Fresh Cranberry Chutney {My Fave Cranberry Sauce}
This fresh cranberry chutney is the perfect concoction of sweet-tart cranberry sauce, warm spices, and other lovely textures. See ya later canned cranberry sauce!
I wasn’t planning on posting today. But then I made this gorgeous chutney.
And I couldn’t resist telling you. If you don’t have plans for a bit of tart cranberry on your Thanksgiving table, I think this one is probably speaking to you…so listen up.
It’s a bit outside the cranberry sauce box but oh man, does it work. I’ve been sitting on this recipe for a year before deciding to make it. Initially I wasn’t so sure about the addition of savory notes like onion and celery.
My fears were unfounded. Because the cranberries are overpowering (in a good way) in color and texture, the other ingredients absorb the goodness from the cranberries and it becomes the perfect concoction of sweet-tart cranberry sauce, warm spices, and other lovely textures.
It morphs from a boring ol’ cranberry sauce to a fantastic cranberry chutney.
I ate it with some baked chicken tenders last night and it was heaven. I can only imagine how a little dab will be on turkey. So there you go.
Here’s my contribution to cranberries at Thanksgiving (many of you have asked if I have a go to cranberry sauce recipe and I’m declaring this as my new fave for 2013).
Here’s a link with many of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes if you still need some inspiration and don’t forget about the step-by-step menu planning guide.
Fresh Cranberry Chutney
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup finely minced onion
- ½ cup chopped Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored
- ½ cup finely chopped celery
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, raisins, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer over low heat until the berries start to pop, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the onion, apple, and celery; continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture begins to thicken, 5-10 more minutes. Transfer to a container and cool slightly. Refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to meld.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Anna G, a reader who sent it to me all the way back in 2012, thanks, Anna!
116 Comments on “Fresh Cranberry Chutney {My Fave Cranberry Sauce}”
This was a hit! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I made it twice for 2 dinners and everyone loved it. I added walnuts to mine and I really loved the addition of raisins & craisins!
The following day, I made grilled cheese sandwiches with this chutney & Brie, it was delicious!
Made the chutney for Thanksgiving and it was fabulous–everyone really liked it. Making another batch for gifts.
Should all the cranberries pop? Some of mine are still whole, so maybe I need to let it simmer longer?
You can continue to let it simmer…but it’s fine if there are still some whole cranberries as long as they’ve softened a bit.
Family favorite. I always bring this to our gathering and slip it onto the buffet table. This one disappears and the “other” cranberry sauce is untouched.
Everyone loved it. full of flavor!
You lost me at celery
This is the best cranberry recipe I’ve ever had. Everyone said they could ditch the turkey and just eat this.
I make this recipe EVERY year for Thanksgiving. It is amazing. I use a shallot rather than an onion, but other than that… as is! Perfection. Thank you!
I didn’t think I was a cranberry fan until I tried making this recipe. It is a delicious. I serve it every Thanksgiving now and have shared the recipe with a number of people. I make the recipe as directed and it’s perfect.
I make a version of this every year; this year added 2 chopped Satsuma tangerines (peel and all), blanched slivered almonds, and a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon. Left out savories. Used a small Instant Pot, pressured for 3 minutes, then slow cooked to reduce liquid. Thanks for sharing and all the comment suggestions.
I add a lot of ingredients to the chutney, Cranberries, pineapple chunks in own juice, raisins, cut chunked apples, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, sugar, ground cinnamon, ginger and cloves. When cooled off and in a pretty bowl, I add diced cut walnuts.
Every year I try out at least 2 different cranberry sauce/chutney recipes at our Thanksgiving meal. This one is staying on the menu for next year. I loved it so much, it’s def my favorite cranberry “sauce” I’ve made. Thank you!
This was an excellent recipe! It makes a ton – I really probably needed a quarter of this for dinner, but I plan to use the leftovers to make Brie en croute next weekend. I used craisins. I also added more apple than the recipe called for because my green apple was large and I didn’t want to waste it. Probably put in almost 3 times as much. Didn’t seem to make a difference other than the recipe was more sweet than sour. Almost like a delicious pie filling. I may cut the amount of sugar slightly next time to get a little more tang.
Oh my goodness this was delicious!! What a hit at our Thanksgiving!! I put it all over your blender rolls and I loved that suggestion! We absolutely love it!!! It was the star of Thanksgiving, in my opinion! We followed the recipe as is. I will maybe change one small thing next time. Even though I let the celery simmer for awhile, it was still quite crunchy and full of celery flavor. Next time, I think I will omit, for textural preferences. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes!!!
This may sound weird, but would this be good on mini New York style cheesecakes? I have the ingredients and thought the color would be festive.
Worth a try! Might not be quite as sweet as a traditional cheesecake topping.
I made the chutney it was delicious. Now, can you freeze it?
Yes, you can.
