Cranberry Pear Salsa.
I seriously don’t know what possessed me to buy these cranberries.
How pathetic is this? I didn’t even know if cranberries could be eaten raw… and whole. I didn’t think it was possible to bite into them without breaking a tooth or something. What the what?
And don’t act so surprised… I come from a long line of women who fully support the Ocean Spray can, and while we’re on the topic, I’m going to admit that I sort of love it. Like want-to-crawl-inside-and-burrow-a-little-tunnel-in-that-sauce love it. Come next Thursday, if I have the choice between lovely, orange-scented, fresh-busting cranberry sauce and the gelled cylinder that just slid out of a can… I’m totally going with the gel. Sue me!
Go ahead and slap me silly. I don’t hate it.
Since one of the only things I really succeed at in life is spending money, a stupid giant bag of cranberries made it into my cart without any plan or thought last week.
This is typical. I was annoyed by said purchase within five minutes of arriving home and continued to glare at these little NON-JUICY (this is important people) red pearls allll weekend long.
Like… who created a fruit that isn’t juicy when you bite into it?! Or that needs sixteen cups of sugar to taste good? Whatever.
So…
First, I baked something flakey with cranberries.
I’ll show you that later.
Then, I dumped 5 pounds of cranberries on the floor.
I’ll show you that now.
And since I don’t really have all these warm and fuzzy loving feelings for cranberries, I didn’t want them to rot in my fridge for the all of eternity. Or, you know… the next four months when I most likely decide to clean the fridge.
Into the food processor they went! I mean, if blueberries can do it… why not cranberries? Oh… because cranberries ARE NOTHING LIKE BLUEBERRIES. Don’t let the circular shape fool you. FYI.
But. Wait for it… wait for it…
…it worked! Pretty in color, super tart, sweet from the honey and full of salsa-like qualities… blue corn chips don’t stand a chance near this salsa. Other appropriate vehicles? Melty brie… crispy white fish… turkey paninis (how the heck do you spell that?) and… spoons.
Cranberry Pear Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 anjou pear, peeled and chopped
- 1 large apple, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 red onion, chopped
- 1/2 jalapeno, chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
- the juice of two limes
- the juice of one orange
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and season with additional salt or honey if desired.
Notes
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142 Comments on “Cranberry Pear Salsa.”
Woo hoo! Love this colourful beauty. Yum!
Too funny…I just posted a few hours ago about a cranberry mango orange chuntey recipe. I’ve never in 2.5 years posted about cranberries. And now I see your cranberry recipe and want to make that too! I think I’ll be good to go on my Vitamin C levels :)
You dropping and breaking things…girl…you have the worst luck lately! Hope it changes.
I come from a long line of ‘do it yourself and make homemade’ or you’re not part of the family kind of women so a lady in my family kind of makes a salsa like this but this one here would totally blow hers out of the water. And you’re right- it is super tart. Kind of a good palate cleanser though.
Yeah, I have trouble with large bags of cranberries too – I always think they’re a good idea until they get home and I curse myself for buying them. Kudos to you for figuring something to do with them!!
I LOVE this recipe! What a cool idea. And I too am guilty of buying random stuff at the grocery store that no one in my house generally likes or regularly eats. What is that??
Wait… I’m actually obsessed with this. Such a great and fun twist on your holiday appetizers!
Love this! What a great idea instead of regular ol salsa!!
Hey so I was looking at it again, ’cause I’m probably gonna make it this weekend. :) And I was wondering, how was it when it was still a little chunky?
I usually like my salsa chunky, but wasn’t a huge fan because some of the bites were SO tart and the cranberries are somewhat tough. But I would suggest trying that first, and see how you like it – then blend more if desired!
I totally love that cranberry sauce from a can also. I don’t even want to know what’s on the ingredient label!
This looks delicious…I have zero experience with fresh cranberries myself, but plan to change that this Christmas season :)
Thank God someone said they loved it before I was harassed. :)
Cranberry, pear, onion and jalapeno? Now that is an interesting combination!
Yum! I’ve actually never had plain cranberries before….
This looks really different, and delicious! I usually make a baked brie around the holidays where I slather it with all sorts of things like pumpkin butter, brown sugar, and/or pecans, and then wrap it in puff pastry and bake! Do you think this would taste good chunked on top of a brie and then wrapped in the puff pastry and baked? Love your blog, btw :) Thanks!
