Wondering what to do with leftover cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving? Throw this easy cranberry mayonnaise recipe together! The perfect spread for a simple turkey sandwich.
We love a good leftover remix (there are only so many times you can eat the same reheated Thanksgiving dinner, right?) and this easy cranberry mayo is one of our favorite ways to use extra cranberry sauce after the holidays! Use it immediately or keep it in a mason jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.
PS - Looking for tasty ways to reimagine your Thanksgiving leftovers? See our full Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe Collection →
This is a very loose "recipe": all you need is mayonnaise and some leftover cranberry sauce (we love using homemade cranberry sauce, but canned cranberry sauce works fine too!)
We've given you loose measurements in the recipe card below, but this cranberry mayonnaise will vary a bit depending on your cranberry sauce: do a taste test after mixing and stir in additional mayo or cranberry sauce as needed to balance the flavors. This spread is very forgiving!
Riffs and Substitutions
- Adjust the sweetness. If your cranberry sauce is especially tart, stir in a spoonful of honey or maple syrup to balance it out. If your cranberry sauce is too sweet, add a splash of lemon juice to bring a bit of that tart flavor back in.
- For a smoother cranberry mayonnaise, blend the mayo with a food processor or immersion blender (you may need to double or triple the recipe to have enough volume to ensure smooth blending!)
- Add leftover chopped herbs like rosemary, thyme, or sage for an herby cranberry spread.
Ways to use cranberry mayo
- Slather it on some crusty bread with leftover roast turkey breast, brie or white cheddar cheese, sliced tomato, and lots of greens or lettuce for an epic turkey sandwich. (No turkey? You can also use sliced or shredded chicken!)
- Use as a quick aioli dip with some homemade crab cakes.
- Add a dollop to salad dressing for a tart, creamy vinaigrette (cranberry mayo is great in place of the dijon mustard in our 5 minute arugula salad dressing!)
- Use as a spread for a simple turkey burger!
- Double down on the cranberry flavor by adding it to a cranberry brie grilled cheese.
More Cranberry Sauce Recipes
Cranberry sauce is one of our favorite Thanksgiving leftovers - it's a delicious addition to all kinds of sweet and savory recipes! A few of our favorite ways to repurpose it:
Video: Four ways to use leftover cranberry sauce
Cranberry Mayonnaise
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 minute
- Total Time: 3 minutes
- Yield: ⅔ cup 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The easiest cranberry mayonnaise - the perfect way to use up leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving or Christmas!
Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 Tablespoons leftover cranberry sauce
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
You may need to adjust this mayonnaise mix to suit your cranberry sauce - just give it a taste when you mix it together and add extra mayonnaise, cranberry sauce, or salt as necessary! If your cranberry sauce is too tart, stir in a spoonful of honey or maple syrup to add more sweetness. If the mayo is too sweet, add a splash of lemon juice to brighten it up.
This recipe doesn't freeze especially well as the mayo can separate once defrosted. Cranberry sauce freezes very well on its own, though! We recommend freezing leftover cranberry sauce on its own, then defrosting as needed to make this cranberry mayo on demand.
Use this cranberry mayonnaise on a leftover turkey sandwich, a cranberry brie grilled cheese sandwich, or add a dollop to a quick vinaigrette in place of mustard for a tart, creamy salad dressing!
Keywords: thanksgiving, leftovers, sauce
Karen
Try using cranberry wild rice bread with any of the recipes. You won't ever use anything else.
Team Life As A Strawberry
That sounds fabulous!
Carly
I made a wrap with this using apple slices, spinach, turkey, provolone cheese, and the cranberry mayo. It was delicious! I used to get a similar wrap from a local place around me but they have closed down and I could never find anything close to it!
★★★★★
Team Life As A Strawberry
So happy to hear you were able to use the mayo to recreate an old favorite!
MARGARET CULBERTSON
Delicious! We used it on a chckn salad sandwich on Hawaiian Rolls.
★★★★★
Kay
I am going to try your cranberry mayo recipe been looking for a pre made one at Lunds ( its a grocery store in MN) with no luck wanted to recreate a turkey sandwich they make...thanks to you I can
Kay
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi Kay, how did it turn out?
elizabeth
sorry, but this tasted awful! i tried just a can of whole berry sauce and 1/2 cup of mayo and it was great!
Sarah Moschenross
I just googled cranberry mayo to recreate the Q's sandwich on the challah I made and found that you had already done it!! Thanks, Jessie! I hope you are doing well and thanks for your great blog post!
Jessie
Ahh! I miss Q's so much! Thanks, Sarah - so happy you found the site and hope you're doing well!!
kim
Is this Galesburg in IL?
Jessie
It is indeed! I did my undergrad work at Knox College 🙂
Winifred
Thanks for the recipe. It's Canadian Thanksgiving here (we had our turkey yesterday) and I just made panninis with it. Turkey, stuffing and cranberry mayo on herb and garlic focaccia with gravy on the side for dipping. They were a big hit.
Jessie
I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
Elyssa
Omg I went to a restaurant this afternoon and the sandwhich I ordered consisted of honey wheat bread, turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, bean sprouts, and cranberry mayonnaise. My new favorite sandwhich ever!
Jessie
That sounds amazing! I'll definitely have to try that sandwich combo. next time I make this mayonnaise.
Cady
The restaurant I used to work at made turkey paninis with just turkey, cheddar cheese, and cranberry mayo. Other restaurants just don't even compare. Thank you for this recipe!!