42 Pomegranate Recipes Worth Making

If you’re a true pomegranate lover, you get pomegranate three ways in this delicious pomegranate smoothie.

It features pomegranate juice, pomegranate molasses, and whole pomegranate seeds.

The pomegranate molasses is a heavenly concentration of pomegranate-infused dark sugar syrup that blends with tart pomegranate juice and frozen blueberries to deliver a delicious and healthy breakfast. 

Check out other great fruits for smoothies!

Pomegranate juice is an expensive commodity, costing over twice as much as orange juice in grocery stores.

You can save yourself the high cost if you’re willing to make a little effort to juice a pomegranate yourself. 

This super-simple recipe is quite fun, requiring you to first mash pomegranate seeds inside a plastic bag.

With this recipe, you now have the means to make the pomegranate smoothie almost from scratch!

Pomegranate molasses is essentially pomegranate reduction. You simply simmer pomegranate juice, sugar, and lemon juice for an hour until it becomes a gorgeous blood-red simple syrup.

I love to drizzle equal amounts of tahini and pomegranate molasses on roasted cauliflower. 

Making jam out of fruit is the best way to enjoy seasonal fruit year-round.

Plus, making jellies, like any compote or reduction, is simple. This three-ingredient recipe combines pomegranate juice, sugar, and pectin in a pot. It yields four jars’ worth of jelly.

Pomegranate jelly is the perfect addition to a PB & J, cream cheese bagel, or any dessert bar.

A delightful and vegan-friendly summer treat, this pomegranate sorbet with dark chocolate curls is a water-based sorbet but still creamy and decadent as can be.

Like the juice, jelly, and molasses recipes I’ve covered, sorbet requires you to create a reduction of pomegranate juice, sweeteners, and water. 

You can either throw the reduction in an ice cream maker or directly into the freezer to stir manually.

This easy, one-pan recipe is a stunning centerpiece for a dinner party.

The key to this recipe’s success is the luscious pomegranate-infused marinade that coats the chicken and reduces it in the oven.

The marinade combines pomegranate molasses, pomegranate juice, citrus, olive oil, and garlic to ensure the chicken is moist, tender, and coated in a sweet-and-sour sauce. 

Some of my favorite fall muffins are orange-cranberry. I consider this pomegranate orange muffin recipe a major upgrade.

Plus, this recipe allows you to substitute butter for applesauce if you’re looking for a healthy start to your morning. 

These muffins infuse oats with orange juice, adding pomegranate seeds and orange zest to the batter for a pop of flavor and texture.

Pomegranate dark chocolate bites are the ultimate luxurious yet healthy dessert for a mid-afternoon or after-dinner treat.

With only three ingredients and five-minute prep time, there’s no excuse not to try this recipe.

It’s a simple double layer of pomegranate seeds and melted dark chocolate with a dash of sea salt to bring out the sweet, bitter, and tangy flavors of chocolate and pomegranate.

Pomegranates are both delicious and visually stunning. Sprinkling pomegranate atop anything instantly makes it more appealing to the eyes and tastebuds.

This easy salad is a true taste of the Mediterranean, featuring mixed greens, rich, tangy feta, pecans, and pomegranate seeds.

The combination of sweet fruit, feta, and pecan covers a complex flavor and texture profile.

This mild salsa recipe will soon be a staple at your dinner table.

It combines pomegranate seeds with red onions, olive oil, herbs, and lemon juice to deliver a tangy, earthy salsa that pairs well with everything from fish to roasted root vegetables. 

I think it tastes especially delicious over roasted butternut squash.

Check out other great salsas to make!

Pomegranates are seasonal fruits, reaching their peak sweetness during the fall and winter months.

Thus, the pomegranate season coincides with the stew season. This comforting recipe combines the two seasonal foods into a sweet and savory masterpiece.

It reduces pomegranate juice and molasses with tomato puree, onions, garlic, and coriander for a Mediterranean-style chicken stew.

Pomegranate cake is an easy recipe that yields a delightfully moist and springy cake with a rich topping of whole pomegranate arils.

The batter is a buttermilk base, adding a bit of tang to the rich flavors of vanilla and almond extract. 

I especially loved the baked pomegranate arils on top that burst open and infused the spongey cake with rich pomegranate juice.

If you’re looking for a challenge, this old-school recipe has you execute various cooking techniques, from deboning a whole chicken to back-and-forth stovetop to oven trips.

It’s worth the effort, yielding an incredibly flavorful roast chicken with an incredible reduction of pomegranate juice, brandy, butter, and chicken stock.

An ode to the Middle East, this excellent pomegranate pilaf is filled with aromatic spices, nuts, and pomegranate arils.

