Apple Cranberry Fruit Salad
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I can’t believe how close Thanksgiving is! I must say that I am super excited though, it is my favorite holiday. So to help get you ready for this magnificent day, I have new recipes planned for you this week and next week. First up is a simple apple cranberry fruit salad that incorporates fresh cranberries. This salad does need to be started the day before so it works well for Thanksgiving.
The fresh cranberries are cooked to soften with some sugar and water. Then you let them soak overnight in the sugary syrup. This helps to sweeten the cranberries. The cranberries still have a tartness to them but are definitely sweeter than they were and are perfectly tender while maintaining the look of a fresh cranberry.

When ready to serve the salad you just toss the cranberries with the other fresh fruit. I also highly recommend topping it with some fresh sweetened whipped cream.
If you really aren’t a fan of cranberries, you can just use pomegranate aerials instead and no cooking is needed.

Here’s what you need to make the
Apple Cranberry Fruit Salad
- FRESH CRANBERRIES
- WATER
- SUGAR
- RED APPLE
- YELLOW OR GREEN APPLE
- MANDARIN ORANGES
- BANANAS
- LEMON JUICE
- SWEETENED WHIPPED CREAM FOR SERVING

Apple Cranberry Fruit Salad
Real Mom Kitchen
Ingredients
- 1 (12 oz) bag fresh cranberries
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 red apple chopped
- 1 yellow or green apple chopped
- 2 (11 oz) cans mandarin oranges
- 3 large bananas sliced
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- sweetened whipped cream for topping optional but highly recommended
Instructions
- In a sauce pan, add in the cranberries, water, and sugar. Stir to combine. Cook on medium until you start to hear the cranberries start to pop. Cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Then place in the refrigerator overnight.
- In a large bowl, toss the apples, oranges, bananas with lemon juice. Drain most of the syrup off of the cranberries. You just want them wet with the syrup. Mix in with the rest of the fruit and top with whipped cream if desired and serve.
Recipe adapted from Tastes Better From Scratch.