Christmas Cranberry Chutney
Our Christmas cranberry chutney is sweet, tangy & bursting full of fresh fruit & festive spices. This goes great with cheese or as an alternative to cranberry sauce.
This fruity, cranberry chutney makes a fantastic edible Christmas gift or alternative to a classic cranberry sauce. It goes great on a classic Christmas dinner, on cheese boards, with pâtés, scotch eggs, charcuterie & loads more!
The great thing about this cranberry chutney is that it’s incredibly easy to make! Simply chuck everything into a pan & cook for 10 minutes or until it’s all reduced & jammy. That’s it! This is a great sauce to have in your fridge at Christmas as it’s incredibly versatile & will keep for several weeks.
For more festive recipes, check our Christmas recipe collections! There’s lots to choose from here, from all the trimmings to serve with your Christmas dinner, to classic Christmas desserts & main courses.
What You’ll Need
- Cranberries – Fresh cranberries work best for chutney but frozen will work as well. Make sure to defrost them first though.
- Shallots – We’re using echalion shallots for their slightly sweet flavour but a brown or red onion will work as well. Make sure dice the onion nice & finely!
- Apples – This chutney uses Granny Smith apples. I like to peel off the skin but feel free to leave it on if you like.
- Orange – You’ll need a large orange for this recipe. We’re using both the zest & some of the juice.
- Raisins – Feel free to swap out the raisins for a different dried fruit. This could be apricots, sour cherries, figs or dates.
- Vinegar – I like to use apple cider vinegar for chutneys but white wine or red wine vinegar would work as well.
- Sugar – Fresh cranberries can be quite tart so will need quite a lot of sugar. I’d recommend giving your chutney a taste as it cooks then adding in more sugar if needed.
- Spices – We’re adding some festive spices to our chutney, including cinnamon, star anise & ginger.
How To Make Christmas Cranberry Chutney
The full, printable recipe card for this chutney can be found at the bottom of this post! Here’s a quick rundown of the recipe…
Ingredient Prep
There’s very little prep that you need to do for this chutney! Simply finely dice some shallots & apples and zest & juice an orange. That’s it! The rest of the ingredients are simply added into the pan.
Cooking
Next, we place shallots, apples, orange, raisins, sugar, vinegar, star anise, cinnamon & ginger into a pan then season with salt & pepper and set over a medium heat. We cook the chutney for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cranberries have burst & are starting to break down and the apples are soft. Give your chutney a taste as it cooks, if your cranberries are particularly sour add in more sugar.
How To Store
Once cooked & cooled down, your chutney needs to be stored in a sterilised jar/airtight container then refrigerated. Cranberry chutney will keep in the fridge for several weeks or can be stored in the freezer for several months.
Frequently Asked Questions
When stored in a sterilised jar/container & refrigerated, cranberry chutney will keep for a couple of weeks. Cranberry chutney can also be frozen & will keep in the freezer for several months.
Yes, frozen cranberries can be used to make chutney. Make sure to defrost them first though.
To cook cranberry chutney on an Aga, use the boiling plate.
More Christmas Recipes To Try!
- Chicken Liver Mousse With Cider Jelly
- Leftover Turkey & Ham Slab Pie
- Sausage Roll Wreath With Honey Glazed Camembert
- Fried Turkey Christmas Sandwich
- Leftover Christmas Dinner Pie
- Mulled Cider Roasted Pork Belly
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Christmas Cranberry Chutney
Equipment
- Large Saucepan
Ingredients
- 300 g Fresh Cranberries
- 100 g Raisins
- 3 Echalion Shallots (Peeled & Finely Diced)
- 3 Granny Smith Apples (Peeled, Cored & Finely Diced)
- 250 g Caster Sugar
- 120 g Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Orange (Zest & 50 ml Juice)
- 1 Star Anise
- ½ Cinnamon Stick
- ½ tsp Ground Ginger
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients into a large saucepan, season with salt & pepper then set over a medium heat.
- Cook the chutney, stirring frequently until the cranberries have burst & are starting to break down and the apples are soft. This will take 10-15 minutes.Give your chutney a taste as it cooks, if your cranberries are particularly sour add in more sugar.
- Let the chutney cool then transfer to a sterilised jar/airtight container.