Pilafs are a classic Middle Eastern dish involving frying rice with oil, garlic, onions, and spices before adding water or stock.

This recipe uses saffron, cardamom, cloves, and bay leaves to instill a rich Middle Eastern flavor and bright yellow color.

Another Middle Eastern dish, kibbeh, consists of fried balls of ground lamb or cow meat mixed with rice meal.

It’s a popular dish for both Muslim and Jewish cultures.

This recipe grinds beef and rice together with allspice and garlic into balls, topping the fried balls with pomegranate molasses, pomegranate juice, tamarind, and brown sugar reduction.

Pomegranates are native to India, and this recipe shows how pomegranate pairs just as well with Indian flavors as they do with Middle Eastern flavors.

This sweet and spicy Indian yogurt sauce is a stunning addition to the usual chutneys and curries.

It combines tangy yogurt with pomegranate juice, cilantro, Indian spices, and fresh green chiles for a complex, showstopping sauce.

There’s no easier recipe than this pomegranate compote.

It’s just a matter of throwing sugar, pomegranate seeds, and a dash of orange juice into a pot and boiling it for a few minutes.

You can pour hot compote over vanilla ice cream or waffles, then refrigerate the rest to use over plain yogurt for breakfast on the go. 

There’s nothing more elegant than a souffle, and this pomegranate souffle adds a beautiful pop of purple.

Combining pomegranate juice with corn flour and sugar for the paste, this souffle is gluten-free and perfectly airy.

The combination of corn and pomegranate is ingenious, adding a savory element to the sweet tartness of the pomegranate.

Another gluten-free dish, this apple-pomegranate breakfast crumble feels like eating dessert for breakfast!

This crumble combines tart apples and pomegranate arils with honey, lemon juice, and cinnamon for the filling.

Instead of using grain flour and oats for the crumble, this recipe uses almond flour, nuts, and shredded coconut. It tastes delicious over coconut yogurt. 

This pomegranate martini is the perfect cocktail for your next dinner party and is as classy as they come.

It combines pomegranate juice with citrus vodka, citrus juice, and Cointreau.

With all the citrus, you’ll barely taste the alcohol. This is a sweet, tart, and refreshing martini that pairs well with fish. 

Check out other delicious martinis!

This skillet honey pomegranate chicken thigh recipe is an easy meal to whip up with an impressive flavor profile.

Using shallots and garlic to fry in the cooked chicken juices before adding the pomegranate sauce is key to adding a savory element to the tart and sweet sauce.

This super-fresh, vegan couscous salad uses larger-grained pearl couscous with a 50/50 ratio of couscous to chopped fresh herbs and scallions.

The hearty sprinkle of pomegranate arils and toasted pistachios add a nice crunch to the mix. 

The ginger and lemon olive oil dressing pairs perfectly with the pomegranate. 

These chewy, decadent cookies combine lemon, pomegranate, and white chocolate for a unique and zesty batch to serve as stocking stuffers.

These lemon cookies have whole pomegranate arils and white chocolate chips strewn throughout, plus a drizzle of white chocolate when they’re fresh out of the oven.

They taste great with hot milk or tea.

Clearly, there’s no shortage of pomegranate and chicken recipes! However, this one stands out by making a vinegar, rosemary, and pomegranate glaze in which to smother pan-fried chicken.

The combination of balsamic vinegar and pomegranate makes for an intensely sour and sweet glaze with a rosemary finish.

There’s no better taste of fall than this skillet-baked chicken dish. 

Margaritas are already a zesty, tart, and sweet cocktail. Adding pomegranate just enhances its zest and turns it into a beautiful deep red.

You simply add fresh pomegranate juice to the classic lime juice, triple sec, and tequila ingredients in a classic margarita.

I think the use of silver tequila adds a nice alcoholic bite to cut through the tart sweetness.

Similar to the feta and pomegranate salad recipe on my list, this sweet potato pomegranate salad is a heartier salad that can easily be the main course meal.

Combining sweet and pillowy chunks of sweet potatoes, feta, pumpkin seeds, and pomegranate arils, this recipe has a trifecta of tangy, sweet, and nutty.

Pomegranates might just replace strawberries as my favorite cheesecake topping!

Pomegranate is significantly more tart than strawberries, but this creamy cheesecake has an intensely sweet brown sugar cookie crust to even everything out.

This recipe is the perfect Christmas dessert table centerpiece, with a gorgeous magenta glaze adorned with whole pomegranate arils. 

This simple cucumber pomegranate salad is refreshing, crunchy, and highly nutritious.

No need to wash and chop a bunch of lettuce. Just substitute lettuce for hefty cucumber chunks, toss in feta, scallions, and pomegranate, then drizzle with acid and olive oil. 

