This Cranberry Salsa Cream Cheese Appetizer is perfect for any winter party, and your family will swoon over the fresh cranberry salsa. Serve with low-carb tortilla chips, low-carb pita bread, jicama slices, or other dippers of your choice.
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This Cranberry Salsa Cream Cheese Appetizer starts with my friend Trina’s Cranberry Salsa that I’ve been making for Thanksgiving for so many years now! I love the fresh cranberry salsa, and it’s gotten nothing but raves on the blog.
So if you’re looking for a fun holiday appetizer that’s relatively healthy and about as easy as it gets, I highly recommend making cranberry salsa and then turning some of it into this fun cranberry cream cheese appetizer. And you can freeze the cranberry salsa! Knowing it freezes well is just one more thing to love about the cranberry salsa recipe I got from my friend Trina.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- cream cheese (see notes)
- olive oil (for spraying baking sheet and dish)
- Trina’s Cranberry Salsa
- pita chips, tortilla chips, celery sticks, or jicama slices to scoop up the dip
Making the low-carb tortilla chips:
(See the recipe for other options for dippers.)
- I used Mission Carb Balance Low-Carb Tortillas (affiliate link) to make chips to serve with this to keep it lower in carbs. But this would also be delicious with my favorite low-carb pita bread.
- If you want to make your own low-carb tortilla chips like I did, start with low carb tortillas, cut them into triangles.
- Spray a baking sheet with olive oil and spread out the tortilla triangles, and bake in a 400F/200C oven for 4-5 minutes.
- Watch them carefully or you’ll get some that are a little too brown (like I did)!
Assembling Cranberry Salsa Cream Cheese Appetizer:
(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)
- To make the appetizer, choose an attractive oven-proof baking dish and brush with olive oil.
- Put a block of cream cheese in the dish and bake about 10 minutes, or just until it looks slightly melted.
- Then cover the cream cheese with Trina’s Cranberry Salsa, and serve hot with dippers of your choice.
More Recipes for Healthier Holiday Appetizers:
Check out my amazing collection of 50+ Low-Carb and Keto Appetizer Recipes from Kalyn’s Kitchen and other great blogs to get more ideas for holiday appetizer recipes that won’t be loaded with carbs!
Ingredients
- 8 oz. package cream cheese (see notes)
- olive oil (for spraying baking sheet and dish)
- One cup Trina’s Cranberry Salsa (see notes)
- pita chips, tortilla chips, celery sticks, or jicama slices to scoop up the dip
Instructions
To Make Low-Carb Tortilla Chips:
- Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Spray baking sheet and crockery baking dish with olive oil.
- Cut the low-carb tortillas into triangle shapes and arrange in a single layer on the sprayed baking sheet. (You may need two baking sheets.)
- Bake in a 400F/200C oven for 4-5 minutes. Watch them carefully or you’ll get some that are a little too brown like I did!
To Make the Cranberry Salsa Cream Cheese Appetizer:
- Follow instructions to make the cranberry salsa.
- Choose an oven-proof baking dish and spray lightly with olive oil.
- Place unwrapped block of cream cheese in the baking dish.
- Put baking dish into the oven and cook just until the cream cheese is starting to soften. This will take about 10 minutes for the cream cheese to be soften enough to scoop up with a chip.
- If you’re not turning on the oven to make tortilla chips, you can also put the block of cream cheese into a microwave to soften on high for 3-4 minutes.
- To serve, spoon a generous amount of Trina’s Cranberry Salsa over the softened cream cheese.
- Serve with pita chips, tortilla chips, celery sticks, or jicama slices to scoop up the dip.
- This will go quickly so you might want to double the recipe.
Notes
The recipe for Trina’s Cranberry Salsa makes about 2 cups; I would use about half that amount (or slightly more) to make this appetizer.
Use regular or reduced fat cream cheese, whichever you prefer.
Nutritional information doesn’t include tortilla chips, pita bread, celery sticks, or jicama slices used to scoop up the dip.
Kalyn’s version of this recipe is adapted from ideas from several sources.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 143Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 171mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 2g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Did you make this recipe?
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
To make this Cranberry Salsa Cream Cheese Holiday Appetizer suitable for a low-carb diet or phase 2 or 3 of the original South Beach Diet, make the salsa with low-carb sweetener and use celery or jicama for dippers or low-carb pita or tortillas to make the chips. There are some carbs in the cranberries even when it’s made with a low-carb sweetener, so this would be a limited food for South Beach or other low-carb diet plans.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Holiday Recipes for more recipes for holidays! Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2011 and I’ve made it for many holiday parties since then. It was last updated with more information in 2022.
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Grandma Denny’s Homemade Ranch Dip
My Grandma Denny’s Homemade Ranch Dip was a Denny family favorite long before anyone heard of Ranch Dressing! And this family favorite Ranch Dip is a delicious low-carb and keto dip recipe and in my family this makes an appearance at every holiday gathering!
