Ingredients
- 1 can whole berry cranberry sauce 14 oz
- 1 can apple pie filling 21 oz
- ½ cup pecan halves or walnuts, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Don't Want to Plan? I Got You.Every Saturday I share a full week of dinners, sides, and a dessert — with the grocery list already done. Come grab this week's Weekly Meal Plans!Equipment
8x8 Glass Dish The perfect size for this Cranberry Apple Salad!
Sharp Chef's Knives I love my TopFeel knives!
Cutting Boards These are not only practical, they are also beautiful. Even the smallest one. 😂
Method Start Cooking
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Pour the apple pie filling into an 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish and cut the apples into small pieces. A knife right in the dish works fine. You don't want big chunks of apple next to all those little cranberries.
- Add the whole berry cranberry sauce and the cinnamon, and mix until the cranberries and apples are all smooshed up together. You can do this in a bowl first if you prefer, but there is no reason to dirty one.
- Crush the pecans a little so the pieces are smaller than halves, then scatter them evenly over the top.
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, until it is warm and bubbly all the way through. It does not need to crisp on top — cover it or leave it uncovered, it does not much matter. Serve it warm.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Use whole berry cranberry sauce, not jellied. You want the berries whole so they have something to say against the soft apples — jellied melts into a smooth sauce and you lose the texture entirely.
This bakes at the same temperature as most everything else on a holiday table, so it can go in the oven right alongside your turkey, your ham, or another casserole. That is exactly how it always ended up on ours.
No room in the oven? Warm it on the stovetop instead. Stir the apple pie filling, cranberry sauce, and cinnamon together in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it's hot all the way through, then spoon it into your serving dish. Wait to add the nuts until right before you serve it so they stay crunchy.
Any nut works. Pecans and walnuts are what I reach for because everybody knows what they taste like and both go beautifully with the fruit. Hazelnuts would be lovely too.
It reheats well, so this is a good one to make the day before if your oven is going to be full.
This bakes at the same temperature as most everything else on a holiday table, so it can go in the oven right alongside your turkey, your ham, or another casserole. That is exactly how it always ended up on ours.
No room in the oven? Warm it on the stovetop instead. Stir the apple pie filling, cranberry sauce, and cinnamon together in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it's hot all the way through, then spoon it into your serving dish. Wait to add the nuts until right before you serve it so they stay crunchy.
Any nut works. Pecans and walnuts are what I reach for because everybody knows what they taste like and both go beautifully with the fruit. Hazelnuts would be lovely too.
It reheats well, so this is a good one to make the day before if your oven is going to be full.
Mix it right in the baking dish. Two cans and a spoon — there is no reason to dirty a bowl on a day when you already have a sink full. Crush the nuts down a little. Halves are too big and end up sitting on top instead of settling in. You want them smaller, not powdered. The can is the hard part. Getting whole berry cranberry sauce out of a can takes longer than the rest of the recipe put together, and I still do not know why they have not put a pop top on it. Do not skip warming it. Straight from the can this is just cranberry sauce and pie filling. Thirty minutes in the oven is what turns it into a dish. Let nobody know how easy it was. My lips are sealed.
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