This Cranberry Baked Brie is an EASY, 20-minute, sweet and savory holiday appetizer! It’s gooey, melted brie cheese topped with cranberry sauce, rosemary, honey, walnuts, and flaky sea salt. Baked brie only takes minutes to prep, and you can use homemade or store-bought cranberry sauce. Win-win!

“This is just excellent! A delicious, easy and impressive appetizer! Thank you!” – Melissa, So Much Food reader

This Baked Brie with Cranberry Is the Easiest Holiday Appetizer Ever

Entertaining is a ton of work. I love it, but it’s not the easiest thing to facilitate a holiday party, so I always turn to some home runs that I know will be crowd pleasers. If a dish is easy and quick to throw together, all the better — and that’s why this cranberry baked brie is at the top of our “must make” list for our annual holiday parties!

The whole recipe for baked brie with cranberry and walnuts only takes 20 minutes to throw together and that’s WITH the homemade cranberry sauce. Just whip up the cranberry sauce, top the brie, and bake for 8-10 minutes until the brie is soft and gooey. Serve with crackers and let the holiday festivities begin!

Sweet and tart cranberry sauce is just the perfect pairing with the creamy and melty brie. The rosemary and walnuts add crunch and flavor and the drizzle of honey really rounds out the flavors.

This is an easy and yummy appetizer for your Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year Eve parties!

Tools Needed

• Small Saucepan
• Small Baking Sheet
• Sharp Knife
• Cheese Board
• Cheese Knives

The 6 Main Ingredients

• Brie. I used an 8 oz round here. Opt for high quality double or triple creme brie for the richest and creamiest texture.
• Cranberry sauce. I’ve shared my go-to cranberry sauce recipe in the recipe card below. It’s essentially a scaled down version of my classic cranberry sauce, so you’ll have just enough for this holiday baked brie.
• Rosemary. A bit of fresh rosemary makes for a lovely presentation.
• Walnuts. Toasted walnuts add the perfect amount of crunch and texture to the baked brie. Feel free to swap with pecans if you’ve got those on hand.
• Honey. A drizzle of honey after the brie is baked is absolute perfection.
• Flaky sea salt. Top the brie with a bit of flaky sea salt after baking.

How to Make Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce

1. Make the cranberry sauce. Don’t panic! All you have to do is add everything to a saucepan, simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, then let cool. That’s it!
2. Score the brie. Take care to only go 1/8 inch deep when cutting the top of the brie. You want to encourage melting, not make the wheel fall apart.
3. Top and bake. Top the brie with HALF of the cranberry sauce and bake at 400ºF until gooey.
4. Top and serve. Layer on more sweet and savory goodness by sprinkling the brie with chopped walnuts, adding a few rosemary leaves, drizzling with honey, and adding a dash of flaky sea salt. I prefer serving the rest of the cranberry sauce on the side so folks can make their brie as saucy as they like.

Jenny’s Tip: Once the brie is soft and gooey, it’s really difficult to move. Bake the brie on a piece of parchment and transfer the parchment with the brie straight to the serving board. Easy peasy!

If you do give this recipe a try, I love hearing about it! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram.

More Easy Holiday Appetizers You’ll Love

• Roasted Shrimp Cocktail
• My Mom’s Classic Cheese Ball
• Smoked Salmon Dip
• Caramelized Onion Dip
• Beef Stroganoff Meatballs

This post contains affiliate links from which I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links allow me to keep providing great recipes for free and I never recommend products that I don’t love and personally own.