The Perfect Cranberry Dressing Recipe

This cranberry dressing recipe is the perfect way to add a bit of tartness and sweetness to your salads. The vinaigrette is easy to make and can be tailored to your liking.

If you’re like me, you’ve probably stocked up on fresh cranberries when they were on sale before Thanksgiving. You’ve also made way too much of my legendary cranberry sauce, and frozen some. Well, I’ve got a brilliant idea for you that will revolutionize your salads: use up these leftovers to make the perfect cranberry salad dressing!

What you need to make this cranberry vinaigrette

All you need is some leftover cranberry sauce. I highly recommend making my recipe as it is loaded with orange flavor and delicious spices. But you do you… whatever you have on hand, the result will be tasty. This recipe’s proportions are for 1/3 cup cranberry sauce.

Add to that:

• some Dijon mustard. I am always partial to Maille mustard as that’s what I grew up with in France.
• lemon juice. You will need about 1 tbsp, or half a lemon
• white balsamic vinegar. My new obsession. Not sold at my grocery store but I buy it online
• olive oil. A mild flavored oil is preferred here as a bold one would clash with the cranberry flavor. IMHO. My favorite: Partanna Sicilian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• salt and pepper

Helpful tips

• I make this cranberry dressing in my Ninja blender in order to puree every last bit of cranberry and get a smooth dressing.
• I strongly recommend to puree all ingredients EXCEPT the olive oil in the blender. The heat of the blender’s blades can turn the olive oil bitter. All you have to do is add the olive oil once everything is blended and whisk it in by hand to emulsify. You can also pour out the content of the blender into the container you will store your dressing in, add the oil, close and shake vigorously.
• This dressing will keep for a week in your refrigerator

Try this cranberry dressing recipe now! It’s so good you might actually decide to make cranberry sauce just for this purpose…!

More delicious recipes:

Cranberry sauce

Lemon balsamic dressing

Honey mustard dressing

Easy homemade mayonnaise

Classic French vinaigrette

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5 from 3 votes

The Perfect Cranberry Dressing

This cranberry dressing recipe is the perfect way to add a bit of tartness and sweetness to your salads and use up cranberry sauce leftovers!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time0 minutes mins

Total Time5 minutes mins

Servings: 16 tbsp

Author: Veronique Eichler

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• Measuring cups
• High power blender
• Stainless steel whisk

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup cranberry sauce
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 2 tbsp White balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

• Place all ingredients EXCEPT the olive oil in a blender. Pulse until smooth.
• To avoid the olive oil becoming bitter, measure it out into the blender's bowl and whisk by hand until emulsified. The heat from the blender's blades can otherwise turn the olive oil bitter.
• Alternatively, you can pour out the content of the blender into the container you will store your dressing in, add the oil, close and shake vigorously

Notes

This dressing will keep for a week in your refrigerator.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

The Perfect Cranberry Dressing

Amount per Serving

Calories

51

% Daily Value*

Total Fat

 

5

g

8

%

Saturated Fat

 

1

g

6

%

Sodium

 

47

mg

2

%

Total Carbohydrate

 

3

g

1

%

Dietary Fiber

 

0.1

g

0

%

Total Sugars

 

2

g

2

%

Includes Added Sugar

 

2

g

Protein

 

0.1

g

0

%

Vitamin A

 

3

IU

0

%

Vitamin C

 

0.4

mg

0

%

Calcium

 

1

mg

0

%

Iron

 

0.1

mg

1

%

Potassium

 

5

mg

0

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.