Top 10 Favorite Cranberry Recipes 🌱 A bright and beautiful collection of vegan recipes - sweet, savory, and festive - all celebrating the tart magic of cranberries!
Discover easy vegan cranberry recipes for every occasion, from classic sauce to bread, bites, and desserts, perfect for Thanksgiving and beyond.
Tart, tangy, bright & beautiful are the words that come to mind when I think of cranberries. I can't imagine a Thanksgiving table or Christmas holiday party without at least one cranberry dish, like a traditional cranberry sauce or relish. In fact, cranberries are my go-to ingredient to use in many of my favorite vegan holiday dessert recipes.
Cranberries have been a holiday staple in my family for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I couldn't wait to see that pop of ruby red on our Thanksgiving table. Today, I love finding new ways to showcase them beyond the sauce bowl - from appetizers to baked goods and even main dishes. Their tangy brightness adds a burst of color and flavor that makes any meal feel special.
Table of Contents
- 🌱 Cranberry Facts
- 🌱 Cranberry Tip
- Vegan Cranberry Cheese Bites
- Fresh Cranberry Pineapple Relish
- Vegan Orange Cranberry Bread
- Simple Cranberry Orange Sauce
- Cranberry Oat Crumble Bars
- Simple Maple Cranberry Yams (Sweet Potatoes)
- Homemade Vegan Pumpkin Bread
- Easy Homemade Cranberry Applesauce
- Old Fashioned Applesauce Cake
- Easy Vegan Old Fashioned Apple Crisp
- Vegan Retro Jello Cranberry Salad (Wobbler)
- Comments
🌱 Cranberry Facts
I've enjoyed cranberries my entire life but I'll admit, until recently, I didn't know much about them. So I decided I should learn a bit more.
Cranberries are an indigenous or native fruit to North America - how cool is that? They're a member of the heather family, related to blueberries, bilberries, and lingonberries. If you haven't tasted them before, they're small, hard, round, red fruits with a flavor that many describe as both bitter and sour. It's likely why they're rarely eaten raw unless combined with maple syrup, agave nectar, sugar or some type of sweetener.
You may have seen the Ocean Spray cranberry commercials with farmers wearing waders up to their armpits while standing in a sea of floating cranberries. I've always just assumed the berries grow in water. Actually, they grow on lowbushes (woody, perennial vines) in bogs, which are beds layered with sand, peat and gravel.
When the cranberries are ready to harvest for canning and juicing, farmers flood the bogs up to 18" in water (known as wet harvesting) and and use special equipment to loosen the berries from the vines. The ripe berries float to the surface and are scooped up and loaded onto trucks.
Fresh cranberries, like the kind we buy bagged in the produce section at grocery stores during the fall, are harvested using a dry method. It's considered the best way to get the freshest of berries. Cranberry farmers use a mechanical picker that looks like a large lawnmower with metal teeth. The picker combs berries off the vine and deposits them in burlap sacks.
🌱 Cranberry Tip
Ever wonder why fresh cranberries are hard to find year-round? The harvest season is only from Sept-Nov. Keep whole fresh cranberries on hand whenever you want them by freezing them! Home frozen cranberries can retain their quality for 8 to 12 months when kept at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. This article provides helpful hints on storing fresh cranberries.
Enjoy our top 10+ favorite vegan recipes with cranberries!
Vegan Cranberry Cheese Bites
Vegan Cranberry Cheese Bites 🌱 Deliciously festive bite-size appetizers baked in puff pastry with vegan cream cheese topped with a homemade cranberry orange sauce, zest and fresh herbs.
Fresh Cranberry Pineapple Relish
Fresh Cranberry Pineapple Relish 🌱 A bright & tangy melange of fresh cranberries, pineapple, oranges & apples lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup and a pinch of holiday spice.
Vegan Orange Cranberry Bread
Vegan Orange Cranberry Bread 🍊 Awaken your senses with the inviting aroma and flavors of fresh orange & cranberries in this delicious, easy to make vegan quick bread.
Simple Cranberry Orange Sauce
Simple Cranberry Orange Sauce 🍊 This easy vegan cranberry sauce recipe will be a welcomed addition to your Thanksgiving or holiday table. A delicious combo of whole cranberries and fresh orange sweetened with maple syrup and a hint of spice. How nice!
Cranberry Oat Crumble Bars
Vegan Cranberry Oat Crumble Bars 🌱 made with tart, juicy cranberries sweetened with maple syrup and sandwiched between a chewy buttery, oatmeal crust. You're going to love this easy vegan recipe!
Simple Maple Cranberry Yams (Sweet Potatoes)
Simple Maple Cranberry Yams or Sweet Potatoes 🌱 A simply delicious vegan version of a favorite Thanksgiving holiday candied yam side dish. Made with sweet potatoes and fresh cranberries baked with a citrusy orange and maple glaze and a hint of nutmeg. Enjoy this delish dish anytime you want!
Homemade Vegan Pumpkin Bread
Easy Homemade Vegan Pumpkin Bread 🎃 This scrumptious recipe captures all the cozy colors and flavors of fall baked into perfectly sweet & tasty loaves. We added dried cranberries and walnuts. Do you smell the pumpkin spice?
Easy Homemade Cranberry Applesauce
Easy Homemade Cranberry Applesauce (with maple syrup)🍎 A bright and delicious applesauce recipe with fresh cranberries lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup, a touch of holiday spice, lemon juice and orange zest. Gluten-free.
Old Fashioned Applesauce Cake
Old Fashioned Applesauce Cake 🍏 We've updated a beloved family recipe by creating the perfect marriage of apples, spice and everything nice using all vegan ingredients in this deliciously moist & yummy cake.
Easy Vegan Old Fashioned Apple Crisp
Easy Vegan Old Fashioned Apple Crisp 🍎 A simply sweet & scrumptious vegan version of a classic apple dessert made even tastier with a splash of orange juice, a sprinkle of tart cranberries and a crispy caramelized oat topping. Oh my, it's easier than pie!
And last, but certainly not least, get ready for it . . .
Vegan Retro Jello Cranberry Salad (Wobbler)
Vegan Retro Jello Cranberry Salad 🌱 Experience a blast to the past! Try this all vegan version of a classic Thanksgiving Jello Cranberry Wobbler salad. Created with a colorful combo of fresh cranberries, oranges, walnuts and spices in a citrusy-sweet plant-based gelatin.
Did you enjoy these cran-tastic vegan recipes?
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