Holiday Cranberry Relish

Cranberry Relish is a great alternative to the standard cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. This recipe combines chopped fresh cranberries with oranges, apples, celery, crushed pineapple, and pecans with cherry gelatin to make a refreshing holiday side dish. The combination of the tart cranberries, sweet orange and pineapple, the crunch of the apple, the celery and the pecans, and the aromatic hint of orange peel is what makes this dish so satisfying. It pairs nicely with the Thanksgiving turkey but makes a great accompaniment to any holiday meal. My mom introduced Cranberry Relish to our Thanksgiving table years ago, and it has been a family favorite ever since.

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Wisconsin Cranberry Harvest

Fall is the time of the cranberry harvest in Wisconsin and a great time to take advantage of the many cranberry producers in the state. On scenic County Road D just outside of Eagle River WI is where I found these beautiful fresh cranberries grown in the marshes of northern Wisconsin.  Lake Nokomis Cranberries Inc. is tucked back on the wooded drive along Lake Nokomis, with over 320 cranberry producing acres. Along with selling gifts and fresh cranberries, their winery makes interesting cranberry wines that are a nice accompaniment to any holiday dinner. I was happy to leave their gift store with a three-pound bag of cranberries and a couple of bottles of wine. 

Best Ingredients for Cranberry Relish

When making cranberry relish, there are many ingredients that are interchangeable for this recipe. But by far my favorite combination includes:

• Fresh Cranberries
• Chopped Pecans (can substitute walnuts or another similar nut)
• Oranges, with orange peel
• Crushed canned pineapple
• Celery
• Apple
• Cherry Jello
• Sugar

Preparing this holiday show stopper

Preparing this holiday show stopper is relatively easy. This cranberry relish recipe is best done a day in advance, and can even be done up to 2 days before serving. Preparation is made relatively simple using a food processor. I start with the dry ingredients first, then move to the wetter ingredients, adding each to the serving container as I go. First, process the pecans lightly and then add to the serving bowl.

Core and quarter one apple and chop the celery stalks roughly before adding to the food processor. Peel an orange with a vegetable peeler and remove the white pith from the oranges..

Rough chop the oranges before adding to the food processor along with the orange peel and cranberries.

Tips for making cranberry relish with fresh ingredients

Note that draining the juice from the pineapple before adding with the rest of the ingredients will help the mixture to set properly. If you’d like, and me being the thrifty food enthusiast that I am, I add these juices to the total 1 cup of liquid needed for the Jello/sugar mix. While preparing the fruits in the food processor, put on a kettle to boil the water for the Jello mix. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar and Jello mix and dissolve with one cup of boiling water. (If using the drained juices, add these first to the cup measure, then fill the remainder of the cup with the boiled water).

Once the mix is dissolved, pour over the chopped cranberry relish mix and combine. Refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving. Don’t expect this to fully set because of the fresh fruit, but if you minimize the amount of juice that’s added to the mixture it should set up just fine.   

Serving tips

I think this cranberry relish is best served in a glass bowl or trifle dish to display the beautiful bright fall colors of this dish. I garnish with a sprig of celery leaf and a twist of orange peel on top to provide a hint at the contents within. A wonderful addition to a holiday table without a doubt!