Vegetarian Recipes

Cranberry Orange Relish

There’s nothing I love more than a fresh, raw side dish at a heavy holiday meal. This tangy and bright Cranberry Orange Relish will be the recipe everyone at your table asks for this year—I guarantee it! This fruity relish comes together in minutes (no cooking required!), uses simple budget-friendly ingredients, and can be made ahead of time. Not to mention, the leftovers (if there are any) are fantastic on salads, sandwiches, and cheese boards.

What is Cranberry Orange Relish?

For people who don’t love the gelatinous texture of traditional cranberry sauce, this relish is a winner! It’s somewhere between a relish and a slaw, and it’s perfectly seasoned. I put fresh cranberries, oranges, brown sugar, fresh ginger, and cinnamon into a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. The result is a chunky, tangy, and slightly sweet side to go with any holiday meal this season! And unlike some of our other relish recipes (see tomato relish and roasted apple cranberry relish), it doesn’t require any cooking at all. So easy!

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy cranberry orange relish recipe:

Fresh Cranberries: You’ll need a 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries, which should be rinsed and drained before using. Look for firm, bright red cranberries without any wrinkled or soft spots! I only ever use fresh cranberries in this recipe, but you can try frozen if you can’t find fresh. I’d thaw them and drain them well before using— just note the texture will likely be softer.
Oranges: I use fresh oranges, rather than orange juice, for the best flavor and texture. I like navel oranges because they’re typically seedless and have a nice balance of sweetness and acidity. However, you can use any medium-sized orange you like.
Fresh Ginger: Adds a warm, slightly spicy flavor. Be sure to peel and grate it before using.
Brown Sugar: For sweetness and added flavor. I usually use packed light brown sugar whenever I make this recipe for fresh cranberry orange relish.
Ground Cinnamon: Adds a festive flavor and pairs perfectly with the fresh cranberries.
Salt: Just a pinch of salt to perfectly season this relish!

Recipe Tips & Tricks

The secret to perfectly flavored orange cranberry relish with a beautiful red color is TIME. This is one recipe that I urge you to make at least 24 hours in advance. The flavors will have more time to meld, and the natural red color from the cranberries will deepen. Eating it right away is fine, but I promise it gets better with time!
Pulse, don’t puree! We are looking for a relish-like texture with small pieces of cranberries and orange peel throughout. I pulse the ingredients in a food processor for short bursts to achieve this texture.
Adjust sweetness to taste. I only use 2 tablespoons of brown sugar in this recipe to balance out the tartness of the cranberries. However, if your oranges are particularly sweet or you prefer a tarter relish, feel free to adjust the amount of sugar to your liking.

I know trying any new recipe can be intimidating, but I promise this cranberry orange relish is a great one to start with. It’s simple and requires minimal ingredients and equipment. So PLEASE don’t feel intimidated when I say, ‘suprême your oranges!’ This is just a fancy chef term for separating the juicy segments (the bits you want) from the membrane and pith (the bitter white part). All you need is a sharp knife, a little patience, and my process photos below to guide you.

Once you get the hang of it, it’s a super fun knife skill to practice year-round. But that said, you can totally skip this step and just peel your oranges and pulse them a little in the food processor before adding everything else.

Serving Suggestions

This raw cranberry relish with orange is the perfect palate cleanser for a decadent holiday meal. You already know roasted turkey and cranberries go together like two peas in a pod, but I’ll let you in on a little secret—this relish is also amazing with baked ham or roast chicken. Add some roasted veggies and sausage stuffing for a well-rounded, flavor-packed festive dinner.

Any leftovers would also work well in sandwiches, on cheese boards, mixed into salads (like my Thanksgiving salad bowls, for example!), or used to make a delicious cranberry cream cheese dip as a fun holiday appetizer.

