Cranberry Celebration Salad
Not a fan of traditional cranberry sauce? Then you must try our cranberry salad loaded with fresh cranberries, crushed pineapple, diced celery, chopped walnuts and cherry Jell-o! We think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 (1 lb.) bag fresh cranberries
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 1 c. water
- 1 (3 oz.) pkg. cherry Jell-O
- 1 (15 oz.) can crushed pineapple drained
- 1 T. lemon juice
- 1 c. diced celery
- 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
Instructions
- In a saucepan, bring cranberries, sugar, and water to a boil over medium-high heat until the berries begin to pop and syrup begins to form. Remove from heat and cool.
- In a separate saucepan, over low heat, whisk together 1 cup of the cranberry syrup with cherry Jell-O until dissolved. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- Stir the cooled cranberries with remaining syrup into the cooled Jell-O mixture. Add crushed pineapple, lemon juice, chopped celery and walnuts.
- Pour into a serving bowl, cover and chill for 4 hours or overnight. Stir just before serving.
Can I freeze cranberry celebration?
Hi Marylou, I suppose you could. I have never done that before.
I have done it with the Ralphs version and it works perfectly.
Hi Jenn, What’s Ralphs?
Grocery store chain, Ralphs, Smith and Basha’s
Yes, it freezes very well. Just had some tonight that I made at Christmas.
This salad is positively addicting. Kroger’s version is
One of the best. Pecans could be added for a twist. Good with meat loaf!
Did you try freezing it? How did it do?
It freezes beautifully.
Can I make this with frozen cranberries when fresh aren’t available?
Yep, you can use the IQF (individually quick frozen) cranberries without sugar.
Yes, I made a big batch and froze in smaller portions. freezes very very well
Thanks, Donna, good to know!
a topping of shredded coconut goes great with this
Yes! I’ve done it. Take it out a day before to thaw. And bring it to room temp, stir and serve.
I did and it was just as good
How long can you leave this in the fridge?
Hi Michele, You can keep it in the refrigerator for up to a week, but mine didn’t last that long! lol
Yes, you can freeze this in small 6 – 8 oz freezer-safe containers. I do it all the time. I love your recipe. It is the closest I’ve found to the Kroger Celebration cranberry salad they make. I have modified it to yield two batches because I do like to freeze some and give away some. I increased all ingredients except for the cherry Jell-O, I left it at 1, 3oz box. However, I added to it, 2 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin. The cherry was just too overpowering for our taste and doing a side-by-side taste test with the Kroger Cranberry Celebration one, the less cherry was very very close. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I am trying to watch my sugar intake. Could I make this without the extra cup of sugar? I know the cranberries and the pineapple both have natural sugars and I can use sugar free jell-o, but I was wondering how it would be without the extra sugar. Thank you.
Hi Jennifer, I have only made this as written, but I suppose you could swap 1 cup Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener or Swerve for 1 cup sugar, or 1 1/3 cups Erythritol for 1 cup sugar. Let me know how it turns out using a sugar substitute. ~ Dusty
I haven’t made this recipe yet myself but found out last year how sour fresh cranberries are so that might be why the need for that extra sugar.
Great recipes.
Saves me a little cash with same quality.
Thank you guys. Also i have substituted on sale fresh pineapple $5.00 and came out much better than canned.
Our family really likes this recipe! In fact, we make it without the jello because we like the consistency of the salad without gelatin. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
This is so yummy and EASY! Tastes just like the Fred Meyer version at a fraction of the price! I add maraschino cherries to mine just to make it a bit sweeter. Thanks for this recipe!
Leftovers from Thanksgiving are delicious with cream cheese and crackers or over vanilla ice cream!
I totally agree, Dacker! Happy Thanksgiving!
Can I use a sugar substitute ?
Good question! I have never used a sugar substitue in this recipe, but I think “Splenda granulated” might work well. Use a 1:1 conversion. Let me know how this turns out.
This is delicious and my only question is can this be preserved like jam the waterbath method?
Hi Susan, This is a fresh salad and should not be processed in a water bath. I do have a Christmas jam that you might be interested in, here’s the link https://www.cookingmamas.com/christmas-jam/ I hope that helps? ~ Dusty
Bags of fresh cranberries are only 12 ounces, not 1 lb. I thought this was a recent change, but when I Googled it, I found out that it’s been 12 ounces since about 1980! I have made this recipe before but didn’t account for the smaller size package of cranberries. It still came out okay, but this year, I have reduced the other ingredients to 3/4 of what the recipe called for, to match the reduced size of the bag of cranberries. My question is, what size bag did you actually use when making this recipe?
Hi Patty, I just made mine today too! I have always made it with 1-lb. of cranberries. I also noticed the bag I bought was only a 12 oz. bag. I happened to have two bags, so I added 4 oz. to it. I hope this helps. Happy Thanksgiving! ~ Dusty