Prepare a festive Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread in just minutes! A perfect holiday appetizer for your Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings.
This Appetizer Recipe is the perfect way to turn your traditional Cheese Ball into the perfect Thanksgiving or Christmas starter. If you enjoy this recipe be sure to check out my Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball.
Why You’ll Love This Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread?
- The perfect sweet and savory start to your holiday dinner. Made in just 5 minutes.
- Leftovers are perfect to spice up a turkey sandwich or breakfast bagel.
Sabrina’s Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread
The holiday season is quickly approaching, and it’s the perfect time to try new, delicious appetizers to serve at your Holiday parties. This Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread is all about flavor: it’s a blend of tangy, smooth, and savory notes with a hint of sweetness. The result is an incredibly yummy holiday appetizer that looks great on any serving plate and will keep your guests coming back for more.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries , chopped
- 1/2 cup dried apricots , chopped
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest , grated
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger , optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, chopped cranberries, chopped apricots, orange juice, orange zest and ground ginger until well combined.
- Refrigerate before serving.
- Serve with crackers, fruit or sliced baguettes.
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Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
The nice thing about this cream cheese spread is that it doesn’t just have to be an appetizer. The dried fruit and the cream cheese make for a tastier alternative to mayo and cheese on a turkey sandwich. It also works great on bagels for an energizing and tasty breakfast to help you power through a long weekend of holiday shopping and visiting with relatives.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
This is one of the easiest appetizer recipes you’ll ever make. All you do is mix the ingredients together in a large bowl until they are completely mixed and voila! You’re ready to serve it. It can be made ahead of time, so if it’s getting down to crunch time for a party, you can throw it together the day before and move on to the next thing on your list.
Ingredients
- Cream Cheese: The creamy element and base of the dip that holds everything together. Be sure to set your cream cheese out to soften a bit before you mix everything into it so it’s easier to incorporate everything in.
- Dried Cranberries and Apricots: The chewy, bright colored fruits add sweet and tangy flavors to the dip but also make it feel festive.
- Orange Juice & Zest: The juice and zest help cut through the sweetness in the dip. Not only does it add balance but it also thins the dip out just a bit making it easier to pick up on your chip or cracker. Be sure to stop zesting the orange when you see the white part.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Absolutely! You can prepare this in advance and store it in an airtight container. It will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to two months, though freezing may slightly change its texture. To thaw, place it in the fridge overnight. Once it’s at room temperature, drain any excess liquid and whisk it to help reconstitute the mixture.
Ideas to Serve
When it’s party time, serve Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread with an assortment of crackers and breads. I like to make one large platter of mini toasts, water biscuits, sliced baguettes, wheat thins, Triscuits, pretzels, Pita Chips, and other crackers.
How to Store
- Serve: You should not leave your Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread out for longer than 2 hours at room temperature.
- Store: Make sure that you wrap leftovers with plastic wrap or put it into a sealable bag and refrigerate. In the fridge, it will stay good for up to 2 weeks.
- Freeze: Freezing cream cheese is doable, but it will alter the texture. When cream cheese freezes, ice crystals form in the liquid parts of it and then when they thaw, they never return to their original state.
Frequent Questions
Do yourself a big favor and try a Cranberry Cream Cheese turkey sandwich. The spread is rich and compliments the turkey so much that you don’t really need to add much else to make a perfect Thanksgiving leftovers lunch.
To make this a creamier and cranberry-er spread, blend some cranberry sauce with your cream cheese. Once combined, add in your mixed fruit and orange zest.
Because of the complexity of the flavors in the spread itself, you want to choose a tasty cracker that is not too strong. The cracker shouldn’t be completely bland, but it should have a milder flavor palate. Try Ritz crackers, or Braton crackers depending on your preference, just be sure to stay away from sweet crackers.
Variations
- Fruit: While the cranberries definitely add a festive touch, you can easily swap the fruit for ones you like better. Dried cherries or currants would still have that holiday flavor and taste just as delicious.
- Spicy: To give your cream cheese spread some kick, finely dice some jalapeños and add them in. Make sure you deseed the jalapeño pepper before dicing and adding to your spread.
- Add-ins: Try mixing in some finely chopped pecans, cashews, or walnuts for a hearty crunch. You can also dice up some green onions and stir them into the spread, or drizzle lemon juice over the top to add more citrus flavor.
More Delicious Dip Recipes
Photo used in a previous version of this post.
Made this recipe for Christmas and it was amazing! So delicious and refreshing.
Happy Holidays Carol! Glad you enjoyed the recipe and thank you for the five star review!