Storage Instructions

You can keep your fresh cranberry orange relish in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. The salt may draw out some additional liquid as it sits, so I’d give it a good stir before serving again. You can also freeze this relish for up to 3 months. Keep in mind the texture may be slightly altered once thawed overnight in the fridge.

Overhead view of cranberry orange relish on a plate with sliced turkey, roasted carrots, and green beans.

Cranberry Orange Relish Recipe

This recipe for fresh Cranberry Orange Relish is the perfect raw side dish for any heavy holiday meal. It’s even more delicious the next day!

Course condiment

Cuisine American

Total Cost ($3.87 recipe / $0.32 serving)

Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

Servings servings (3 Tbsp per person)

Calories 36kcal

Author Jess – Budget Bytes

Equipment

Ingredients

2 oranges $1.54
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated $0.40
1 bag fresh cranberries (12 oz bag) $1.78
2 Tbsp brown sugar, packed $0.06
1 tsp ground cinnamon $0.08
⅛ tsp salt $0.01

Instructions

Zest one orange. Then, cut both oranges using the suprême technique* (see step photos below!) by removing the ends of your oranges so they can sit flat on your cutting board. Then, carefully follow the natural curve of the sides of each orange with your knife, cutting away the skin and the pith. Once your oranges are peeled so you can see the juicy pulp, trace the segments of each section of orange with your knife to pop out the juicy pulp part, leaving the pith and skin behind. Don’t forget to squeeze out the juice from the leftover skin and membrane!
Add the orange segments, grated ginger, fresh cranberries, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and salt to food processor.
Pulse ingredients until a relish-consistency forms.
Let the cranberry relish sit in an airtight container for up to 24 hours so the flavors can meld and marinate together! The bright red color will come after it sits during this time. Enjoy chilled!

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*If you don’t have the patience to cut your oranges using the technique I used, you can just peel your oranges, but note there might be some of the membrane in your relish. Just process it a little longer if needed!

Nutrition

Side view of cranberry orange relish in a bowl.

how to make Cranberry Orange Relish – step by step photos

A knife using the supreme cut to slice an orange.

Zest one orange. Then, cut both oranges using the suprême technique (see step photo!) by removing the ends of your oranges so they can sit flat on your cutting board. Then, carefully follow the natural curve of the sides of each orange with your knife, cutting away the skin and the pith.

Once your oranges are peeled so you can see the juicy pulp, trace the segments of each section of orange with your knife to pop out the juicy pulp part, leaving the pith and skin behind. Don’t forget to squeeze out the juice from the leftover skin and membrane!

Cranberries, orange segments, orange peel, brown sugar, ginger, and cinnamon in a food processor.

Add the orange segments, 1 inch grated ginger, 12 oz bag fresh cranberries, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, and ⅛ tsp salt to food processor.

Cranberry orange relish in a food processor.

Pulse ingredients until a relish-consistency forms.

Let the cranberry relish sit in an airtight container for up to 24 hours so the flavors can meld and marinate together! The bright red color will come after it sits during this time. Enjoy chilled!

Side view of cranberry orange relish on a plate with sliced turkey, roasted carrots, and green beans.

I’m pretty certain this homemade cranberry relish with orange will be a staple on your holiday table for years to come. It’s fresh, easy to make, and full of flavor!

Sauteed Green Beans

$2.20 recipe / $0.55 serving

Cornbread Dressing

$7.59 recipe / $0.63 serving

Turkey Gravy

$0.62 recipe / $0.08 serving

Squash Casserole

$5.81 recipe / $0.96 serving

The post Cranberry Orange Relish appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Cheesy Vegetarian

Homity Pie (Cheesy Potato and Leek Pie)

If you’re not familiar with homity pie, let me introduce you:

Homity pie is a traditional British recipe, which is essentially a cheesy potato and leek pie. It’s just the sort of thing we Brits do perfectly – simple ingredients, combined to make incredible comfort food. Say what you like about British food, but it’s hard to argue with buttery sautéed leeks, cheesy crushed potatoes, and a flaky shortcrust pastry case.

