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Take your holiday salads to the next level with our tangy Cranberry Vinaigrette recipe. Bursting with tart and sweet flavor, this simple dressing adds a festive twist!
Featured with this recipe
Turn a regular salad into something amazing with Cranberry Vinaigrette! This salad dressing tastes like a twist on cranberry sauce. Making the dressing is easy. Just cook your cranberries like you would for a homemade cranberry sauce, and then combine and blend all ingredients. Build a spinach or kale salad, add leftover turkey, top with easy Cranberry Vinaigrette, and you have a healthy holiday salad fit for a queen.
Ingredients in Cranberry Vinaigrette
- Fresh Cranberries
- Orange Juice
- Sugar
- Olive Oil
- Red Wine Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- Salt and Pepper
Variations
Mix it up! Try some of these variations for a different dressing:
- Spiced- add nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves for a warm, spicy dressing
- Balsamic- use balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar for a different, sweeter flavor
- Mustard- add Dijon mustard (and honey if you’re feeling wild) for a zesty twist
- Citrus- swap orange juice for lime juice for a stronger flavor
Recipe Tip
When you start cooking the cranberries it may not seem like anything is happening. Be patient and wait for the berries to pop! Once they start popping the sauce will thicken up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Spinach or kale leaves would taste good, to add some sweetness to balance out any sour from the cranberry, candied pecans would taste great! Sliced fruit like apples or pears would also work well. Gorgonzola cheese would balance out the flavor as well.
This vinaigrette is high in Vitamin C and healthy fats (monounsaturated fat), which ranch does not have.
It really all depends on what you are eating it with.
Beyond using it for a lettuce leaf salad, you can put it on chicken or turkey, a dressing for hot or cold pasta, mixed with hot or cold vegetables, brushed on sandwiches for taste and flavor, added to grain salads, used as a dressing for potato salad, and used as a marinade for meat or vegetables. These, and so much more.
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Salads to Pair with Cranberry Vinaigrette
How to Make Cranberry Vinaigrette
Cranberry Vinaigrette
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine cranberries, orange juice, and sugar in a medium-sized sauce pan. Cook on medium high heat, stirring constantly, until all the cranberries pop. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Pour cranberry mixture into a blender and add olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
- You can use apple cider vinegar if you don’t have red wine vinegar.
- Be careful when blending the dressing, the cranberries may still be hot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
