10-Minute Cranberry-Jalapeños Cream Cheese Dip

This festive holiday dip is the perfect combination of sweet, creamy and spicy! It's made with fresh cranberries, jalapeños, orange zest and cold cream cheese. Ready within 10 minutes using a food processor. This is one of my personal favorites and go to recipes during the holiday season! Yields about 2 cups of dip.

A hand scooping some cranberry dip with a cracker from a platter.

There aren't enough words to explain my love for this dip. Maybe it's because I've happily made a meal out of cheese and crackers more times than I can count, or simply because this combo of sweet cranberries, spicy jalapeños, and creamy cheese is pure holiday magic.

I've been making it for years and never show up to a family gathering without it (pretty sure my sister would disown me if I did!). It's a staple in our house all cranberry season long, and I'll easily whip up half a dozen batches before the holidays are over. If you love easy homemade dips and spreads, this one deserves a permanent spot on your holiday menu.

The best part? It's so simple. It reminds me a lot of my 2 minute cream cheese and pepper jelly dip...same effortless method, but with a festive cranberry twist. And if you've ever tried my dreamy whipped feta dip, you'll recognize that same "dump everything in the food processor and let it do the work" vibe.

This dip is bright, festive, and make-ahead friendly, it keeps for a week in the fridge and makes enough for several servings. Trust me, it's the one recipe you'll come back to again and again.

A close up of The Best Holiday Spicy Cranberry Dip on a white platter.

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A bag of cranberries, jalapeños, orange, green onion, spices, cream cheese, sugar, and water crackers on a white table.

PRO TIP - This is such an easy and simple dip recipe to make BUT dice your jalapeños and green onion before adding to the food processor. If you were to add them whole they do not get chopped up very well and will result in an unpleasantly large bite of each. And I unfortunately only know this from personal experience :/ Chop them first so that everything gets finely diced and is the same size.

Spicy jalapeno cranberry dip in a food processor.

Prep the veggies: Finely dice the jalapenos and green onions. Add to a food processor.

Pulse in a food processor: Add in 1 bag of fresh cranberries, and the rest of the ingredients to the food processor. Pulse around 10 times just to mix and finely dice the cranberries. 

Chill: Place into a bowl or large Tupperware. Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour before serving.

To Serve: Place a block of cream cheese on a thin platter or pie plate-shaped dish and spread it out in a thin layer. Spoon out cranberry dip to cover. Serve with Carr's water crackers.

Cream cheese spread out on a pie plate.
The Best Holiday Spicy Cranberry Dip in a clear bowl.
Cranberry dip over cream cheese on a white platter with crackers, green onions, a napkin and knife next to it.
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Recipe

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Spicy cranberry dip over a block of cream cheese on a platter with crackers around it.

10-Minute Cranberry-Jalapeños Cream Cheese Dip


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5 from 1 review

  • Author: Heather Bilyeu
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 2 Cups 1x
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

This festive holiday dip is the perfect combination of sweet, creamy and spicy! It's made with fresh cranberries, jalapeños, orange zest and cold cream cheese. Ready within 10 minutes using a food processor. This is one of my personal favorites and go to recipes during the holiday season!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 Medium Sized Jalapeños - finely diced
  • ½ Bunch Green Onion - thinly sliced
  • 12 Ounces Fresh Cranberries 
  • ½ Cup Sugar
  • Zest of 1 Orange
  • Juice of ½ of Orange
  • ½ Teaspoon Cumin
  • ¼ Teaspoon Salt
  • ¼ Teaspoon Pepper


Instructions

  1. Finely dice the jalapenos and green onions. Add to a food processor.
  2. Add in 1 bag of fresh cranberries, and the rest of the ingredients to. Pulse around 10 times just to mix and finely dice the cranberries. 
  3. Put in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour before serving.

To Serve:

  1. Place a block of cream cheese on a platter and spread it out in a thin layer. Spoon out cranberry dip to cover.
  2. Serve with Crr's water crackers.
  3. Enjoy!

Notes

  • You can adjust the spice level to your liking - if your jalapeños are small, use 3 ... if they are large, 2 is plenty.
  • The dip can be left covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.
  • This makes enough dup to serve with 3 cream cheese blocks.
  • Prep Time: 10 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 Minutes
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Method: Cooking
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: ¼ cup
  • Calories: 128
  • Sugar: 13.1 g
  • Sodium: 15.1 mg
  • Fat: 0.1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 33 g
  • Fiber: 0.3 g
  • Protein: 0.3 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg
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Heather Bilyeu is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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One Comment

  1. I thought I didn't like cranberries. I thought I didn't like dips. Then I tried this cranberry jalapeno dip. WOW! So good. So addicting. My only criticism is that I eat too much of it. YUM!