Cranberry-Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip
This cranberry-jalapeno cream cheese dip is sweet, tart, spicy, and absolutely one of the best holiday dips on the planet.
This amazing, festive cranberry dip has been a staple in our Novembers + Decembers for almost ten years.
I am a huge fan of cranberries, but this dip is in a league of its own and is one of the main reasons I get excited to see those bags of bright, red berries appear in the grocery store.
A combination of sweet and spicy, tart and creamy, this is the perfect holiday party appetizer.
But honestly, we love it so much, we stock up on cranberries just for this dip and sit around eating it on average Tuesday nights. It’s kind of one of my favorite weekly holiday traditions.
Fresh Cranberries Only
Using fresh ingredients – not dried or frozen – are critical to this recipe:
- fresh cranberries
- fresh cilantro
- fresh lime juice
- fresh jalapenos
- fresh green onions (or chives)
The freshness of the ingredients provides a burst of brightness that is unparalleled this time of year.
The cranberries are best if they are chopped into fairly fine pieces. A food processor or high powered blender will make light work of the job.
Once the cranberries are coarsely chopped, I add all the other ingredients and pulse until evenly chopped and everything looks very “dippy.”
If you choose to do all the chopping by hand, bless you.
Make it in Advance
The cranberry mixture needs to be made several hours ahead of time. Even better if it can be refrigerated for 12-24 hours.
If you taste it right away, you’re probably going to be underwhelmed. But wonderful things happen as the flavors have time to meld and develop.
With time, there might be a bit of liquid that accumulates in the cranberry dip. I like to pour a lot of that off before spreading on the cream cheese.
Cranberries + Cream Cheese
The sweet and tart (and just ever so slightly spicy) cranberry mixture over the softened cream cheese is amazingly delicious.
Pretzel crisps or thin crackers are the perfect vehicle to inhale this dip. But I’m not above eating spoonfuls of the tasty concoction. Life’s short, what can I say.
Also, I have it on good authority that this cranberry-jalapeno cream cheese dip is ridiculously good on sandwiches. I think we should all take that advice very seriously.
Here are a few other rave reviews from the comments below:
Tonya: I made this for Thanksgiving and it was to die for. Everyone LOVED it!!!! My sister in law said it should become a staple. Making it again today for our Christmas cookie exchange and probably for Christmas, too!
Tracey: OMG this was a show stopper. I made this for my work friend besties Christmas dinner last night everyone raved over it. It is one of those amazing recipes-super easy to throw together and absolutely delicious and a crowd pleaser! Will be making this again and again.
Cara: This really is the best dip ever! I am always asked to bring this to family gatherings, and everyone who tries it wants the recipe. Definitely a holiday must-have in our house!!
Cranberry-Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip
Ingredients
- 12 ounces (340 g) fresh cranberries
- 4-5 green onions, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
- 1 cup (212 g) sugar, more or less to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 (8-ounces each) packages (454 g) cream cheese, light or regular, softened
- Crackers, for serving
Instructions
- Pulse the cranberries in a food processor or blender until coarsely chopped. Add the green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, sugar, cumin, lemon juice and salt and pulse until the ingredients are well combined and finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a covered container and refrigerate for 4 hours (or up to overnight) so the flavors have time to meld and develop.
- When ready to serve, spread the cream cheese in an even layer on a serving plate or 9-inch pie dish. Top with the cranberry-jalapeno mixture.
- Refrigerate for up to an hour before serving. Serve with crackers.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Jamie Cooks It Up
Recipe originally published Dec. 2011; updated Dec. 2020 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
I’m excited to taste it once it’s melded together but my initial taste almost burned my lips! I deseeded the jalepeño and everything! Help!
I ate some of this dip New Year’s Eve and it was awesome! Can’t wait to make some.
My favorite dip. It’s always a hit! I had cranberries in the freezer, so I tried it. Took them out, rinsed them and threw them in the blender still frozen. It worked great!! Thought I’d pass that along.
I double the recipe and took it on a 7 inch plate to 4 different pot lucks, putting half of one recipe over one clock of cream cheese. Next time, I might use whipped cream cheese instead because it would be easier to spread.
I abandoned the cream cheese & was just scooping the fruit up like a person obsessed
Love lime 🍋🟩 juice in lieu of 🍋 lemon
First recipe I saw did not use cumin, don’t skip it! It really takes it up (yet another) notch
It’s incredible on a toasted bagel
Researching how long cranberries stay fresh before I buy out the local inventory 😄
I absolutely love this recipe. I am dairy free and put it on vegan cream cheese that I whip. I also added cardamom and a little nutmeg in place of the cumin. It is so delicious and hard to keep for very long. Thanks for sharing.
I want to make this for a NYE party. I went to two stores and they said cranberries are over for the season. The one produce manager told me to use dried cranberries. Has anyone ever made it this way before? If yes, do I need to make any changes to the recipe? Thanks so much!
I see them available at the Target near me.
Hi Pam, unfortunately this recipe doesn’t work quite as well with dried cranberries.
Put in the whole jalapeño, you won’t be sorry! Yummy!
So good, but sometimes the layer of refrigerated cream cheese is hard to scoop with a cracker. Can I use whipped cream cheese?
I almost always use whipped cream cheese for this reason. It works beautifully.
Yes, whipped cream cheese will work!
I’ve made this recipe several times now, tweeting it a bit each time. I drain the cranberry mixture for a good 24 hours, reserving the juice which makes a great nonalcoholic, festive and healthy drink! I’ve found lessening the sugar, whipping the cream cheese with a couple tablespoons of milk (or a little sour cream) along with a good teaspoon of vanilla makes it far easier to use as a “dip” It’s a keeper. Thanks for a delicious and attractive recipe!
Judy G
Can I use goat cheese in place of the cream cheese?
Sure…it will obviously change the flavor, but if you enjoy the taste of goat cheese, it should work fine.
What kind of crackers goes best with this?
Pita crackers, wheat thins, almond nut thins, triscuits – really any cracker of your choice! It’s very adaptable.