Grandma's Famous Cranberry Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a substitute for Craisins? ›

Dried cherries and raisins are the most common substitutes for dried cranberries. They offer a similar chewy texture, making them suitable for baked goods and salads where a bit of chewiness is desirable.

Yes! Fresh cranberries freeze for up to a year and can often be substituted in recipes that call for fresh cranberries. When cooking with frozen cranberries, do not thaw before using.

Another Good Substitute: Lingonberries

They are more like a cranberry cousin with the same genus, Vaccinium while redcurrants come from the Ribes family. Because they have a similar flavour to cranberries, they are perfect to substitute in their place in something like cranberry sauce or even a cranberry jam recipe.

Consider a chutney with fresh and dried fruit, a tangy citrus marmalade, and even bacon-onion "jam." The recipes we've gathered are sweet and tart or savory and aromatic, they include the spices, nuts, and deep flavors we associate with autumn and winter, so you won't miss the cranberries one bit.

Dried cranberries may be marketed as craisins due to the similarity in appearance with raisins, although the word "Craisin" is a registered trademark of Ocean Spray. Craisins were introduced as part of a packaged cereal produced by Ralston Purina in 1989.

Our Pick: Raisins

In this nutrition faceoff, raisins win because they offer a high amount of potassium and have no sugar added. Practically speaking, both raisins and dried cranberries can be part of a diet consisting of minimally processed foods.

"Cranberries are safe to eat raw. However, usually they are cooked and have sugar added because of the bitter and sharp taste they have when raw," says Kelly West Keyser, a registered dietitian in Alabama.

Some simple ways to use frozen cranberries include: Blend into smoothies. Make your own cranberry sauce (and then see our post regarding cranberry sauce uses) Make sweet or savory salsa.

Cranberries can be stored for up to three (3) years in the freezer. When in sealed packaging, they can be placed directly in the freezer. You can also place them on a metal baking sheet to freeze them, then transfer them to individual bags and return them to the freezer for future use.

Many foods are similar nutritionally to cranberry, including apricot, squash, nectarine and raspberries. Other similar foods include shallot, peach and tomato.

Who is the largest consumer of cranberries? ›

The highest levels of cranberry per capita consumption was registered in Canada (X kg/year), followed by Chile (X kg/year), the United States (X kg/year), Belarus (X kg/year) and Azerbaijan (X kg/year), while the average per capita consumption of cranberry was estimated at X kg/year in 2015.

The major variation you're likely to come across is "whole berry" versus "jellied." The only difference between them is that the jellied sauce is cooked until the berries have completely broken down. They both slide out of the can as a wobbly red cylinder.

Cranberry sauce can be served either as a gooey liquid or as a solid jelly. The jellied version is solid enough to retain the shape of the container in which it's placed whereas the sauce version is much more fluid. The difference between the fluid sauce and the jelly versions comes down to pectin.

Put your dried fruit in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let it steep for 10 to 15 minutes, and then strain the fruit and discard the water. The fruit will be plumper, juicier, and softer. To give your fruit some extra flavor, swap the water for fruit juice or a liquor, like rum, bourbon, or brandy.

That's because, says Kriebel, Craisins are actually dried cranberries with sugar added to make them sweet. Raisins are just dried grapes, with no added sweeteners.

Raisins are simply dried grapes and Craisins are dried, sweetened cranberries. Since cranberries are quite tart, they need the addition of sugar to balance their flavors. Are Craisins and Raisins Interchangeable? Yes, you can swap equal amounts of craisins for raisins in most recipes.

Low carry-over stocks and the prospect of a relatively small crop have caused spot market prices for dried cranberries to increase significantly in recent months. There is no relief in sight any time soon.