Strawberry Pretzel Salad is always a hit at parties. It’s dangerously good! The combination of sweet, salty and tart make it irresistible. This layered strawberry pretzel dessert is loved by adults and kids.
Jello recipes are the perfect potluck dessert because they keep well and are easy to make which is why this Strawberry Pretzel salad is so popular during the holidays. Our jello cake and classic raspberry pretzel jello are also reader favorites this time of year.
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Why is it Called “Pretzel Salad”?
There is a massive debate on Facebook as to why this is called a “salad” and it really is a passionate debate (very entertaining to read). can a pretzel jello salad be a salad? I just want to put it out there that I did NOT name this dish. So, what do you think: Salad? or Dessert?
Can I Substitute Cool Whip?
Cool Whip provides the best results because it doesn’t soften the pretzels and keeps better overnight. You may substitute with more natural version like “True Whip“.
If using whipped cream (by beating 1 cup heavy whipping cream until stiff and fluffy) and although this substitution tastes good, it softens the pretzel crust so the crust isn’t as crisp. If using whipped cream, add 2/3 cup sugar to the cream cheese to reach the same sweetness and refrigerate the cream portion for 45 minutes for it to set better.
What Kind of Pretzels are Best for Pretzel Jello?
Use small, SALTED pretzels (either sticks or traditional pretzel twists). Salted hard pretzels add the salty element which is surprising but so good. Smaller pretzels are easier to crush and measure.
Tips for Strawberry Pretzel Salad:
- Dissolve the jello according to recipe instructions (NOT package instructions)
- Use softened cream cheese and thaw cool whip in the refrigerator
- Measure 2 1/2 cups of whole pretzels
- Spread cream portion all the way to the edges for a tight seal before adding jello
- Pour room temperature jello gently over the top to prevent cracks in the cream layer
Watch How to Make Strawberry Pretzel Salad:
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Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Ingredients
- 6 oz strawberry Jell-O
- 2 cups boiling water
- 2 1/2 cups salted pretzels, (measured before crushing)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 8 oz cool whip, thawed in the fridge
- 1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Combine strawberry Jell-O with 2 cups boiling water and stir until completely dissolved. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Crush 2 1/2 cups pretzels in a sturdy ziploc bag, using a rolling pin.
- In a medium sauce pan, melt 8 Tbsp butter then add 1/4 cup sugar and stir. Mix in crushed pretzels. Transfer to a 13x9 glass casserole dish, pressing the pretzel mix evenly over the bottom of the dish and bake for 10 min at 350°F, then cool to room temp.
- When pretzels have cooled, use an electric hand mixer to beat 8 oz cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar on med/high speed until fluffy and white. Fold in 8 oz Cool Whip until no streaks of cream cheese remain. Spread mixture over cooled pretzels, spreading to the edges of the dish to create a tight seal. Refrigerate 30 min.
- Hull and slice 1 lb strawberries then stir into your room temperature jello. Pour and spread strawberry jello mixture evenly over your cooled cream cheese layer and refrigerate until jello is set (2-4 hours).
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Tools We Used for this Strawberry Pretzel Jello (affiliate links):
2 Quart Ovenproof Glass Batter Bowl
Glass baking dish
Breville Stainless Steel Electric Kettle
Glass mixing bowl
Stainless Steel Saucepan
Le Creuset Silicone Spatula
Wusthof Classic Ikon 6-inch Utility Knife
OXO Good Grips Nylon Flexible Turner
I hope this pretzel ‘salad’ becomes a new favorite for you! If you have a suggestion for something you want to see on our blog, I’d love to hear about it in a comment below.
Where do I find that much jello? My box is only a small packet..I would need about 16 boxes lol
Hi Rita, you may try online or at the grocery stores.
Rita, 3 oz is one small regular size box, the family size one is 6oz. If you can’t find the bigger box just use 2 smaller ones to get the 6 oz needed for the recipe 🙂
As an edit to my earlier comment, don’t set the jello in the fridge before pouring on the crust lol I added frozen strawberries to the jello & set it in the fridge for 10 min & it was almost completely set before I poured it on the crust (oops!) Just follow the recipe exactly.
Thanks Natasha for the tip about putting equal scoops of the cream cheese mixture over the crust before spreading it. That really helps! After spreading it I did put that in the fridge for about 15 min (along with the separate bowl of jello) before pouring the jello on. Delicious Easter dessert 😁
Hi Lisa, you’re welcome and thanks for following the recipe. Glad you enjoyed it!
I love this recipe and whenever I make it my guests rave about it. I change the crust a bit by adding a 1/2 cup roasted and salted pecans and decrease pretzels by about 1/2 cup. I may have commented in this site previously and if so I apologize for the duplication. The pecans give it a great nutty flavor.
No worries and thank you for sharing that with us! We always appreciate some suggestions and feedback about our recipes.
Omg, I can’t express how delicious this is! I’ve added some vanilla to the cream cheese batter and a clear gelatine… So good! My only concern is how to make the pretzel layer more firm? It was crumbling so much…
Hi Iva! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! It sounds like maybe the pretzels weren’t crushed enough to form a good crust. I suggest watching the video tutorial to see where things looked different from my process.
I made this 2 days ago for our Easter feast, which was today. We have several people in the family who have food allergies and diabetes. I used gluten free pretzels, and they stayed very crisp, though I made the salad 2 days ago. I also used Splenda in place of the sugar, and sugar free strawberry jello. It was fabulous!! Everyone loved the salad!
