When I think of holiday food, baking comes to mind first, but I’m also a huge fan of appetizers when it comes to meals like Thanksgiving and Christmas. This easy Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip is one of my favorites. It’s one of the easiest dip recipes ever which makes it perfect for the busy holiday season!
Scroll down for the printable recipe card or continue reading for full directions, tips, and tricks!
CRANBERRY CREAM CHEESE DIP
This version of cranberry dip is a sweet cranberry dip. You can also make this recipe with a jalapeno to turn it into cranberry jalapeno cream cheese dip if you and your guests enjoy sweet and spicy together. This is an easy dip recipe to do variations on which makes it good for any occasion!
Your basic ingredients for this gorgeous holiday dip are cream cheese and cranberries. From there, you can spice it up as much as you want.
If you’re just a cranberry fan in general, I suggest trying Cranberry Cookies and Cranberry Crockpot Meatballs. They’re so good too!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH CRANBERRY CREAM CHEESE DIP
Your favorite dippers! Seriously, this cranberry and cream cheese dip has a great sweet and savory mix of flavors, it can be served with so many different crackers and dippers.
Some of my favorites include:
- Ritz crackers
- Pita chips (can also use pita bread)
- Water crackers
- Crunchy breadsticks
- Pretzel chips or sticks
- Wheat crackers
- Veggie sticks
- Granny Smith apple slices
But the possibilities are really endless. Don’t be afraid to try your favorite chips, crackers, and other dippers with this recipe!
HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY DIP
This recipe only takes about ten minutes to prepare. Then you’ll want to let it chill for about an hour before serving. It’s a quick prep recipe that you can make ahead of time and pull out when you’re ready to serve it.
To make this easy cranberry cream cheese dip, you need a short list of ingredients including:
- Cream cheese
- Orange marmalade
- Whole cranberry sauce
- Pecans
- Fresh mint leaves (optional)
The exact measurements for each ingredient are listed in the printable recipe at the bottom of the post.
For this cranberry cream cheese appetizer, I used pecans but I have to mention that is also delicious with chopped walnuts! Cranberry Walnut Dip is fabulous so I encourage you to try it with both.
To get started, you will need to set out your packages of cream cheese so they can soften up a bit. You don’t want to be mixing cold, hard blocks of cream cheese.
Once you have softened cream cheese, combine it with the orange marmalade until it’s mixed well. This is how you get the delicious orange cranberry flavor combination in this recipe.
Then spread the mixture in the bottom of your serving dish and allow it to chill for an hour.
When you’re almost ready to serve the cranberry cheese dip, spread the cranberry sauce over the top of the cream cheese mixture and then top it with the chopped pecans.
If you want, garnish it with mint leaves and then serve with your favorite crackers, veggies, or other dippers.
It’s really that easy to make and is perfect for prepping ahead of time.
If you’re planning on making cranberry jalapeno cream cheese dip using this recipe, you will want to use a fresh jalapeno (I find that one is enough, but you can adjust to match your preferred level of heat). Remove the stem, slice it lengthwise, and remove all of the seeds. Then finely chop the pepper and top the cranberry sauce with it before serving.
Cranberry Cream Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 8 oz packages cream cheese (softened)
- 1 cup orange marmalade
- 1 can whole cranberry sauce
- 1 cup pecans (finely chopped)
- Fresh mint leaves for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the cream cheese and orange marmalade until well mixed. Spread in the bottom of a serving dish and chill for an hour.
- When ready to serve, spread the cranberry sauce over the top of the cream cheese mixture and top with chopped pecans.
- Garnish with mint leaves, if desired. Serve with your favorite crackers, chips, and dippers.
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