Cranberry Orange Salsa

Cranberry Orange Salsa is the perfect complement to my southwest turkey dinner. Salsa can be fresh or cooked, chunky or smooth, hot or mild. This salsa recipe is not tomato based and it is not your typical cranberry sauce. What it is, is AMAZING!

this gluten free recipe

This unique salsa has a bright, fresh taste from orange juice and lots of zest. It gets a slight zing and depth from one roasted poblano chile, and a delightful crunch from roasted hazelnuts. It's an essential part of my annual turkey dinner menu.

Ingredients

Chiles play a role in each dish of my annual turkey feast. That menu includes three types of chiles; fresh Anaheim, fresh poblano and dried anchos. This salsa has a roasted red pepper and poblano chile that give it more depth of flavour.

• red bell pepper
• poblano chile
• sugar
• orange juice
• fresh cranberries
• hazelnuts
• orange zest
• cilantro

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Know Your Chiles

The variety of chiles available at the grocery store is ever increasing so it's easier now to find beautiful, dark green poblano chiles. If you don't use the same chiles often it can be hard to remember what each kind looks like.

My trick to help remember is to write the words fresh or dried with each chile on my grocery list. That way if the sign at the grocery store is incorrect (yes, it's a problem) I'm confident I can find the right one.

Another hack is to do a quick search of Google images to see them.

Cranberry Orange Salsa

This winter salsa is the perfect complement to my Southwestern turkey feast featuring an Achiote Butter Basted Turkey. I can guarantee the leftovers are delicious with nacho chips. leftover turkey or a simple roast chicken dinner.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Homemade Sauces

Cuisine: Southwestern

Keyword: Cranberry Orange and Cilantro Salsa, cranberry orange salsa

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 cups

Calories: 190kcal

Author: Cinde Little

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 red pepper
• ▢ 1 fresh poblano chile
• ▢ ½ cup sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup orange juice
• ▢ 2 cups cranberries coarsely chopped
• ▢ ¼ cup hazelnuts ,toasted and chopped (see note)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon grated orange zest
• ▢ ⅓ cup chopped cilantro

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Instructions

• Char red pepper and poblano chile over a gas flame or under the broiler until black on all sides. Place in a plastic bag and steam for 10 minutes. Peel blackened skin off, seed and chop.
• Put cranberries in a medium bowl.
• Combine sugar and orange juice in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Pour over cranberries.
• Add red pepper, poblano chile, hazelnuts and orange zest. Stir to combine. Can be made 1 day in advance. Cover and refrigerate.
• Stir in cilantro and serve.

Notes

Do not skip the hazelnuts! I thought crunchy nuts wouldn't go with salsa but one bite and you'll know this is an outstanding flavour combination.

*If you're allergic to nuts substitute pumpkin seeds.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Cranberry Orange Salsa

Amount Per Serving (2 tablespoons)

Calories 190 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 0.4g3%

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 3g

Sodium 4mg0%

Potassium 251mg7%

Carbohydrates 38g13%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 31g34%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin A 1207IU24%

Vitamin C 82mg99%

Calcium 25mg3%

Iron 1mg6%

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