Active time: 20 min. Total time: 4 hours, 20 min.
Yield: Serves 16 (serving size: 1/4 cup)
We’ve taken the classic cream cheese and pepper jelly combo that we all know and love, and added even more flavor. Our Cranberry-Jalapeño Cream Cheese Dip adds some tartness, sugar, and muted spiciness to the classic holiday appetizer. It’s visually striking, with bright crimson and ruby tones, making it perfect for fall parties, and the balance of the cranberries, sugar, jalapeños, lime, and cilantro will make this the appetizer all your friends will ask for. Using a fine dish sieve to drain the salsa is a great way to remove a lot of the liquid syrup, and will make your dip look so much prettier. Plus, you can repurpose all that syrup into some delicious cocktails. If you’d rather use reduced fat cream cheese, that’s totally fine—it’ll make no changes to the taste. You can always scoop up leftover dip with extra crackers, but we also recommend using it in a turkey sandwich.
Ingredients
- 1(1-lb.) pkg. fresh or frozen cranberries (about 4 cups)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions (about 4 medium)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1medium jalapeño chile, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4(8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
- Crackers, for serving
How to Make It
Step 1
Pulse cranberries in a food processor until coarsely chopped, about 10 pulses. Add sugar, scallions, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, and salt; pulse until finely chopped, about 5 more pulses. Transfer mixture to a bowl; cover and chill until flavors meld, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
Step 2
Remove mixture from refrigerator; uncover and stir. Spoon into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl, and press lightly to remove excess liquid. Discard liquid, or reserve for another use. Spread cream cheese in an even layer in a serving dish. Spoon cranberry mixture over top, and serve with crackers.
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