their families well every single day, without the stress. With a degree in Nutrition and over 20 years of experience, Emily shares family-friendly meals that are practical, nourishing, and full of flavor. Learn more about Emily’s approach to everyday cooking and nutrition here.
Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.
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You really did a shitty job listing this. Didn’t you proof read?. If you can’t even spell th ingredients without awkward capitalization and random characters, why would I think it was correct?
Hi Cyd, thanks for your feedback. I noticed this yesterday and am still trying to figure out how/why it’s happening. I used the proper ñ in jalapeno and for some reason it’s getting messed up in the code. Working on it!