I like to add kalamata olives and roughly chopped red bell pepper to make it into a bonafide Greek salad with a pop of sweetness.

This recipe was an eyebrow-raiser, but curiosity overrode skepticism. You’ll be glad you gave this one a try, trust me! 

This recipe is the height of gourmet grilled cheeses. It combines sharp white cheddar, horseradish, pomegranate balsamic glaze, and bacon.

Bacon and cheddar grilled cheese were enough to convince me to try this, but the pomegranate glaze took it to the next level. 

This impressive recipe is beautiful and very easy. It gives you every opportunity to take shortcuts, like using store-bought pie crusts and jam. 

Instead of pomegranate jam, this recipe mixes pomegranate arils into bubbling cranberry jam to create a thick tart topping to cover a sweet cream cheese custard.

Cobbler is the marriage of pie and pastry.

It creates a pie filling, over which you dollop rich pastry batter that creates a crispy yet chewy layer that soaks up the filling’s juices.

Rhubarb and pomegranate make a rich, tart, and sweet filling with a nice texture in this recipe. Vanilla ice cream is a must!

I’m always looking for new toast toppers, and this pomegranate-almond toast makes for a healthy and hearty snack or breakfast.

It tops thick slices of whole-grain toast with creamy almond butter, pomegranates, pepitas, and honey.

It’s the new take on the classic peanut butter, banana, and honey toast.

Pomegranates may be a Mediterranean treat, but they’ve found their place in Mexican cuisine all the same.

Plus, Mexican flavors like lime juice, red onion, and cilantro overlap with Middle Eastern ingredients.

This classic guacamole recipe gets a burst of sweetness with a sprinkle of pomegranate arils that complement the spicy jalapeno and make it a Christmas-worthy dip.

This delicious fall recipe makes two super moist, dense loaves of breakfast bread to serve at your next Christmas brunch.

It has all the fall spices, from cloves to cinnamon to nutmeg. Spices combine beautifully with the sweet and tart chunks of fresh apples and pomegranate arils sprinkled throughout the batter. 

Another Christmas-inspired recipe, this parfait is almost too beautiful to eat.

It’s also the perfect visual expression of Christmas cheer, stacking layers of red pomegranate seeds, green pumpkin seeds, golden granola, and white Greek yogurt in a teardrop-shaped glass.

Not only does it look beautiful, but it tastes as cheerful and bright as Christmas morning.

Middle Eastern cuisine is known for its wide array of mezze, featuring numerous rich dips.

Hummus and baba ghanoush may be the most well-known, but Muhammara is my personal favorite.

Muhammara is a Middle Eastern dip comprised of walnuts, roasted red pepper, pomegranate molasses, and chili paste blended into a deep red cream. 

A veritable rainbow salad, this highly nutritious warm salad is the epitome of the fall harvest.

Parsnips are slightly more bitter carrot that tastes sweeter and starchier when roasted. 

This kale salad adds roasted parsnips and pomegranate to raw kale, softened by letting it sit in a zesty vinaigrette.

The texture of this salad is what makes it incredibly delicious, in my opinion. 

Another root vegetable salad, this sweet and savory salad features sweet potato and butternut squash roasted in a cinnamon maple glaze.

It’s topped with homemade sweet and spicy pecans, made by roasting them in cayenne, cinnamon, and sugar-infused coconut oil.

Pomegranate comes into play as a dressing, using tart pomegranate molasses to cut the sweetness.

This super rich, gorgeous tart has only a handful of ingredients that you assemble in a pie pan. It’s a vegan recipe, using a combination of dates and walnuts for the crust.

The rich chocolate fudge is a mixture of cocoa powder, coconut oil, and maple syrup that thickens into a creamy yet firm filling that gets a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds for color and tang. 

If you’re tired of orange juice, try this fall-flavored mimosa, combining pomegranate juice and champagne for a refreshing brunch cocktail.

I love the presentation of this cocktail, with pomegranate arils and a whole rosemary sprig to top each champagne fluke, simulating a branch of holly. 

I love including pomegranate juice at my mimosa bar!

Caramels are a chewy, buttery, sweet treat that our grandparents seem to have in endless supply. Making caramels is an art that requires patience and timing.

This is definitely not a recipe for amateur pastry chefs, but it will make a candy that both kids and adults will swoon over.

It adds pomegranate juice to the typical caramel recipe, adding a pink color and a tart finish to the creamy sweetness.

This perfectly balanced, sweet, tangy, bright pink vinaigrette will be your go-to dressing for all winter salads.

Combining olive oil, mustard, white balsamic, and olive oil with pomegranate seeds in a blender yields a festive take on the classic.

I like to drizzle this over a French lentil salad with roasted brussels sprouts, butternut squash, beets, and rutabaga.