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My Grandma Denny’s Homemade Ranch Dip is one of my favorite memories from childhood! As early as I can remember, my Grandma Denny made a fantastic dip that she served with carrots and celery as an appetizer at every family gathering. In those days we called Grandma’s homemade ranch dip just *Vegetable Dip* as if there was only one kind of dip that could possibly be served with veggies.
This was long before the introduction of Ranch Dressing to the American culinary scene, and obviously my Grandma Denny was ahead of her time, because now people all over the country are eating Ranch Dip with veggies. And in my own extended family, there would never be a holiday gathering without this delicious homemade Ranch Dip on the table.
Of course there’s nothing wrong with making Ranch-Style Vegetable Dip using a package mix if that time-saver works for you. But my grandma’s Homemade Ranch Dip is a bit fresher tasting as well as being low in carbs, and if you usually use the mix but don’t have a package on hand I bet you’ll love my Grandma’s recipe.
Grandma Denny always used full-fat mayo and sour cream, but for anyone wanting lower fat you can obviously make this with reduced-fat products if you prefer. Or if you don’t like mayo, you might prefer the variation below for Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip, made with Greek yogurt and blended cottage cheese for a higher protein, lower-fat dip.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
Can you make this dip with onion powder?
I love the flavor the grated onion gives to my Grandma Denny’s homemade ranch dip. But if you prefer or want to save time, just use 1 tsp. onion powder.
Can you make this homemade ranch dip with Greek Yogurt?
I sometimes make a variation of this that I call Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip that’s lower in fat and higher in protein. For that variation follow this recipe but replace the sour cream with one cup of cottage that’s blended in the food processor until it’s nearly smooth and replace the mayo with one cup fat-free Greek Yogurt. (This is the version I would make when I was strictly following the original South Beach Diet.)
Want a version of ranch dip with more texture?
You can make a variation of this homemade ranch dip recipe with a little chopped red onion, finely diced cucumber, and finely diced red pepper if you’d like a chunkier dip. I would use about 2 T of each.
How to Make Grandma Denny’s Homemade Ranch Dip:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- My Grandma always used Bon Appetit Seasoning Salt as the secret seasoning in her vegetable dip, but it’s no longer being made (sob!) If you still have Bon Appetit, use it, but now I use Beau Monde Seasoning (affiliate link). If you’re in Europe you can also use Trocomare Seasoning. (affiliate link)
- Grate a small amount of raw onion into a bowl. (I use the large side of a box grater; don’t use a microplane grater which just turns the onion to liquid.)
- Add mayo and sour cream to bowl.
- Then add Beau Monde Seasoning and dried dill weed (affiliate link).
- Mix all ingredients together well with a whisk. You can use a food processor as well, but the whisk is quicker.
- Let the dip chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour or two for best flavor.
- Serve with raw vegetables like celery, sugar snap peas, bell pepper strips, jicama, radishes, broccoli, or cauliflower.
- This is also good with carrots or as a dip for baked sweet potato fries for those who don’t mind more carbs.
- I tested this out on my friend Robin and she gave it two thumbs up!
More Tasty Vegetable Dips You Might Like:
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream (see notes)
- 1 cup mayo (see notes)
- 1 tsp. grated onion
- 2 tsp. dried dill weed
- 2 tsp. Beau Monde Seasoning (see notes)
Instructions
- Grate onion into a bowl, using the large side of a box grater or flat grater (not a microplane grater.)
- Add all other ingredients to the bowl and stir together with a whisk (or you can use a food processor, but it’s not necessary.)
- Chill an hour or so before serving.
Notes
I only use Daisy full-fat sour cream and full-fat mayo for this recipe but if you prefer to make a lower-fat version of the recipe you can definitely use reduced fat sour cream and mayo.
My Grandma always used Bon Appetit Seasoning for this. When that was discontinued I started making it with Beau Monde Seasoning (affiliate link), which is almost identical in flavor.
This will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks. Nutritional information doesn’t include vegetables and is calculated on 1/4 cup serving size.
Recipe from my Grandma Denny, who was a wonderful cook!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 245Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 6gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 564mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Did you make this recipe?
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Grandma Denny’s Homemade Ranch Dip is great for low-carb diets.Eat with low-carb vegetables like celery, sugar snap peas, jicama, bell pepper strips, radishes, broccoli, or cauliflower for low-carb diets. If you’re making this for the original South Beach Diet the Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip variation above is better for South Beach.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Appetizers to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
Kalyn was making this dip recipe long before the existence of the internet, and it was first posted on this site in 2005 (probably without a single photo in those days.) The recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.
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We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
- Calories N/A
- Total Fat N/A
- Saturated Fat N/A
- Cholesterol N/A
- Sodium N/A
- Total Carbohydrates N/A
- Protein N/A
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