Cranberry Jalapeno Salsa With Cream Cheese

This cranberry salsa appetizer recipe is the perfect blend of sweet and savory. Take it to a holiday party and watch it disappear!

Every year my Aunt Cynthia brings her cranberry jalapeno salsa to our big family party. I look forward to eating it almost as much as I like the family party! Cynthia wasn’t able to make it this year, so I decided to make my own batch of salsa for our New Years Eve party. I just can’t go a whole year without this stuff!

This recipe is quick to throw together but tastes so fancy. If you love sweet/spicy/savory, you will love this salsa! Add cream cheese and it just doesn’t get any better in my book. I have never taken this to a party without getting raving reviews.

Cranberry Jalapeno Salsa
1 12 oz bag or 3 cups of fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained.
1/4 cup minced green onions
2 small jalapeno peppers, cored, seeded and minced
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. fresh cilantro leaves, minced
2 tbsp. finely grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 8oz packages cream cheese

Rinse, drain, and pick over cranberries, discarding all that are soft or bruised. Place them in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not mushy or roughly chop by hand. 

Place crushed cranberries in a bowl; mix in onions, jalapeno peppers, sugar, cilantro leaves, ginger and lemon juice.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours so flavors develop. It needs this time in the fridge….don’t skip this step! 

To serve this salsa, I usually place a brick of cream cheese on a pretty serving plate and pour salsa on top of it with a butter or cheese knife that people can use to scoop off a serving. I place the crackers on a tray next to it so they don’t get any stray juices on them to make them soggy.

This recipe makes enough salsa to cover two bricks of cream cheese, but I usually only put one out at a time. It helps it last longer, LOL.