Food + Travel

Cranberry Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip

This Cranberry Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip will change your life (and every holiday party you attend from here on out.) I know that’s a bold statement, but trust me on it.

It has been re-pinned and viewed over 4,000,000 times in three years – and for good reason.

Pin this Cranberry Jalapeno Dip to save for later!

This Cranberry Jalapeno Dip basically breaks my website every holiday season; it’s that good!
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Now back to the recipe!

This dip is so festive and made up of such a unique combination of flavors.

Cranberry, jalapeno, green onion and cream cheese all come together to make one of the best appetizers I’ve had in a long time.

If I’m honest, I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. I don’t even like cranberries! But please believe me when I tell you that when my sweet friend made this Cranberry Jalapeno Dip for us, I ate more than half of the entire plate (yes, I was totally that girl at the party.)


Shortly after, I made this appetizer for a surprise birthday party where a mob of people surrounded it until it was completely gone (some ate more than others, but I won’t name any names.) 😉

There are very few things that I’ve made that had so many people asking, “Can you please send me this recipe?!”


RELATED POSTS:

Holiday Boston Cream Pie Trifle

 


The BEST Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe

I’ve already told my family that I’m making this dip for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year for the rest of my life because the colors and flavors are way too perfect not to!
It is the ideal blend of tart, spicy and sweet, and when eaten with crackers, it is simply one of the most “complete” dishes I’ve tasted.
With that said, I hope that you enjoy this Cranberry Jalapeno Dip much as I do and that this allows you to check “Find Holiday Appetizer” off of your to-do list!

Don’t forget the most important steps:
1. Refrigerate OVERNIGHT and
2. Strain the cranberries BEFORE you put them on the cream cheese! You don’t want it to be runny!
ENJOY! 🙂
Please also leave a star rating if you try and enjoy this recipe!

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5 from 45 votes
Holiday Cranberry Jalapeño Dip
Prep Time
20 mins
Resting Time
12 hrs
Total Time
20 mins
 

Tart cranberries, spicy jalapeños and sweet sugar come together to create a delicious holiday appetizer that will have your guests begging for the recipe! 

Course: Appetizer
Servings: 32 Servings
Author: Lindsey Maestas
Ingredients
  • 12 oz fresh, uncooked cranberries
  • 1/4 cup green onion
  • 1-2 fresh jalapeño peppers
  • 2 Tbsp. cilantro (optional)
  • 3/4 to 1 Cup sugar (according to taste)
  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juce
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 16 oz. cream cheese (whipped)
Instructions
  1. Use food chopper to chop cranberries.

  2. Chop green onion, jalapeño peppers and cilantro.



  3. In a medium-sized bowl, add chopped cranberries, green onion, cilantro and jalapeños.


  4. Add sugar, lemon juice and salt on top of cranberry mixture and stir gently until blended.


  5. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight.



  6. Take cranberry mixture out of the refrigerator and stir all ingredients together. Strain out all liquid using a collander with small holes. (Pro Tip: Save the liquid for a cocktail simple syrup - it's delicious!)

  7. Whip softened cream cheese with hand mixer until smooth (about 2 minutes) and spread cream cheese over bottom of a pie plate or 9x9 dish.


  8. Pour cranberry mixture atop cream cheese and keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.


  9. Use a spoon to spread over Ritz crackers and enjoy!!



Recipe Video

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With Grace,

Lindsey

Lindsey

View Comments

  • Wow! I would have never thought about this combination of flavors, but it does sound wonderful. I am always trying to find a new appetizer to take to holiday gatherings with me. City Spouse's family has a kind of "cocktail hour" before dinner and this would be perfect with my mulled blackberry wine.
    Thank you so much for sharing.
    *Hugs*

    • I honestly had absolutely no idea what was in it the first time I tried (devoured) it! haha. And I was super shocked once I found out, but I LOVE it! Cocktail hour sounds like so much fun and mulled blackberry wine sounds incredible!! I think this would be the perfect appetizer - I hope you love it!

      • Good morning Lindsey! As I don't think I would be a fan of cranberries either, I'm wondering if pomegranates would be a good substitute. Thoughts?

        • Hi Debbie! Yes, I think pomegranates would be a great substitution. However, I would encourage you to try the cranberries one day - I think they will surprise you!

          • OK i'll go with the cranberries, but if my family doesn't like it i'll just tell them "Lindsey may me do it"!!!

            Have a wonderful holiday season!!!!!

