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Strawberry Pretzel Jello Salad is a classic retro recipe! A pretzel crust with a sweet creamy layer over it, and a third layer that has fresh strawberries suspended in strawberry jello! It’s rich, delicious, and this strawberry jello salad recipe will feed a crowd! Our favorite strawberry dessert recipe!
The Best Strawberry Dessert
Back in the day, no potluck was complete without this favorite Strawberry Jello Salad with the crispy, slightly salty pretzel crust!
It was like some unspoken potluck rule that it had to be present (of course, because it is delicious!).
This recipe is really more of a dessert. Calling it a salad is a stretch! It seems that jello with any kind of fruit or veggie floating in it can be called a salad. That’s fine with me. They had me at jello!
Is Strawberry Jello Salad Sweet?
I made a few changes to the original recipe that my Nana made. The first being less sugar. In fact, I cut the sugar in half. It just doesn’t need that much. Unless your sweet tooth is raging!
Can I Use Frozen Strawberries?
I use fresh strawberries, but you can use the sliced frozen kind (like the original recipe), but be sure to get unsweetened. You’ll add a little sugar to them, and they will be so much better than the already sweetened kind.
There are like 3 million jello salad recipes. Maybe 3 million and one, I’m not sure. But there are a lot! I like most of them. The lime flavored one with celery in it is not on my like list. But the carrot-orange one is!
Can I Make This Quickly?
• This Strawberry Pretzel Jello Salad recipe has a few steps, and needs to chill, so I don’t advise starting to make this an hour before you need to bring it somewhere!
• You will need a good two hours or so, maybe a little more to be sure it gets fully chilled.
I have laid out the steps in order on the recipe card, but here is a brief rundown. With the steps broken up, it is much easier to follow along and have a successful jello salad recipe.
The steps to make Strawberry Pretzel Jello Salad
- Make the pretzel crust, bake it, and let it cool.
- Make the cream cheese filling, layer it over the cooled crust, and chill it in the fridge.
- Make the strawberry jello, then mix in the strawberries. Let it cool.
- Pour the strawberry topping over the cream cheese layer and pop the jello salad into the fridge until it sets and chills (and you can chill now!).
There is also prep work involved such as crushing the pretzels, and slicing the strawberries (unless you bought the sliced frozen kind). It is a fun recipe to make, especially crushing the pretzels!
The resulting Strawberry Jello Salad is beautiful, and delicious. Worthy of any potluck, and will give the other jello salads a run for their money!
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If you make this delicious Strawberry Jello Salad recipe, please leave a comment below with a star rating. I would love to know how you liked it!
Strawberry Pretzel Jello Salad
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 ½ cups Crushed Pretzels (leave some small chunks)
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar
- ¾ cup Unsalted Butter, melted
Filling
- 8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup Sugar
- 2 cups Whipped Cream Topping (like Cool Whip®)
Gelatin Topping
- 2 (16 oz) bags Frozen Unsweetened Sliced Strawberries (or 2 pounds of fresh, sliced)
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 2 (3 oz) packages Strawberry Gelatin
- 2 cups Boiling Water
Instructions
Make Crust
- Heat oven to 350° F.
- Add the crushed pretzels, sugar, and melted butter to a bowl and stir well to combine.2 ½ cups Crushed Pretzels, ¾ cup Unsalted Butter,, 3 Tablespoons Sugar
- Add the pretzel mixture to a 9"x13" baking dish and spread in an even layer across the bottom. Press the crust down into the pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
Make the Filling
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until combined.8 oz Cream Cheese,, ½ cup Sugar
- Add the whipped cream topping and mix well.2 cups Whipped Cream Topping
- Spread in an even layer over the cooled pretzel crust. Be sure to cover entire crust to the sides to prevent the gelatin from seeping into the crust.
- Chill in the fridge while making the jello topping.
Make the Jello Topping
- Add strawberries to a bowl and add 1 Tablespoon of sugar to them and mix well. Set aside.2 (16 oz) bags Frozen Unsweetened Sliced Strawberries, 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- Dissolve both boxes of jello in 2 cups of boiling water.2 (3 oz) packages Strawberry Gelatin, 2 cups Boiling Water
- Add the strawberries to the gelatin and stir.
Chill
- Place in the fridge to chill, but not long enough to set. Check on it often so you can catch it before it sets. It can be a little thickened, but you just want it cold enough so it doesn't melt the cream cheese layer.
- Pour the chilled strawberry topping over the cream cheese layer evenly.
- Put back in the fridge and chill until set.
- Cut into squares and serve with a dollop of whipped cream topping.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was so good! I made it for our yearly family picnic and it was completely gone by the end! Several people wanted the recipe. Can’t wait to make it again!
This is an amazing dessert, I mean salad – we can go with salad 🙂 Love the combination of the salty and the sweet!