Fresh cranberry apple relish is a sweet-tart, crunchy holiday side made with just four ingredients: cranberries, apple, Medjool dates, and pecans. It comes together in 15 minutes in a food processor, with no cooking required.
I grew up eating cran-apple relish during the holidays, and this version uses dates instead of granulated sugar. It's a colorful addition to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, and you can make it a day or two ahead.
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Made this and the cranberry raspberry sauce for Thanksgiving. Both were a hit! I used gala apples and had to add more dates as some of the cranberries were a little tart. Easy adjustment without adding sugar. This will be great on green salad with protein too.
- Kerry
Ingredients
- Fresh cranberries: Choose firm cranberries and discard any that are soft or shriveled.
- Apple: I like using Granny Smith for its tartness, but Fuji, Honeycrisp, and Gala are good choices if you prefer something sweeter.
- Medjool dates: These add sweetness without granulated sugar. Be sure to remove the pits before adding them to the food processor.
- Pecans: Add crunch to the relish. Walnuts are a good substitute if you prefer.
Please see the recipe card for the complete ingredients, measurements, and instructions.
How to make cranberry apple relish
- Add the cranberries to the bowl of a food processor.
- Add the chopped apple and pitted dates. Pulse until roughly chopped, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Taste and add more dates if you'd like it sweeter. Add the pecans and pulse a few more times, keeping the mixture chunky.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Serving suggestions
For Thanksgiving, I like serving this relish alongside vegan lentil meatloaf muffins. The sweet-tart flavor is a nice contrast to their savory balsamic ketchup glaze.
Add Mediterranean olive oil mashed potatoes for a comforting holiday meal.
Sauteed green beans with mushrooms are another delicious side to round out the plate.
If you have leftovers, try adding a spoonful to a green salad or enjoying it on its own as a snack.
Made this recipe or have a question? Please leave a comment below. 💙 For even more simple vegan recipes, join my email list. It's less like a newsletter and more like emails between friends.
Love and Veggies,
Amy
📋 Recipe
Cranberry Apple Relish Sweetened with Dates
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed
- 1 Granny Smith apple, (or your favorite variety), roughly chopped
- 4 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
- ½ cup raw pecan pieces
Instructions
- Add the cranberries, apple, and dates to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times until the fruit is roughly chopped.2 cups fresh cranberries, 1 Granny Smith apple, 4 Medjool dates
- Add the pecans to the food processor. Pulse a few more times, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Be sure not to over-process. Keep it chunky and crunchy.½ cup raw pecan pieces
- Refrigerate the relish in an air-tight container until ready to serve.
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Notes
- Keep the texture chunky and be careful not to over-process it. For best results, use the pulse function on your food processor.
- Make this relish up to 2 days in advance and cover and refrigerate it until ready to use. If kept longer than that it will become too watery. Stir well before serving.
- For a sweeter relish, add a few more dates.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation.
Whack says
Amy,
good stuff.. had to add 8 dates
wish there was some idea what a "serving size" was used to get the caloric data.
Giving nutritional information without serving size is like saying, "its about this long" when your asked for a length measurement.
Amy Katz says
Glad you enjoyed it! There are 8 servings in the recipe, but I haven't measured the amount in an individual serving. Keep in mind that the dates have the most calories, so adding extra will up the number.
Kerry says
Made this and the cranberry raspberry sauce for Thanksgiving. Both were a hit!
I used gala apples and had to add more dates as some of the cranberries were a little tart. Easy adjustment without adding sugar. This will be great on green salad with protein too.
Amy Katz says
Love that idea for adding to a salad!
Theresa Glenn says
Delicious!!! You have captured the traditional recipe, but, made it even better!!!
Amy Katz says
Thank you so much, Theresa!
Melissa says
Very easy to make, but it is very, very tart. I doubled the recipe and used one granny smith Apple and one honey crisp Apple. I added about 3 tablespoons of sugar after tasting how tart it is, still tart which I love, but a little more palatable with a bit of sugar in it. Thank you for sharing!
Amy says
Hi Melissa! I'm glad you were able to make it work for your taste. If the cranberries are too tart, another think you can do is add more dates.
Liz says
Can I make it on Sunday for Thanksgiving or will it turn too brown? (i.e. how many is "a few" days?) Thank you-
Amy says
Hi Liz! I found that it didn't turn brown after that many days, but it did get a little watery. I plan on making it on Tuesday to serve on Thanksgiving.