A slice of homity pie (cheesy potato and leek pie).

I’m not going to lie, this homity pie is a bit of a labour of love. It’s not a quick weeknight meal like most of my recipes – this cheesy pie is definitely one to save for a special occasion (it would be perfect for a vegetarian Christmas dinner!).

Since cooking this pie takes a bit of time and patience, don’t try to cook it against the clock. Give yourself plenty of leeway – perhaps an afternoon where you’ve not got much else on. That way, it doesn’t matter if the potatoes have to sit for a little while so you can finish cooking the leeks, or if the pastry case is ready to fill before the filling is actually cooked – you can just potter away at your own pace, and it can all be assembled when you’re ready.

Overhead shot of a cheesy pie with a slice pulled away.

What’s in Homity Pie?

There are three parts to this recipe:

garlicky sautéed leeks and onion
buttery crushed potatoes (with a cheesy topping)
a crispy pastry case

These 3 elements can all be prepared simultaneously, or one at a time, depending on how good you are at multitasking. I’ve written the recipe in 3 separate parts, but if the timings work out (or if you have someone else helping you in the kitchen), you can prepare them all at the same time.

Once all three parts of the recipe are ready, they can be assembled, and baked one last time to complete your cheesy homity pie.

And by the way, I am 100% not a pastry expert. You may think my homity pie looks decidedly… rustic. But I like it that way If I wanted it to look perfect, I’d have saved myself a couple of hours, and bought one in a shop.

Becca’s Top Tip

Any extra scraps of pastry can be baked on their own, and eaten spread with strawberry jam – my kids love it when I cook with pastry as they always get little jam tarts!

Cheesy Vegetarian Bakes ebook on an ipad screen.

Sign up to get recipes by email, and get a FREE e-cookbook!

(1-2 emails per week, no spam)

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

leek – It’s hard to get the scale from the picture, but the leek I used was absolutely enormous – a proper monster (probably as big as my forearm!). If your leeks are a more normal size, you’ll probably need at least two.
potatoes
shortcrust pastry – I used a ready-rolled sheet of shop-bought pastry, as making pastry is not my forte. Feel free to use homemade pastry if you prefer!
cheddar cheese – If possible, use freshly grated mature cheddar cheese rather than the pre-grated stuff, as it melts more nicely.
onion – I used red onion, but regular onions would also be good.
fresh parsley
egg
garlic – I used pre-minced garlic from a jar because I hate chopping large amounts of fresh garlic.
curry powder (optional, but it does add a lovely hint of warmth)

Becca’s Top Tip

If you’re using shop-bought pastry, take it out of the fridge an hour or so before you need to use it. This helps it to soften a little, and means it’s less likely to crack as you unroll it.

Recipe Video

Equipment

I like to use a loose bottomed springform cake tin for homemade pies. It works really well because:

The clip on the side and the loose bottom make it so easy to remove the pie from the tin once it’s finished baking.
It gives a nice tall pie, which looks great, and also gives a wonderfully thick layer of filling.
The metal heats up nicely and helps to crisp up the pastry.

You can use a shallower pie tin to make homity pie if that’s what you have, but I would always recommend a cake tin if you have one.

Here’s a similar one on Amazon, with great reviews:

8-Inch Springform Cake Tin

I love using a loose-bottomed springform cake tin to make homemade pie. If you’re in the UK or Australia, click ‘Buy on Amazon’ to view a local product.

A slice of homity pie with sautéed leeks, potatoes and cheese.

Printable Instructions

Homity Pie (Cheesy Potato and Leek Pie)

How to make the classic British recipe homity pie (cheesy potato and leek pie!) – a tasty vegetarian pie made with shortcrust pastry.

Course Main Course

Cuisine British, English

Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 50

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 30

Servings people

Calories 427kcal

Author Becca Heyes