I made this into a cheese ball and it turned out great!
I doubled the recipe, put everything in a blender except the cream cheese(+one large jalapeño), and blended it to make sure everything was small enough to form into a ball. Added the cream cheese, rolled into a ball and rolled in 1c pecans. It was delicious!
That sounds amazing Millie and thanks for the five star review.
Added a dash of cinnamon and it was great. Next time might try some pumpkin pie spice.
Great ideas Carol! Thanks for five star review.
I love this dip! I added a little tomato-basil feta cheese to it. Delicious
Sounds super tasty! Thanks for the five star review.
My new fave dip! I followed comments and added a diced jalepeno. AMAZING! Easy and delicious, what more could you ask for? Thanks for posting! This is a keeper!
You’re welcome Patty and great idea to add diced jalepeno! Appreciate the five star review!
Made this for the first time today. Yum! It’s a keeper.
What can you use instead of apricot
Apricot fruit can be substituted with any type of fruit that is of the same consistency. Let us know what you decided to go with Cynthia and how your Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread turned out!
This is so good, added a nice good size seeded jalapeno pepper, rolled it in pecan pieces soo addictive . It made it in the Meller Holiday Recipe book thanks for sharing.
I made this dip for my first attempt at a Christmas charcuterie board, I took to work. I omitted the ginger (I’m not a fan) and everyone loved it! Great recipe!
Could you do this as a cheeseball you think? Or is it not the right consistency for that?
Great idea but it would be hard to form into a ball I think. If you try it, let us know!
Did you use powdered ginger or grated fresh ginger?
Ground ginger.
Can this be used to fill tiny colorful peppers?
Absolutely, it would be delicious spread inside mini bell peppers.
This appetizer was a hit at my bunco gathering! I substituted the Philadelphia cream cheese with jalapeño to give it a little kick!
I added chopped candied pecans, dried chopped cherries and a jalapeño. Out of this world!!
Delicious!! Only changes added 1/3 cup chopped pecans
It was a little too sweet for me, so I skipped the orange rinds and add pecans.
That worked for me
Just tried this for pinochle club. Big hit. I didn’t have dried apricots but used dried mangoes. I see another review added pecan pieces. Ill try that too. I think many variations of this recipe could work. Very tasty. The orange juice and ginger are the keys.
This is yummy added bacon!!
I made this and it was delicious!Thank you so much!
Delicious. Served with Carr’s crackers. We thoroughly enjoyed this prior to dinner…next time may add chopped pecans.
I love the orange-cranberry recipes, and can’t wait to try this. However, since I don’t care foe apricots, I think I’ll substitute coarsely chopped pecans. Thanks for sharing.
This sounds wonderful. What are your thoughts on blending in a bit of goat cheese?
Sounds amazing! I’d add in about 4 ounces of crumbled goat cheese. Yum!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I can’t wait to try it with my husband on Christmas Eve this year! Merry Christmas to you!
You’re welcome, Connie!
Hello, I am planning on making this for Thanksgiving & was wondering if putting chopped dates would blend well with the other ingredients?
Yes, they’d probably be DELICIOUS! I would totally try that. I’d even do a version with blue cheese and dates together. Love dates in savory appetizers.
Thank you for responding to my question. I will let you know how it goes. Excited about trying this. Happy Thanksgiving!!?
Happy thanksgiving!
can I use dried cranberrys and apricots chopped up
This recipe uses those items. I hope you enjoy it.
Would diced mandarin oranges work?
I made this for New Years Eve, it was delicious and loved by all! I doubled the recipe, added green onions and three tablespoons of whole cranberry sauce with three tablespoons of orange juice. Served with ritz crackers and sea salt pita chips. The flavor was wonderful! Thank you so much for this new recipe for my recipe box!
I’m so glad to hear it was a hit, Patti. Thanks so much for the 5 stars.
I know that you mentioned not to eat this on something sweet, but you should really try this dip with the thin ginger snaps. YUM!
I’ll have to give it a try, thanks!
I like your idea of having a platter of different crackers, etc., and then setting out several different kinds of dips/cheese spreads. Along with this Cranberry Cheese Spread, can you suggest other spreads/dips to serve along with this one? (I can’t wait to try this one!)
I love having different ones to satisfy all my guests. Smoked salmon spread or even a classic artichoke dip would definitely be on my list to add. Enjoy!
I want to take this to a party that will last 4to5 hours. You said don’t leave it out over 2 hours. How can I address this Robles????
I would either make a few batches and change them out after 2 hours (if there’s any left) or place the dish in a bowl of ice to stay cooler than room temperature.