I’m very thankful this time of year….for a lot of things! Not the least of which is this website! It fills a creative need, helps support my family, AND serves as my personal recipe “book” for all my family favorites! :-) Last week as I was making food assignments to my family for Thanksgiving dinner, it occurred to me that one of our FF’s (family favorites) wasn’t on the website yet!
This is actually a fairly recent addition to our family’s Thanksgiving dinner, introduced to us by my sister-in-law Marianne. We all loved it so much it has become a permanent fixture to the menu! Imagine sweet, slightly tart, salty, crunchy, and creamy all in one dish, and you have Raspberry Pretzel Jello Salad!
So today, for MY benefit, as well as yours, I present one of our family’s Thanksgiving dinner faves!
Raspberry Pretzel Jello
Ingredients
- 10 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 (12 oz) packages frozen raspberries, thawed
- 2 cups crushed pretzels (you should still be able to tell that they are pretzels)
- 5 oz butter (one stick + 1/2 of a stick), melted
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups Cool Whip (a little less than one container)
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 (6 oz) package and 1 (3 oz) package raspberry jello
Directions
Mix together crushed pretzels, melted butter and granulated sugar.
Spread the mixture into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes at 350. Let cool completely.
Mix Cool Whip, powdered sugar, and cream cheese with a stand or hand mixer. It should be nice and smooth with a similar consistency to frosting.
Spread over the pretzel crust. Try to spread it so that the sides are covered with the cream layer. This will seal the pretzel crust so you won’t have any jello leaking into the pretzels. Store in the fridge while you work on the jello layer.
Dissolve the 6 0z package of jello plus 1/2 the 3 oz package in 2 1/2 cups boiling water. Stir in the raspberries.
Let the mixture chill in the fridge until it just starts to set. Spread over the cream cheese layer. Let chill until completely set.
Grab a fork, spoon, or whatever is handy because as soon as this is served you are going to want to dig in!
Enjoy!
RASPBERRY PRETZEL JELLO SALAD
Ingredients
- 10 oz Cream cheese softened
- 12 oz Frozen raspberries thawed
- 2 cups pretzels crushed
- 5 oz butter melted
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups Cool Whip
- 1 1/4 cup Powdered sugar
- 9 oz Raspberry jello
Instructions
- Mix together crushed pretzels, melted butter and granulated sugar.
- Spread the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes at 350. Let cool completely.
- Mix Cool Whip, powdered sugar, and cream cheese with a stand or hand mixer. It should be nice and smooth with a similar consistency to frosting.
- Spread over the pretzel crust. Try to spread it so that the sides are covered with the cream layer. This will seal the pretzel crust so you won't have any jello leaking into the pretzels. Store in the fridge while you work on the jello layer.
- Dissolve the 6 0z package of jello plus 1/2 the 3 oz package in 2 1/2 cups boiling water. Stir in the raspberries.
- Let the mixture chill in the fridge until it just starts to set. Spread over the cream cheese layer. Let chill until completely set.
I do the reverse order too–Jello layer, cream cheese layer–then the pretzel layer as I serve it. It makes so much and if you put the pretzels on the bottom, they get soggy. So, I add the pretzel layer only on as much as I serve and save the rest for leftovers.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi~ Just wondering if butter amount can be explained. Recipe calls for five ounces of butter melted. Then it says one stick (4 oz.) and 1/2 stick (2 oz.) So, do we melt 6 oz. of butter or should it be one stick plus 1/4 of a stick?Thanks for all your great recipes.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oops! I hadn’t even noticed! I would go with 6 oz, or 1 and 1/2 sticks :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I make this for Holiday’s once or twice a year. I get the mixed frozen berries and add to the Red Raspberry Jello.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Do cut up the Strawberries as they seem to be quite large in the salad otherwise! Enjoy…
I make this with a red jello and red fruit for Christmas, but for Thanksgiving I use orange jello with canned crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love this! This is “my kind” of sweet :) I think I’ll try this with frozen blueberries because I have that in my freezer! Sweet / salty / tart – that’s exactly the type of flavours I love!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Had this for the first time over 25 years ago at a bunco party and LOVED it (had strawberries) I’ve made it with blueberries and was it GOOD you just need to change out the flavor of the jello to match the fruit you’re using. I’m going to try it with fresh cranberries this year………………….HAVE AN AWESOME AND BLESSED THANKSGIVING TO YOU, YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR READERS……………….
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sounds delicious! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I was thinking about cranberries too. Also, I’ll have to swap out the cool whip–maybe for Greek yogurt. No pretzels here either–what of Ritz crackers instead? With all that changing I think I’ll not experiment with this for Thanksgiving–but maybe by New Year’s.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Anyway, sounds worthy of trying, DH loves anything Jello.
Thanks & Happy Thanksgiving to all.
If the issue with Cool Whip is simply getting it (I’ve never heard of it here in New Zealand and had to find out what it was), do an internet search for home-made versions. You can create something very similar fairly easily if thick yoghurt isn’t quite the taste you’re going for.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Let me know how it goes! I’m excited to hear about some variations on the recipe :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Not sure if Ive had the raspberry version,but the strawberry recipe for this is yummy.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This salad is good made with strawberries too. I also like to reverse the order–jellow and fruit first and let set, then add the cream cheese mixture and sprinkle the pretzel mix on top.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.wow! This looks great! Thanks so much! Happy Thanksgiving!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Because now it is the time to get fresh cranberries, could I use them?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Has anybody tried that? It looks like there is more than enough sweetness in that recipe.
It is very sweet, the cranberries might balance it out with some tart flavor. Give it a try and let us know how it goes :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This is great salad! I love it. My mom and the other Church Ladies Aid and Homemakers Club ladies in the upper mid west were making this salad back in the 50s….only it was made with frozen strawberries. I just saw it reintroduced on Cooks Country or Americas Test Kitchen TV recently.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This sounds delicious and old-fashioned in a very good way. It reminds me of some recipes my grandmother used to make for holidays, and I can’t wait to try it.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have had this but made with strawberries instead of raspberries. Yum Yum!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Can you make this in the morning or the day before and leave it in the fridge??
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I make this for Thanksgiving family favorite also. It is delicious. However if you make it the night before the crunchy pretzel crust tends to go soft. Which is ok if you have it as a leftover but I wouldn’t want to serve it as a first run premiere dish after setting any longer than 4 – 8 hours. Just my opinion. Happy Thanksgiving! :)
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