47 Uses for Fresh Cranberries - Eat Like No One Else

Get some ideas from this blog and from my fellow bloggers on different ways you can use fresh cranberries for both sweet and savory recipes.

A collage containing Cranberry Curd, Cranberry Meatballs, a ring of cranberry sauce, and a cranberry cheesecake.

There are some items at the grocery store that only appear for a short time at a particular time of year and then disappear until the next time around. One of those items is fresh cranberries. You typically start seeing them pop up in stores shortly before Halloween, but by the New Year they are usually gone.

So this is the time to stock up on these small, flavorful, tart treasures. You might be wondering what can you do with them? Below you will find a list of recipes using fresh cranberries that I hope you will enjoy!

A pile of fresh cranberries on a blue and white plate with some small leaves on top.

A Little About Cranberries

Before we get into the recipes I wanted to share a little bit about cranberries:

Cranberries are in season from October to January
Just like you see in the Ocean Spray commercials, they really do flood the bogs where the cranberries grow to harvest them. I once visited a cranberry bog in Michigan to see the harvest in October.
Cranberries can last for many weeks when keep in the fridge

A ring of homemade jellied cranberry sauce on a silver plater on top of a piece of burlap

My Recipes

Here are the recipes that I posted for my blog so far. Mostly sauce recipes like:

My favorite is the Sous Vide Cranberry Sauce. It does take longer to make however since the cranberries are cooked without adding any water, you get the most bold cranberry flavor and an amazing texture. The fun part is you get to pop the cranberries yourself when they are done by smashing them while inside your sous vide bag. If you have a sous vide machine, you should try it out. Some Instant Pot models have a sous vide function.

If you aren't a fan of traditional cranberry sauce, then you can try making my cranberry applesauce. I use sweet apples so that I don't need to add any sugar to it.

Cranberry Curd inside of a Ginger Snap Crust on top of a white towel with forks around it.

The newest recipe on my blog this year is a Cranberry Curd Tart, made with ginger snap cookies. I had been seeing all the cranberry curd on social media and couldn't wait to try it out myself. I have made lemon curd before, the cranberry curd was so much easier since you have all the pectin in the cranberries that it will always come out thick enough and not too thin which I have had with lemon curd recipes.

Recipes I Reviewed

Back in the day I used to review recipes that I saw on Food Network. I did a few that on the blog that involved cranberries.

Other Bloggers Recipes

I asked my fellow bloggers what were their favorite cranberry recipes on their blogs. And I got a huge list of recipes including dessert, breads, breakfast items, beverages, and plenty of savory dishes.

I want to first highlight this Cranberry Cheesecake recipe:

A cheesecake topped with fresh cranberries covered in sugar. — Image courtesy of Simply Scrumptious Eats

This recipe was created by the team of Nicole and Andrea from Simply Scrumptious Eats. I meet them in person at a food blogger conference in Chicago in 2023. We stood in a long line together for lunch. Their recipe are amazing and I suggest after you checkout that cheesecake recipe that you take some time to search around their blog and find something else delicious to make.

Desserts

I got pies, cakes, and cookies, and more recipes that will satisfy your sweet tooth.

Breads

Fresh cranberries are great for putting into breads like...

Breakfast

Don't miss these recipes that are perfect for a weekend breakfast or brunch.

Beverages

Some great ideas here including making your own cranberry soda and using the liquid from making cranberry sauce as a tea, pure genius!

Cranberry meatballs in a small metal bowl with handles. — Photo courtesy of the Forked Spoon.

Let's wrap it with some savory recipes. Cranberries are just good for sweet things, their tart and tangy flavor work well in savory dishes as well.

The one I am highlighting here are these Cranberry Meatballs. If you never have made tasted a cranberry BBQ sauce this is your motivation to do so. So good and this is the perfect appetizer recipe to serve up during the holidays. This recipe is from Jessica Randhawa from the Forked Spoon. She has been at the blogging game for over 13 years so she has a wide selection of recipes on her site. Check out her recipe index to start planning what you want to try first (after the meatballs of course!)