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Your holiday salad will be bursting with seasonal flavors when you drizzle them with this simple Cranberry Dressing! Made with only 3 simple ingredients, including leftover cranberry sauce, it’s a delightfully festive twist on a basic balsamic vinaigrette. It’s also lovely to enjoy the day after Thanksgiving over some leafy greens with your leftover turkey!
Easy Balsamic Cranberry Dressing
I hope that the day after Thanksgiving you typically have a relaxing day, enjoying time with family or friends after feasting on amazing food. And maybe you still are feasting on amazing food.
Because the best part of Thanksgiving dinner – leftovers!
Sure, there are plenty of things to make with leftover turkey. But whether you opened a can or made homemade Cinnamon Orange Cranberry Sauce, there always seems to be a smidge left.
What to do?
Try this deliciously sweet and tangy cranberry vinaigrette!
Cranberry Dressing Ingredients
Only three ingredients come together into a velvety smooth and rich-tasting salad dressing. Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need, but be sure to scroll to the recipe card for the full amounts.
- Cranberry sauce. Any will do. Homemade or from a can. Jellied or whole berry. Just use your favorite.
- Balsamic vinegar. If you aren’t a balsamic fan or feel it it too strong, try apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar.
- Olive oil. I recommend extra virgin for the best flavor, but you can use any oil you have and like to use in salad dressing recipes.
- Salt and pepper. To taste.
How to Make It
Just combine everything in a small blender jar and blend until smooth. If you don’t have a small blender jar or Magic Bullet, many times you can screw the cap off the bottom of a standard blender jar that holds the blade in place. This fits on many standard glass mason jars. Just screw it on and place it on your blender.
Once you’ve blended it all up, you can add it to an epic day-after-Thanksgiving salad that uses up even more of the leftovers from the feast. Or keep it tightly covered in the fridge to enjoy on salads for up to a week.
Make it a Meal
While I usually use this cranberry dressing on a simple salad with my leftover roast turkey along with some sliced apples and honey glazed walnuts, here are a few other ideas for you:
- Make a gourmet salad. Your slaad will be restaurant-quality when you prepare this Harvest Turkey Cobb Salad or Winter Fruit Salad drizzled with cranberry vinaigrette.
- Have it with leftovers. Just toss it with greens to go alongside the Turkey Pot Pie Soup, Kentucky Hot Brown Grilled Cheese, or Tetrazzini you make with the leftover bird.
- Use it as a marinade. Yes, this balsamic cranberry salad dressing works as a marinade, like in this Grilled Chicken Salad with Berries.
More leftover cranberry sauce recipes
- Cranberry BBQ Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Cranberry Balsamic Beef
- Cranberry Balsamic Glazed Cauliflower Wings
- Creamy Cranberry Dijon Dip
- Gluten Free Cranberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars from Peas and Crayons
Balsamic Cranberry Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup cranberry sauce
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients in a small blender jar, Magic Bullet, or a glass mason jar that can attached to your blender blade (see Note) and blend until smooth.If you don't have one of these appliances, you can whisk it in a bowl, but it might not be as smooth.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to three or four days.
Love this dressing!!! I am such a cranberry freak, cranberry on my salad sounds perfect to me:-) I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving! Hugs, Terra
Thank you! I love that I made an entire batch of cranberry just to “play” with – so many tasty ideas!