Cranberry Maple Vinaigrette (Great for Leftover Cranberry Sauce!)

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Cranberry maple vinaigrette is the perfect dressing for a delicious salad that you can serve on the Thanksgiving table or any time of year! It will wake up your taste buds with a mix of sweet and tangy flavors.

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a thanksgiving leftovers salad drizzled with cranberry maple vinaigrette.

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Why You'll Love This Maple Cranberry Vinaigrette
Equipment
Ingredients
How to Make
Variations & Substitutions
Pro Tips
Storing, Serving, & Making Ahead
Recipe FAQ
Other Recipes You May Like
Cranberry Maple Vinaigrette Recipe

Why You'll Love This Maple Cranberry Vinaigrette

This is one of those unique leftover cranberry sauce recipes that you can add to a healthy salad and feel like you're at the holiday table. It's a tangy vinaigrette made with simple ingredients that makes green salad taste absolutely delicious!

I'm a big fan of making homemade salad dressing. I love the versatility of these delicious vinaigrettes because you give any basic green salad a ton of flavor!

Plate of salad on a beige linen with a pumpkin, wooden fall decoration, bowl of stuffing croutons (with some croutons on the table), and another fall decoration in the background. A fork on the right of the salad and a bowl of cranberry maple vinaigrette in the bottom left corner.

Equipment

Small bowl, liquid measuring cup, or mason jar - I love using a mason jar to make this cranberry maple vinaigrette because it's so easy to put the lid on, shake, and drizzle right onto a salad!
Whisk (if using a bowl or liquid measuring cup to mix ingredients) - a whisk is perfect to fully combine all of the ingredients.

Ingredients

Full ingredients, measurements, and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Homemade cranberry sauce - homemade cranberry sauce can be lower in sugar and higher in vitamin C than store bought canned cranberry sauce (depending on which recipe you use).
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) - EVOO has so much flavor and is my favorite type of oil to use in salad dressings. Plus it's full of unsaturated fats!
Balsamic vinegar - I love the combination of balsamic and cranberry but you can use any vinegar you'd like. This dressing is like a balsamic vinaigrette with a hint of cranberry! I recommend either red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar if you want to switch it up!
Pure maple syrup - I always recommend using real maple syrup instead of the cheaper fake stuff, which is basically corn syrup with artificial flavoring and coloring.
Dijon mustard - tangy dijon mustard rounds out the sweetness from the cranberry sauce and pure maple syrup.
Seasonings - salt, black pepper, and garlic powder help to add and enhance the flavors in this cranberry vinaigrette!

How to Make

ingredients to make cranberry maple vinaigrette in a liquid measuring cup

1: Combine all ingredients into a small bowl, liquid measuring cup or mason jar.

cranberry maple vinaigrette in a liquid measuring cup

2: Whisk or shake until fully combined.

Variations & Substitutions

You can use fresh cranberries to make a homemade cranberry sauce if you'd like. Dried cranberries are also an easy, year-round way to make cranberry sauce from scratch to use in this cranberry maple vinaigrette!
Any vinegar will work in this recipe: balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar!
If you like a smooth homemade salad dressing, you can put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend on high until the desired consistency is reach!
A little bit of fresh orange zest adds a fun twist to this recipe if you like cranberry and orange flavors together!

Pro Tips

I recommend using homemade cranberry sauce to get a fresh and tart cranberry flavor in this vinaigrette recipe. You can use canned but it has a lot of artificial sweeteners and ingredients!
Since cranberries are a fall and winter food, I love tossing this dressing into winter salads with dark leafy greens, diced apple, pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds or walnuts, and a protein like chicken or shrimp!
This easy recipe is a great way to use up leftover cranberry sauce after a holiday meal, especially when you have a lot of Thanksgiving leftovers to use up. I love tossing it with a kale salad that includes kale, butter lettuce, pumpkin seeds or toasted pecans, crumbled goat cheese, turkey breast, and stuffing croutons!
If you like sweeter dressings, you'll love this recipe! If you like less sweet dressings, I would add a little bit more balsamic vinegar or even a splash or two of cranberry juice to cut some of the sweetness. You can also use less cranberry sauce and/or pure maple syrup!

Dish of salad tossed with cranberry maple vinaigrette in upper half of photo on a beige linen. Stuffing croutons sprinkled by dish and by bowl of croutons. A fork is to the right of the thanksgiving leftovers salad.

Storing, Serving, & Making Ahead

STORING: Store this dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. I love using a mason jar because it's easy to store in the fridge and shake up whenever you're ready to drizzle dressing onto a salad.
SERVING: Simply drizzle this dressing onto a salad whenever you're ready to eat it! I like to let it get closer to room temperature beforehand so it pours easily.
MAKING AHEAD: This maple cranberry vinaigrette is super simple to make ahead of time. Simply follow the recipe below and store it in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it and enjoy! The flavors might even come together a little bit better after letting it sit.

Recipe FAQ

I don't have cranberry sauce, can I use cranberry juice instead?

I haven't tried using cranberry juice instead of sauce, but I can imagine it would still be delicious! The texture may be a little bit different, as this recipe is on the thicker side as-is, and would be thinner if you use juice.

What do you use this cranberry maple vinaigrette on?

Any sort of salad is my go-to! You could also serve it with a fresh veggie tray or even as a marinade or sauce for protein like chicken breast, shrimp, or beef.

What can I do to make this maple cranberry dressing smoother?

Since it calls for homemade cranberry sauce, the dressing is fairly chunky. However, you can easily add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend on high until the right consistency is reached!