          • This is a wonderful, colorful & delish dish. My coworker made this for Thanksgiving, she put her dish away to soon for me to get enough. Left me wanting more. My daughter in law made it for Christmas 🎄. So yummy. Now I have the recipe to share. My husband loves it. Thankyou for the recipe. Happy New Year 2024

      • Isn't this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe?? She posted it in 2011 and I have been making it since then... It's nearly the same recipe but I thought she came up with it?

        • Hi there,

          I'm not sure if you read the text in my post, but I got this recipe from a friend who had it at her party. I'm not sure where she got it, but I can confidently tell you that I didn't get it from "Mel's Kitchen". I have a large family of cooks and we are always experimenting with new recipes and adapting old ones, so I don't have any need to copy ideas from other people. You'll likely find a lot of similar recipes all over Pinterest, with a few ingredients changed because that is an adaptation. But if I get a recipe from someone else, I always link back to their page.

          Best,

          Lindsey

      • Hi Dana! The cranberries are left raw. The lemon will help to level out the tartness! Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks so much for stopping by. <3

    • What is consensus of adding the optional cilantro? I love cilantro, but wondering about it in this recipe?

    • Delicious! Just made this for a Thanksgiving appetizer and everyone loved it, and many asked for the recipe. I made a few alterations - my jalepeno wasn't very spicy, so I added a Serrano pepper also. I let the mixture sit overnight, but I had set aside about 1/4 cup chopped cranberries and added them back right before serving to add back a little of the tartness. Will definitely make again- thank you for the great recipe!

    • I made it today for thanksgiving 2016 :)
      It was a hit I only made one dish, I should've made 3 it was so great and out of all the appetizers we had that one is the only one that was gone and the best hit. Thanks so much for sharing!!
      Tip: don't cut the cranberries to small just diced but big diced. Lol if that makes sense. I say that because my cousin made it and it was watery. From what she said :)))

    • This dip was as amazing as promised. I understood the recommendation about using a knife to chop the cranberries, but couldn't be bothered and took into consideration what to do with the macerating liquid. I chose to drinking the liquid off of the cranberry mix and blend it into my cream cheese. This loosened up the cream cheese a little bit and made it easier to scoop - which was a bonus. Makes for a bit more work, but then I don't waste all that tasty liquid.

    • I started to make this by the recipe provided and after trying it after all of the ingredients were combined, we scratched the cream cheese, added more cilantro and now it's our families go to fall salsa! We also used it in lieu of cranberry sauce at thanksgiving dinner. It was a HUGE hit! Thank you so much for the inspiration

      • Oh my gosh! What a fun idea! I will definitely try this next! Thanks so much, Audrey :) Merry Christmas!!

    • Holy cow I just made that recipe for the cranberry dip! Incredible! Thank you my party will be a hit!

    • Love this dip! I've made it twice, and the second time I mixed the cranberry mixture in the cream cheese instead of spreading it on top, and it is very good that way too!!

    • I made this for a Christmas party last weekend and everyone raved about it! People were eating it with a spoon after we ran out of crackers. Delish!

    • Yay Rochelle!! It will be gone before you know it ;) I'm making two this year! Have a great Thanksgiving!

  • Wow that looks delicious! And it looks so pretty too! Would be perfect for parties this winter.

  • Thank you for sharing your cranberry jalapeno-dip holiday recipe! It looks so good and easy enough to make! I can't wait to try this new recipe soon!!

    • Thanks so much for stopping by, Ashleigh! It is definitely one of the easiest dips I've ever made! Enjoy!!

  • I never really knew how much a fan of spicy/sweet combos I was until I made some DELICIOUS pineapple salsa over the weekend. It was amazing. This sounds absolutely incredible, and I KNOW my husband would love it! Thanks for sharing <3

    • Yum!!! That sounds SO good! I'm a spicy/sweet addict. I hope this makes you a believer as well ;-) Happy Thanksgiving!

    • Hi Regina! You can mix the cranberries, green onion, cilantro, jalapeño, lemon juice and sugar 2-3 days in advance and keep it in a bowl in the refrigerator. However, I would put it on the cream cheese when you're ready to serve or maybe an hour before - not much longer! Leftovers should last you about 4-5 days! I hope you enjoy! Thanks so much for stopping by!

    • Hi Laura! They're actually not! They will be straight out of the bag. They're pretty tart but the lemon helps to balance it out a bit! Hope this helps! :)

      • Okay, thanks! Just made a batch but won't be eating it until tomorrow. Although the bites I snuck out of the bowl were delish..thanks for a great recipe!! :)

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