Name: Christmas Chutney Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 3 g Ginger ((ground - approx. 1 tsp)); 3 Cinnamon Sticks ((whole)); 1/4 tsp Whole Cloves ((too small to register on my scale)); 350 g Cranberries ((fresh or frozen - see notes)); 600 g Apples ((green apples, cored and diced - I don't peel)); 170 g Dried Cranberries; 1 Orange ((zest and juice only - 120g juice)); 300 g Sugar ((white sugar)); 400 g White Vinegar

Christmas Chutney is a festive inspired fruit chutney flavored with cranberries, oranges and cinnamon. It pairs well with turkey and ham and can be made for the Christmas table or to give as a special homemade Christmas gift.

While it's called Christmas chutney, it would also be perfectly at home next to your Thanksgiving turkey or paired with cold meats and sourdough bread at any time of the year!

Christmas chutney served on a sourdough crostini topped with turkey and Brie. You can see a jar of Christmas chutney in the background, along with a stack of sourdough crostini.

Why You'll Love This Recipe!

It's Christmas in a Jar - this delicious Christmas spiced cranberry chutney smells like Christmas. Cranberries, orange zest, cinnamon and cloves will fill your kitchen with festive aromas.

Fresh or Frozen Cranberries - this recipe will work perfectly with either fresh or frozen cranberries making it super versatile.

Perfect Gift - a jar of this Christmas chutney and a loaf of sourdough bread would make the perfect heartfelt gift this Christmas (why not pair it with some beautiful sourdough crackers or Christmas sourdough lavosh).

A jar of Christmas chutney nestled amongst frosted pine branches and cranberries.

Ingredients

This colorful chutney has a fairly simple list of ingredients that mingle together to create something truly festive.

Ginger - I've used ground ginger, but you can use fresh if you prefer. For me, ground ginger is easy to store and I always have it on hand. If you prefer to use fresh ginger, add a 5cm piece of peeled ginger to the pot and remove along with the cinnamon sticks at the end of the cooking time.
Cinnamon sticks and cloves - I love the subtle aroma these whole cinnamon sticks impart into this special festive chutney.
Cranberries - this recipe uses both fresh cranberries and dried cranberries. You can substitute frozen cranberries for the fresh if it's easier. I love being able to use frozen produce as it helps keep the cost down, but also makes it a more accessible recipe for cooks who can't get fresh cranberries.
Apples and oranges - I've used green apples. I leave the skin on and just core and dice. For an even quicker chutney, I throw the apples in a food processor. You'll need the zest and juice of a large orange.
Sugar - I've just used plain white sugar for this recipe.
White Vinegar - I've used cheap and cheerful white vinegar. I tried the chutney with a more expensive vinegar and it made no difference. I love that this is such a budget friendly recipe.

Flat lay of ingredients necessary to make Christmas chutney.

How To Make Christmas Chutney

Chop your apples into a fine dice. To save time I throw them in a food processor and chop them in there. I never peel them as I love the colors when I first add to the pot.

All of the ingredients for making Christmas chutney arranged in a stainless steel saucepan. You can see all the colors of the ingredients layered in the pot.

Add all of the ingredients to a heavy based saucepan and stir together over a high heat until it comes to the boil.

Once boiling, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and allow the Christmas chutney to simmer for around 45 minutes or until it becomes thick and jammy.

Christmas chutney as it cooks down. The ingredients are still brightly colored and whole at this stage but the cooking process has begun.

Turn the heat off once you're happy with the consistency and remove the cinnamon sticks.

Take 3 jars (I've used 500mls but you can use smaller) and sterilise them with boiling water.

Equipment necessary to make Christmas chutney. In this photo you can see red jar tongs, large stainless steel pot, stainless steel ladle and jar funnel, as well as some 500ml glass jar.

While the chutney and jars are still hot, use a stainless steel jam funnel to fill the jars, leaving around 1cm head room at the top. Seal the jars tightly.

A 500ml glass jar filled with Christmas chutney. You can also see other equipment in the photo including a stainless steel jar funnel and red jar tongs.

Allow to cool on the counter before transferring to the fridge. This chutney is best left for around 2 to 4 weeks before opening and using.

3 jars of Christmas chutney with gold lids sitting next to a stainless steel pot.

If you want a shelf stable chutney, add the jars to a water bath and boil for 10 minutes.

3 jars of Christmas chutney in 500ml jars with gold lids. There are some frozen cranberries and pine branches in the photo for Christmas effects.

Recipe Tips

This Christmas chutney tastes best when it's had around 2 to 4 weeks to mellow in the jar, so make sure you plan ahead if you're making this one for your Thanksgiving table or Christmas gifts.
Frozen cranberries work just as well as fresh in this recipe, you don't even need to defrost them!
Use a stainless steel jar funnel to make filling jars easier and less messy.

Serving Suggestions

This Christmas chutney can be served in many different ways. While we've called it Christmas chutney, it can be served at Thanksgiving as well.

Serve alongside a roast turkey or ham at your festive gatherings.
Add to festive charcuterie platters or cheese plates alongside a soft cheese like Brie. It works well with turkey or ham cold cuts too. I love serving it alongside Brie, turkey and these sourdough crostini.
Why not bake a loaf of orange and cranberry sourdough bread or sourdough rye and pair it with this Christmas chutney to create a delightful home baked Christmas gift.

A jar of Christmas chutney sitting next to a pile of sourdough crostini. There is a crostini topped with turkey and chutney.

Equipment For Making Chutney

One of the things I love about making chutney and relishes is that I don't need a lot of specialised equipment. But just in case you really want to go all in, here are some of the things that you'll see me using that do make life much easier!

Kitchen Scales - I love that I can make chutney and relish easily with a kitchen scale. Once my recipe works, I know I can make it over and over again with the exact measurements. If you don't already use a kitchen scale for cooking and baking, I highly recommend you look at the benefits (you can read about why weighing your ingredients is important here).
Jar Tongs for canning - these are the funny red tongs you'll see in some of my photos. They make it so much easier to pick up hot jars!
Stainless Steel Jar Funnel - I love using this when filling my jars as it prevents mess and spills and keeps the rims of the jars clean.
Jars - I tend to use whatever I have on hand. If making batches for gifts, I tend to use either 120ml jars or 300ml jars (I usually just buy these from discount stores because then I don't mind if the jars don't come back). If canning relish and chutney for my own fridge, then I tend to use 500ml jars as we go through a lot of it! I love using the same wide mouth jars that keep my sourdough starter in.

Shelf Life + Storage

I've written this recipe as a fridge chutney, meaning that you don't need to preserve the chutney, it can be sealed and live in the fridge, unopened, for around 6 months. Once the jar is open, it should be used within 2 weeks.

If you prefer a shelf stable chutney, you can water bath the jars of Christmas chutney for 10 minutes after sealing them.