Layered Cranberry Salad

Every year, my family has our “go-to” recipes for the holidays. My sister’s sausage stuffing.  Festive green beans. And we would never think of forgetting the cranberry salad. Our version is a lot more dressed up than just opening up a can of cranberry sauce and putting it on the table.  It’s super sweet, but we all love it, and if by chance, any is left over after the meal, you can bet that there will be folks clamoring for the leftovers.

By layering the cranberry sauce and creamy filling, you’ll have a showstopper of a side dish, all for very little effort! And don’t worry if you don’t happen to have individual dishes for each of your guests. This salad would be equally beautiful in a large trifle dish placed at the center of the table or buffet.

Start off by beating the cream cheese until it is light and fluffy.

Fold in the thawed whipped topping.

And then dump in the can of crushed pineapple and stir to combine. That’s all there is to the creamy layer! 

You’ll want to put the cranberry sauce in another bowl and stir it to break it up as well, before layering in the salads.

Take your serving dish and add a couple of spoonfuls of the cranberry sauce, enough to cover the bottom of the dish.

Follow by adding a layer of the cream cheese mixture.

And finish off with more cranberry sauce. That’s all there is to it!