Homemade Christmas Cranberry Mincemeat
This fresh Cranberry Mincemeat bursts with festive flavours and is a more modern twist on a classic Christmas staple. Made with vibrant cranberries, warm spices, and a medley of dried fruits, it’s entirely nut-free, vegan, and suet-free—perfect for everyone to enjoy. Whether you’re filling mince pies, stirring into bakes, or gifting in jars, this versatile recipe will become your new go-to modern mincemeat.
Servings: 60 servings
Calories: 63kcal
Ingredients
- 500 g fresh cranberries
- 300 g dark brown sugar
- 250 g gluten-free pale ale
- 1 bramley apple - peeled and grated
- 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 275 g currants
- 200 g raisins
- 100 g dried cranberries
- 100 g soft prunes - stoned and finely diced so it almost forms a paste
- 2 dessert apples - peeled cored and diced small
- 30 g brandy
- 100 g Cointreau
Instructions
- Pour the fresh cranberries, sugar, ale, bramley apple, lemon juice and zest and all the spices into a large saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes until some of the cranberries start to break down.
- Add the dried fruits and the diced dessert apples to the rest of the mincemeat mixture and bring the heat back up to a gentle boil, then simmer for a further 10 minutes, stirring every so often.
- Remove from the heat then finally stir through the brandy and Cointreau.
- Decant into sterilised jars and store in the fridge until ready to use or use straightaway.
Notes
- Yield 1500g.
- You can use this mincemeat straightaway for your mince pies. Or you can store in clean sterilised jars and keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks.
- Top tip - when you're heating up your fresh cranberries try not to break them up too much - you want to keep as many of them whole as you can.
- Sterlising the jars: Place very clean jars you would like to use in an oven pre-heated to 160°C / 140°C fan assisted / gas mark 3 / 320°F for 20 minutes. You can sterlise the lids this way too, however if the lids are not glass then a better way is to sterilise the lids by dropping them into a saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes with a splash of vinegar.
- Ingredient measurements. Please note when you see ‘grams’ listed as opposed to ‘millilitres,’ or any other term of measurement, that is not incorrect. I weigh all of my ingredients, including liquids, for accuracy.
These US measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups Nutrition information Please note that the nutrition information provided below is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use. Please seek a professional nutritionist’s advice for further clarification. The nutrition serving is for 2 teaspoons mincemeat which is about how much you need to fill a regular mince pie.
Nutrition
Calories: 63kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 99mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 25IU | Vitamin C: 1.8mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 0.3mg