Amazing! Thank you. I also added extra ginger.
This is absolutely wonderful! Thanksgiving leftovers in our house always means turkey curry, so this caught my eye. So easy to prepare, and just so tasty. Even Mr. Jellied-Sauce-From-the-Can raved. I increased the minced fresh ginger to 1 T because I love the taste of ginger, and my husband said the balance was perfect. Here it is two days before Thanksgiving, and I’m just hoping I will have enough for Thanksgiving dinner, let alone the leftover curry!
This is delicious! I like to have chutneys available all year and this one will be deli with turkey, chicken and pork. I mixed a bit with some Mayo yeti make a nice sandwich spread. I added dried cherries because that is what I had in hand and also used ginger powder since I didn’t have fresh ginger. I have a question about how long it will last. In the refrigerator? Can it be frozen?
Hi Lynn, it should last up to a week in the refrigerator. I haven’t frozen it, but I think that should work as well.
Trying to get a lot prepped in advance this year since last year was so difficult (our first time doing our own thanksgiving) Everything that could go wrong did go wrong! So I’m planning a couple weeks in advance! Will this recipe keep well in the freezer?
I made it last year a couple days in advance and let it be in the refrigerator but I’m also baking a bunch of pies for the new bakery and feel like I won’t have the time.
Hi Brittany, I haven’t frozen it so I’m not sure, but I definitely think it stands a good chance of working out. Good luck!
Hi Mel,
Second year in a row made this for Thanksgiving. This recipe is five stars, everyone loved it and again rave reviews!
Thanks, Carol!
Can’t make this in a crockpot.?
I loved this recipe. I was skeptical about the onion but it is perfect. I used a dry fruit mix (cranberries, cherries, blueberries and apricots from Cherry Republic) instead of raisins. Also added the pecans as suggested.
I just made it. The recipe was super easy to follow amd I added green onion since I forgot the reg onion. And added a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Thank you
Say if I were to make this now (a week before thanksgiving) would it freeze well? I guess I can always wait til the day before but I have so much to do already!
No need to freeze, I think it should be fine in the refrigerator!
I have two questions before I make this lovely recipe.
1.) Can you can it? I think this would make wonderful holiday gifts.
2.) I don’t eat sugar. Is there an alternative ingredient to sweeten this or do you think it is possible to use less sugar?
Thank you.
I don’t know the pH levels for safe canning so I can’t recommend it. I’m sorry! You could try using less sugar or maybe honey?
Oh my!! This recipe ROCKS!! AND my friends all LOVE IT!! I’ll be making a double batch later today!! Note: I added large pieces of orange peel in which I stuck the clove into and added the juice of 1/2 the orange!! Again, this ROCKS!! Thank you so much for shating!! Cheryle
Due to typo’s…. thank you so much for sharing!!
Makes regular cranberry sauce blush in embarrassment at it mediocrity and slink off in disgrace as the superior flavorful chutney struts itself down the proverbial runway of the dinner table.
Hahahahahahaha.
Fantastic as written but also flexible. I made it with several substitutions – pears for apples, shallots for onions, leeks for onions but added orange juice. All were great.
This was amazing! Just tart & sweet enough with a yummy undertone of savory. I didn’t have celery and used an autumn rose fuji apple instead of granny smith, but everything turned out terrifically.
My husband is a lover of cranberries and he raved about this. I was a bit apprehensive at the end of cooking that it would be too liquidy but it was perfect after cooling off & hanging out in the fridge for a few hours.
This is going to be a must for every Thanksgiving from here on out 🙂
Oh yes, I added some chopped pecans after cooling & prior to being in the fridge. It lent a fantastic texture to the whole thing and I recommend it to fellow nut lovers!
Great idea, Chelsea!
Made this for thanksgiving dinner. It does have a very prominent ginger/cinnamon flavor intitally, however the after taste is very delicious once the savory aspects become apparent. Beautiful crunch and texture. Super delicious! I would recommend to everyone.
I’ve been trying a new cranberry chutney/relish every year for the past several years. I think I’ve finally landed on the best of the bunch. The savory onion and celery sounded strange, but it really mellows out the normally sickeningly sweet chutney. Make it a couple days ahead – it gets better by the day!
Thanks for the review, Randy!
Is it light brown sugar or dark
You can use either.
I made this today in preparation for Thanksgiving. It was so good my husband ate a bowlful just after I finished, and had just put it in fridge.
The only veer off recipe was I used 1/2 cup oj for 1/2 of water quantity.
Thanks Mel, the ingredients go magically together!
So happy you loved this, Carol! I think a lot of people dismiss this recipe, but it is a winner!
do you think this could work in the instant pot? maybe do the apple, onion and celery on saute function after pressure cooking the cranberries? kind of like your 5-minute cranberry sauce recipe?
Definitely worth a try! I bet it would work!
How long does this keep for?
Probably up to a week.