I don’t know how well it will work on the brie when it’s chunky – it’s not very smooth or liquidy (qualities of things that I usually use on brie – like fruit butters, sauces, etc) and is pretty tart when you get chunks of cranberries. I would probably suggest blending it the entire way first, then adding it to brie!
Oooo, I love this recipe…but probably not better than the Ocean Spray Gel…I got your back girl :)
Yeeeeaaaah.
That sounds so good! I adore cranberries! I love them in my oats lately. And the cranberries on the floor…lol
I have never cooked with fresh cranberries and which all these recipes I might buy some. And then let it rot in the fridge for months. Or may just make this salsa!!
I was thisclose to picking up a bag of fresh cranberries at the grocery store yesterday with absolutely no plan. Somehow I talked myself out of it. At least I would have had this salsa to make. I’ll bet it would be fantastic on a grilled cheese sandwich.
Ok…am I the first person to harass you about the canned cranberry sauce? Ewwww…I can’t believe that you like that stuff! Home-made cranberry sauce is so easy, and is nothing like that jelled stuff shaped like a can. The next time you are at the store, grab another bag of cranberries and e-mail me for the easiest, most amazing cranberry sauce. Hint- it has orange liqueur in it!
Now, this salsa looks AMAZING! This is going to be one of the appetizers that I serve on Thanksgiving-my favorite holiday! :-)
Okay okay… you may have sold me with the liqueur in it. :)
Um yeah, so I didn’t know that a person could eat raw cranberries either.
But I’m glad you gave it a whirl!! This sounds great!
SINCE YOU ASKED, and I didn’t know this until like, last night. The plural form of the sandwich is panini. The singular is panino. As in, Al Panino.
I need to smear that salsa all up in my mouth.
It’s because us Americans are not the brightest creatures on earth and since most of us can’t even speak our own language properly we like to make shit up and pretend we know what we are talking about. ;)
What I’m trying to say is if you know panino/panini youre WAY ahead of the curve.
i LOVE making cranberry sauce, but i’d totally choose the gel anyday too. there’s just something about it, the texture, the sliding out of the can. it just works!
as for salsa, any excuse to eat more chips is fine with me!
i have 3 bags of fresh cranberries still in my freezer from 2 years ago. they look like something i should buy, but then never really know what to do with them. this looks easy enough!
This sounds great! I too, was a little disappointed by the non-juiciness of cranberries when I bought a few bags of fresh ones. Like come ON, aren’t all berries supposed to be so juicy that when you bite into them you squirt the person across the table with juice? ;) Nevertheless, I’ve found a use for mine in smoothies. Now I have another one!
I feel the exact same way about those beautiful cylinders of cranberry sauce. I used to BEG my mom to buy them at the store. And now I barely like normal cranberry sauce because it’s so tart. I purchased cranberries last year and they sat in my fridge for months until I threw them out! Wish I had seen this recipe back then!
I love the canned stuff too. Whatever. :)
This looks great—so pretty! I bought some cranberries too and I only used part of them. The rest ended up in the freezer b/c I knew I wouldn’t use them before they spoiled.
Cranberries really are just so beautiful. I don’t think anything can beat them in terms of vibrancy. And I love this recipe idea!! The one thing I hate is that I love the way cranberries look but always struggle with how to incorporate them and actually cook with them!
Girl, I’m all about the canned cranberry jelly. If the mood hits me right, I’ll eat it out of said can with a spoon. And if you take the last slice (when should a jelly ever be sliceable??) at Thanksgiving, I might come at you with my fork… or go find another can of the stuff. :)
Are we related?
If only I were so lucky as to have another foodie in my family!
My mouth is all a pucker just reading this! I have to agree with you – cranberries are annoying. Have you ever tried slicing them by hand? That’s a good way to get more of them on the floor as they furiously roll away from you. And the ones that you do get sliced kinda explode. Fun times.
OMG, I can’t even imagine.
I’ve never worked with actually cranberries before. I’m a little intimidated by them for some unknown reason. Thanks for the boost of confidence with ’em!
You have piqued my curiosity! Might need to give this one a go and guinea pig my family for Thanksgiving.
I’ve only ever used jellied cranberries. I love the color of the salsa though – it’s gorgeous!
This sounds awesome! I also randomly grabbed a couple of bags of cranberries at TJ’s the other day, with no idea what to do with them. I just felt compelled because they’re so pretty and well, ’tis the season. I missed out on candy corn, and I’m not about to miss out on cranberries.
