Cranberry Jalapeno Dip
This Cranberry Jalapeno Dip is the perfect appetizer for the holiday season. Loaded with cranberries, jalapeno, and cream cheese, this sweet and savory dip packs a punch of holiday flavor and heat that everyone will love.
The holidays are a time for bringing out the best recipes in our collections and every year; we always make this dip. It takes classic holiday flavor and puts an unexpectedly delicious spin on it with a big kick of heat from jalapenos. It’s amazing!
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: It only takes a handful of ingredients to make this recipe.
- Easy: Just mix and chill. That’s all there is to it!
- A Spicy Holiday Twist: This dip is loaded with classic holiday flavor and a tasty twist, thanks to spicy jalapenos.
- Perfect for the Holidays: This dip is perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
🛒Ingredients
You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe, and you can find them all at your local grocery store. We’ve listed them all here, but you can find their exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Cream cheese – softened
- Jalapeno
- Scallions
- Lime juice
- Sugar
- Chopped parsley or cilantro
🔪 How to Make Cranberry Jalapeno Dip
It only takes a few minutes to go from individual ingredients to a deliciously sweet and savory dip. It’s the perfect recipe for delivering a big flavor without being in the kitchen for hours!
Step 1: Prep
Slice the jalapenos and remove the stems and seeds.
Step 2: Combine and Pulse
Add the cranberries, jalapenos, scallions, lime juice, sugar, and parsley to a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.
Step 3: Chill
Place the pulsed mixture in a bowl lined with paper towels and chill for an hour in the refrigerator.
Step 4: Make the Dip
Combine a third of the cranberry mixture with the cream cheese and spread it evenly on the bottom of a pie plate or serving bowl. Then, top it with the remaining cranberry mixture. Serve with crackers, and enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Extra Sweet: Use whole-berry cranberry sauce in place of fresh cranberries. Pulse the other ingredients and mix them with the cranberry sauce afterward if you choose to do this.
- Nuts: Walnuts or pecans folded into the cream cheese mixture add more flavor and texture.
- Extra Spicy: Leave the seeds intact for an extra spicy version of this dip.
If you love sweet and savory holiday recipes like this one, then check out our slow cooker cranberry pecan stuffing.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring spoons
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Food processor
- Pie plate or serving bowl
🥫 Storage
Refrigerate this dip for up to 3 days in an air-tight container.
What to Serve with Cranberry Jalapeno Dip
This is the perfect holiday dip to serve with any of your favorite crackers, crusty bread, or even vegetables.
💭 Tips
- Wash your hands thoroughly after handling hot peppers, and NEVER touch your face.
- Fully soften your cream cheese so it blends easily and completely with the cranberry mixture.
- Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly in the bottom of your dish for a pretty presentation.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Cranberry jalapeno dip is a sweet and spicy holiday appetizer made with cream cheese, cranberries, and jalapeno peppers. It can be served warm or cold alongside chips, crackers, pretzels, or vegetables.
The jalapenos are enough to make the dip hot, but it could be too hot for your taste if you don’t completely remove the seeds. They’re the spiciest part of the jalapenos.
Freezing cranberry jalapeno dip isn’t recommended. The texture won’t be the same after it’s defrosted.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy cranberries? Then these delicious recipes.
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe so you can find it later.
Cranberry Jalapeno Dip
Equipment
- Food processor
- large bowl
- Paper towels
- pie plate or serving dish
Ingredients
- 16 ounces cream cheese softened
- 8 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 jalapeno
- 4 scallions
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley or cilantro
Instructions
- Slice and remove the seeds from your jalapeno.
- In your food processor add your cranberries, jalapeno, scallions, lime juice, sugar and parsley.
- Pulse until coarsely chopped.
- Place the cranberry mixture into a bowl lined with paper towels and set in the fridge to chill for an hour.
- Combine ⅓ of the cranberry mixture with the cream cheese and spread down the bottom of a pie plate or serving bowl.
- Top with the remaining cranberry mixture.
