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Cranberry Pesto Pasta - Best, unique and healthy recipe using cranberries for thanksgiving, christmas lunch and dinner
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5 from 14 votes

Homemade Cranberry Pesto Sauce And Cranberry Pesto Pasta

Cranberry Pesto Pasta is easy to make, rich and irresistibly delicious, flavorful pasta dish prepared using fresh homemade pesto and pasta of your choice in less than 30 minutes. This is one of the best and most unique cranberry recipes you should try for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
This is an award-winning pasta recipe.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Dinner, Entree, Lunch
Cuisine: American, Italian
Servings: 6
Calories: 491kcal
Author: Kushi

Ingredients

Homemade Cranberry Pesto Sauce

  • 1 cup Frozen cranberries
  • 1 cup Fresh Basil leaves or Cilantro, or combination of both
  • 3 cloves Garlic
  • ¼ cup Almonds , sliced
  • cup Parmesan cheese , grated
  • ½ teaspoon Black peppercorns
  • ½ teaspoon Cayenne or red chile powder
  • cup Olive oil
  • Salt , to taste

For Cranberry Pesto Pasta

  • 1 pound Angel hair or spaghetti or any pasta of your choice
  • 3 tablespoon Frozen cranberries
  • 1 ½ tablespoon Olive oil
  • Salt , to taste

Instructions

Step I

  • In a food processor or blender, add all the ingredients mentioned in ‘Homemade Cranberry pesto Sauce’ and blend it until it is smooth.
    1 cup Frozen cranberries, 1 cup Fresh Basil leaves, 3 cloves Garlic, ¼ cup Almonds, ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon Black peppercorns, ½ teaspoon Cayenne, ⅓ cup Olive oil, Salt
  • Using a spatula, scrape the sides of the food processor every few seconds to ensure uniform and quick blending.
  • Adjust the salt as per your taste. You can use this immediately or store it in the refrigerator for several weeks in an airtight jar.

Step II

  • Cook the pasta according to package instructions in salted boiling water, drain them and keep this aside.
    1 pound Angel hair, Salt
  • Meanwhile heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan. Add frozen cranberries and saute it for 2 to 3 minutes till it becomes soft. Transfer this to a plate. You will use this for garnish.
    1 ½ tablespoon Olive oil, 3 tablespoon Frozen cranberries
  • To the same pan, add the remaining ½ tablespoon of olive oil and the pesto prepared in Step I and saute it on a medium flame for 2 minutes.
    1 ½ tablespoon Olive oil
  • Next, add the cooked pasta and mix till it is well combined.
  • Cranberry Pesto Pasta is now ready. Garnish it with cranberries, some more grated Parmesan cheese, cilantro or basil leaves, and spring onions, and drizzle olive oil if desired.

Notes

  • If you do not have basil leaves, you can also substitute it with a small bunch of cilantro or coriander leaves.
  • You can switch almonds with pine nuts, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, cashews, roasted sunflower seeds, etc.
  • You can vary the amount of pesto you add to pasta as desired.
  • I have used frozen cranberries. Feel free to use even the fresh cranberries for the recipe. 

Nutrition

Calories: 491kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.002g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 345mg | Potassium: 268mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 345IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 2mg