I agree about the canned cranberry sauce. I know I probably shouldn’t prefer it to homemade, but it’s just so good! Anything that uses a million cups of sugar is a win in my book.
Ocean Spray in the can, baby, and not the whole berries neither. On Thanksgiving, I much prefer that to the fresh, delicious looking stuff. There’s just something about familiarity and thoughts of childhood associated with it.
The cranberries on the floor look very decorative. Hope fully you retrieved them all and won’t be finding them under the fridge or oven in th months to come!
I’m all for the canned sauce! The first year my mom made real cran sauce i was horrified :)
I love this idea! And it looks fantastic with the blue corn chips. For the past few years I’ve usually made cranberry pecan pies for the holidays (which are wonderful because regular pecan pies are sooo sweet!) and last year I added a cranberry apple crumble in the mix. I love the tartness! While I was making the crisp last year, my father-in-law walked by and popped a whole, uncooked cranberry in his mouth. Bless his heart! Ha! I couldn’t get out the words to warn him fast enough!
That sounds so good – pecan pie is even too sweet for me sometimes!
Haha I love your opening line.. I only (usually) like cranberries in juice form, over ice.. or as a mixer. My roommate, however, eats them like candy. Odd.
YES! Cranberries are the BEST. I just made a huge batch of old-fashioned cranberry relish with the antique meat grinder I have and I was super excited to post it, but then I realized that I didn’t check how many ounces that ginormous bag of cranberries I got from Sam’s Club was. Guess I’ll have to go back to Sam’s Club and check before I post the recipe.
Why am I so dumb.
I’m all about the gel cranberry sauce! :-)
We are going to Keith’s sister’s house for Thanksgiving this year and I am in charge of bringing a cranberry dish. I am going to make cranberry sauce (obviously) but this might be a fun addition as well!
My mom makes fun of me every year because she has to buy a can of jellied cranberry sauce just for me…After she has slaved over homemade cranberry sauce. In my opinion, you just can’t beat that jellied goodness! Don’t be embarrassed. You’re not alone! You know, I don’t cook much (aside from the regular weekly meals) but tend to read your posts because almost all of your antidotes directly apply to my life! Glad to not be alone! :)
Oh my. I never thought of this. Why have I never thought of this? I’m a serious cranberry lover – like even more than pumpkin. I think I’ll have to try this out tonight.
Just made your salsa and it is great!
Awesome! So glad you like it. :)
this looks awesome!
if you’re ever in the mood to try fresh cranberry relish- our family’s tradition is cranberries, oranges, and apples crushed together using a meat grinder with LOTS of sugar. I bet there are SO many ways to jazz that up ;)
This looks amazing! And it turned out such a pretty color too! :)
First of all, I am so happy to hear that others enjoy the Ocean Spray gel as much as myself. I mean seriously, how awesome do you feel when you slide it out of the can in perfect condition. And THEN, the little stripes are already formed on the gel, so it’s easy to slice. Plus, it tastes good. Mmmm.
Second, loving the salsa.
SEE?! You totally know what I mean!
I’m not going to lie, I love the canned stuff too – it’s all I knew about cranberries growing up! I still love it. Infact, when given a homemade choice and a canned choice at Thanksgiving a few years back, the homemade was good, but I still prefered the canned – maybe it’s a nostalgia thing?
This sounds… totally weird. But kinda good. I’m interested in the fish idea.
I think it’d be good on this: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/08/crispy-honey-lime-tilapia/
Oh my… I actually have some tilapia in my freezer…. things are percolating….
My favorite thing as a kid was the jelled cranberry sauce and it is still one of my favorite things! But this salsa looks fabulous!
I loooove cranberries and anything homemade, so this looks yummy (minus the onions). I too always preferred the canned cranberry, but last year a friend of mine convinced me that the canned stuff is for lazy people and I should make this http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Cranberry-Compote
It was very well received and was yummy, but gimme the jelly-canned-stuff anyday! :)
what a gorgeous salsa! okay, pretty sure I’ve never used those two words in the same sentence. I only knew you could eat raw cranberries because my grandma makes the most amazing raw cranberry orange relish for the holidays. since we ditch our extended families on thanksgiving, i had to learn to make it. so freakin good. okay, this is a way long comment, i’m done.
I LOVE cranberries. Not like. Love! But I’m also from cranberry country (MA!) even though I live in Nh now. So clearly it’s just in my blood. I love the canned stuff too but there is a special place in my heart for the pretty round whole cranberries :)
I was just wondering where cranberry country was…