Cranberries are a favorite fall fruits for a reason. We love the burst of tart freshness they add to cakes, muffins, and scones. Plus, homemade cranberry sauce is the GOAT of holiday sides. But there are a lot of ways to enjoy them that don’t involve cooking them to smithereens. We decided to think outside the can and turn those tart little jewels into a flavorful no-cook appetizer.
In today’s recipe, we’re chopping up fresh cranberries and letting them macerate with a bit of sugar, jalapeños, and scallions to make a zesty relish. Cooking, or shall we say uncooking, the berries this way maintains some texture that normally gets boiled out when making sauce. The relish is delicious on sandwiches or as a side dish to balance all those starchy casseroles, but it’s probably best showcased atop a smear of spruced-up cream cheese on a cracker.
So, the base of our holiday canapé is a doctored-up cream cheese with lemon zest, chives, and some nooch thrown in for extra cheesiness. For our vehicle, we prefer the nostalgic flavor of “buttery” but secretly animal-free Ritz crackers, but you can choose any variety that you fancy. The relish component is best made in advance so the flavors have time to mingle and the cranberries to break down. The earlier you make it, the juicier it gets. Any extra liquid is delicious added to a cocktail, so this recipe really pulls double duty.
Chive Spread with Cranberry-Jalapeño Relish
Yield: 6 to 8 servings, 4 bites each
Ingredients:
- Cranberry-jalapeño relish
- 1 12-ounce package fresh cranberries, finely chopped
- 2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 small bunch scallions, green and light green parts thinly sliced
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- Chive spread
- 16 ounces plant-based cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Crackers, for serving
Procedure:
- Make the relish. In a medium bowl or container, mix the chopped cranberries, jalapeños, scallions, sugar, lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 20 minutes or up to overnight.
- Whip up the cream cheese spread. Meanwhile, add cream cheese, nutritional yeast, chives, lemon zest, garlic powder, and ½ teaspoon salt to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if using an electric hand mixer). Mix on high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Serve. Transfer the whipped cream cheese and cranberry relish to a pair of small serving bowls. Serve on a platter with your favorite crackers.
Notes and Substitutions:
- You can chop the cranberries and jalapeños by pulsing both in a food processor; just be careful to not go so far you make a smoothie.
- The cream cheese and relish can be made up to 4 days in advance. Store separately in the fridge and top the cream cheese with relish before serving.
