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Need an easy way to use up your leftover Cranberry Sauce? This Cranberry Sauce Dressing is the perfect solution! All you need is 3 ingredients, that you probably already have on hand, to make this delicious salad topping.
How To Make Cranberry Vinaigrette
To make this salad dressing, all you need is at least 1/2 cup of leftover cranberry sauce, along with vinegar, oil, and water to help thin out the dressing. I use balsamic vinegar in this case, but another vinegar such as apple cider or red wine vinegar should also work well.
I like to blend everything together in a blender, to help the cranberries break down into a smooth dressing, but you can also shake everything together in a sealed jar is your cranberry sauce is already relatively smooth.
This recipe is based on my homemade cranberry sauce, which is lower in sugar than traditional recipes, so you may want to use a little more vinegar if starting with a super-sweet cranberry sauce. The good thing about this recipe is you can taste it as you go!
I always start off with 1/4 cup of water to help thin it out, but you may want to add another tablespoon or two once it’s blended together with the oil and vinegar. Then you can taste and adjust from there!
Need more Thanksgiving leftover ideas? Try my Leftover Turkey Soup!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup leftover cranberry sauce
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (or vinegar of choice)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup water , plus more as needed to thin
Instructions
- Combine the cranberry sauce, vinegar, oil, and water in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste the dressing and adjust as needed, adding a little more vinegar if it tastes too sweet. You can also add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to thin the dressing to your liking.
- Serve right away over your favorite salad ingredients, or store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Per 2 Tablespoons: Calories: 61; Fat: 4g, Carbohydrates: 7g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 1g
Recipe Notes:
- The nutrition info above is based on canned cranberry sauce, so a homemade version will likely be lower in sugar.
- You can make this dressing oil-free by using only water instead of the olive oil, if you’d prefer. You can also add mustard to this dressing to help it emulsify, instead of using oil.
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it! And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too. We can all benefit from your experience!
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Reader Feedback: How do you dress up your Thanksgiving leftovers?
Delicious! I was looking for a way to use up my leftover cranberry sauce. Since we were having a salad using turkey and veggie tray leftovers, I decided to search for a vinaigrette using cranberry sauce. Your vinaigrette was so amazing. Even my husband used it and he doesn’t like cranberry sauce. Thank you so much!