Hi Kay, thank you for sharing those substitutions with us. I’m so glad this recipe was enjoyed.
I’ve made this & going to make it for Easter in 3 days. I have sprayed the dish & the pretzels always stuck to the dish so bad, so I am not going to spray or butter the dish this time. Is that what you recommend, not spraying the dish?
Hi Lura, I haven’t had an issue with sticking with using a glass pan. I suggest watching the video tutorial to see where things looked different from my process. The butter used for the crust is usually enough, I don’t spray or butter my pan.
my husband and I enjoy watching your videos, your just a doll! 😛
Thanks to you both, Cindy for always watching! I hope you’ll both love all the recipes that you will try.
Love your videos and recipes. Gonna make the jello pretzel salad for Easter. Yummy.
Sounds like a great plan, Diane. I hope it becomes your new favorite!
Hi Natasha…can I substitute the granulated sugar with powdered sugar n mix with cream cheese?
Hi Eugene, I have not tried that to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
Hi Eugene, You can substitute granulated sugar with SPLENDA for baking. I’m diabetic and use a lot, and everything comes good, you don’t even know the different.
Just made this. I added marshmallow fluff to the sweetened cream cheese and then folded in the cool whip! That was the one thing missing! Oh my I can’t wait to enjoy this later!
Sounds AMAZING! Thank you, Kris. Enjoy.
Making this again for Father’s Day dessert! My husband absolutely loves this dessert and it’s perfect for a Summer holiday! 🙂
Sounds like a plan! It is indeed perfect for the summer holidays and other occasions.
Hi I made this dessert. But the cream filling was very soft, so why did that happen?
Hi Rose, I would love to help troubleshoot. Did you use any substitutions to cool whip? Cool Whip provides the best results because it doesn’t soften the pretzels and keeps better overnight. If you made your own by using whipped cream, add 2/3 cup sugar to the cream cheese to reach the same sweetness and refrigerate the cream portion for 45 minutes for it to set better. The cream cheese should not overly soft. You don’t need to leave it out more than 1hr before using it. Also, ensure your jello has cooled to room temp before adding it on top of the cream. I hope this helps.
Can I make this the night before and refrigerate…as the meal prep for this dessert takes quite a while….?
Hi Diane, this recipe does keep well in the fridge overnight.
Can any parts be done day before? Like i can cut berries and get pretzels crushed before hand. Any other tips on prepping? Need for sunday.
Hi Becky, I usually like to make this the night before or max 2 days before so the strawberries stay fresh. You could crush pretzels beforehand but thats about it. The berries you’d want to wait to cut until you are ready to use.
Could this be made with sugar and a sugar free gelatin, and lite cool whip…. (For diabetics)
Hi Cindy, I haven’t tried it that way but a couple of my readers have reported good results with sugar-free jello, sugar-free cool whip, and sugar substitute. I can’t really recommend it or tell you how much to substitute without testing it myself. I hope you enjoy it if you try sugar-free 🙂
I made this according to your directions but the jello was rubbery. I was disappointed.
Hi Nat, I recommend watching the video to see if anything was done differently in the preparation – any substitutions made possibly?
Love this strawberry recipe. Has anyone ever tried it with blueberries?
Hi Mary, one of our other readers said this, “I added some blueberries too, just about a 1/4 cup. This in addition to the amount of strawberries the recipe called for. It was a very pretty and yummy dessert!”
I hope that helps.
Hello,
In my country we dont have ‘cool whip’, what can i make instead?
Maybe heavy cream with sugar?
Or philedelpia cheese ith sugar?..
Thank you
Hi Hadari, please see this note in the recipe: “Can I Substitute Cool Whip?”
Hi, I have a question about using whipping cream instead of cool whip. So it says when using whipping cream, to add 2/3 cup of sugar to the cream cheese. Is that on top of the 1/2 cup of sugar or would it be 2/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup?
Hi Lydia, this is in addition to. Cool whip is already sweetened, so if you are making your own whipping cream, you need this addition to reach the same sweetness.
I really loved Olive Gardens Mediterranean Chicken but they discontinued it A few years ago, and I’ve been looking for a recipe for it every since!!!! Please if anyone has a recipe for it I would really appreciate receiving it. Thank-you so much
Hi Sherry, I don’t have a recipe for that yet but thanks for the idea and suggestion. I’ll try to add that to our list.
You could also ask if a fruit salad is fruit or a salad, but I for one don’t give it much thought as long as it is good, I don’t eat a lot of sweets but this sounds good. I think the definition of salad is different products put together so the flavors are mixed together no matter if there loosely together or stacked
I just made the recipe last night. It is delicious although I might try to cut out the sugar in the pretzels next time.
I probably know the answer to this already but can leftovers be frozen?
Hi Noreen, I’m glad you enjoyed that. You may try a substitute in place of sugar, the sugar in the pretzel crust holds the pretzels together, almost like a “glue”. I haven’t tried freezing this recipe, but I suspect it is not freezer-friendly.
Hi Natasha! I saw what i did wrong…..I used 2and 1/2 cups of crushed pretzels instead of 2and 1/2 cups pretzels BEFORE crushing it was just too much. Thank you for the timely response. I’ll give it another whirl!
I hope you try it again soon!