Spicy Cranberry Chutney

Best cranberry sauce ever!

Super easy and tastes great!

I was remiss at not writing this review soon. We absolutely love this recipe and I actually buy extra cranberries and freeze them to make more of this delicious concoction during the year. Yes, it is wonderful with roasted or grill chicken but our favorite way to use the flavorful chutney during the holidays is chilled over cream cheese with ritz crackers as an appetizer. It’s my go to for events we attend during the holiday season and everyone LOVES it. It is also delicious with a wedge of Brie or in baked Brie in cruet. DELICIOUS!

It was great to make this ahead for Thanksgiving and freeze it.  It froze very well.  So easy to put together.  We followed the recipe exactly, using 3 jalapenos (they were large).  Next time we may try 4.  Instead of strips of zest as shown in the photo, we grated ours on a medium Microplane.

After tasting Spicy Cranberry Chutney, ordinary cranberry sauce will never again be worth even the slightest presence as a condiment. The taste is a surprise and delight without being overly exotic for most tastes. The color and texture were beautiful foils to the main dishes. It was a perfect complement to juicy, crispy roast chicken and to the various autumn vegetables in the dinner. (I wish I took a photo!)  I used two bags of cranberries, only one slight cup of sugar, and an extra medium-sized orange’s zest and juice to have a good tart-sweet balance. If anything, I would experiment next time with even less sugar.  As for bitter, Tizantwest got it right, zest does not include the bitter white tissue beneath the outer skin of the citrus. I used my Microplane® Fine Paddle Grater ($10 less at BB&B vs. A) to get the perfect zest for this recipe, not a bit of white pith and lots of surface area for the flavor to spread throughout the sauce. The jalapeños, with seeds removed, added substance and subtilty that gave the chutney personality that earned it five stars. The chutney inconspicuously bubbled away for an hour while I prepared the rest of the meal. I scooped out the amount needed and put it in the fridge to cool. The remainder I will be freezing, if it doesn’t get devoured with the leftovers. 

This is the best cranberry relish/chutney and gets a place of honor on both Thanksgiving and Christmas menus. It can accompany many types of meats. A new use was discovered this year for leftovers; it makes a delicious cocktail! To a shaker of ice, add 2oz vodka, juice of 1 lime, small splash of water, a twist of lemon, and a generous dollop of this chutney (about 1 TBS). Shakes vigorously, pour into martini glass. Garnish with lemon twist and add 3-4 whole berries from the chutney to give visual depth to the glass. You’ll be surprised by the jalepeno flavor that comes through. To the review of bitter taste, you could be zesting your citrus too deep. Color only – no white pith.

I made this a couple years ago and the only thing it was missing – sugar! It was WAY too bitter for all of us, and we’re not usually sugar junkies or anything. It really needed some sweetness to balance the spice of the jalapenos and bitterness of the cranberries and lime. I will be making this recipe again this year with that addition.