Cranberry Salad
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An old-fashioned recipe that has become a Thanksgiving classic mixes chopped cranberries, oranges, apples, celery and other ingredients into your favorite red jello to create Cranberry Salad.
Grandma’s Cranberry Salad Recipe
The perfect accompaniment to savory turkey, Grandma’s Stuffing, sweet potato casserole and Vegetable Medley Casserole, this sweet jello adds a variety of flavors and textures to your Thanksgiving feast.
Bursting with flavor, fresh produce is the star of the show in any flavor of red gelatin that you choose. Add chopped nuts for an extra crunch and more of an old-fashioned cranberry salad recipe. Exact ingredients can vary slightly and are often based on family traditions.
The most basic jello salad is Applesauce Jello. My grandma always made Lime Jello Salad and my friend’s grandma has passed this cranberry salad with jello down through the generations.
This cranberry side dish is easier than you think! If you can chop produce in a food processor you can make a successful batch of cranberry salad!
Our Cranberry Mold is more solid and a notable difference is that the gelatin flavor is predominant, but the recipe is sliced to serve. The more popular Cranberry Salad showcases a variety of flavors in every bite and is more scoop-able. Varying textures will affect the shape and presentation of these cranberry dishes.
Ingredients Needed
- Fresh Cranberries – pluck out the green ones and make sure your bag is plump and ripe
- Orange – choose a large naval orange and remove the seeds. Traditions are split on whether to peel the orange or chop the whole thing.
- Granulated Sugar – can vary the amount of sugar from 1/2 cup to 2 cups in this recipe based on how sweet you want the side dish to be.
- Apple – we like a red, slightly sweet apple. Remove the core, but leave the skin on.
- Celery – about 2 stalks creates 1 1/2 cups of chopped celery.
- Red Gelatin – we use cherry, but any jello that’s red in color will complement these the other ingredients. One large box or two small boxes are the appropriate amount.
- Boiling Water
- Nuts – are optional and we usually omit, when using chopped walnuts or pecans are most common.
Make The Cranberry Salad At Least One Day Ahead Of Time
When planning for Thanksgiving this is a great recipe to make up 2 to 3 days ahead of time. Make the dressing, sweet potato casserole and scalloped corn casserole the day before and then make the Turkey in a Roaster and gravy the day of Thanksgiving while the casseroles bake in the oven.
Step By Step Instructions
Using a mini food processor chop up the cranberries in small batches. Pour the chopped berries into a medium sized mixing bowl.
This step is key to success – chop well and evenly, but don’t pulverize.
Peel if desired, remove seeds and chop the orange. Add to the bowl with cranberries.
Pour in sugar and stir well. Let this mixture set while preparing the other ingredients.
Core and chop apple and celery. Then add to cranberry mixture.
In a medium sized sauce pan bring water to a boil. Once boiling turn off heat and whisk in gelatin.
Pour into chopped cranberry mixture and stir well.
Carefully transfer to one of more serving dishes. Cover tightly and store in a safe, level spot in the refrigerator to set up.
What Dish To Serve This In
My grandma collected beautiful glass bowls that she always used at the holidays.
Can pour into a square glass or metal baking dish. Or divide between multiple smaller, decorative dishes to split between different parties.
She used a jello mold for her Red Jello and Cherry Coke Jello Salad.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Use a mini food processor as chopping everything properly is key to creating a quality Thanksgiving jello salad.
- When pouring the liquid gelatin mixture in whatever dish you use ensure there’s enough room at the top to safely walk to the refrigerator without spilling.
- Keep a level spot in the fridge to allow the gelatin to set up for at least 4 to 6 hours.
- Use the chop or pulse button on the food processor to keep from over grinding and juicing the fruit too much.
- Peeling the orange(s) is a personal preference – we peel the orange and remove any seeds before tossing in the food processor.
- Vary the level of sweetness by reducing the sugar to 1 cup and use sugar free Jello
Variations of Jello Salad
The biggest variation in flavor will be in the type of red jello used. Raspberry gives a lighter flavor, cherry is most recognizable in this old-fashioned recipe and strawberry may be a personal preference. There’s no wrong answer!
We use 3 cups of boiling water other recipes use 2 cups of boiling water and a 20 ounce can of undrained crushed pineapple.
The exact fruit included is a personal preference. Can easily increase the amount of oranges and omit apples and celery all together.
Through testing we are sharing the recipe that our family enjoys most!
More Popular Holiday Recipes
Easy Pumpkin Spice Cake uses a box mix with 3 ingredients to create a gem.
Marshmallow Salad is light creamy and creamy with a base of pistachio pudding.
Baked Mac and Cheese with Cottage Cheese is super simple and a spin on this classic pasta.
Cranberry Salad
Author: JenniferIngredients
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries
- 1 orange
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups celery
- 1 red apple
- 6 ounces cherry jello or any red gelatin
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup chopped nuts optional
Instructions
- Using a food processor or chopper, chop cranberries and pour into a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Peel orange, remove seed and chop.
- Mix cranberries, orange and sugar together.
- Remove core from apple and chop. Chop celery as well.
- Add apple and celery to the cranberry mixture and stir well.
- Using a sauce pan bring water to a boil and whisk in gelatin until dissolved.
- Pour over the cranberry mixture and stir well.
- Carefully pour into a beautiful glass serving bowl or divide between smaller dishes. Cover tightly and set each dish in a level spot in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.