Recipe for Strawberry Pretzel Salad

a close up shot of Strawberry Pretzel Jello Dessert Salad on plate with a bite taken out of it

5 from 10 votes

A simple pretzel crust is topped with a sweetened cream cheese and Cool Whip middle layer and then finished off with a strawberry jello layer for this delicious dish.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Chill Time2

Total Time2 25

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: strawberry pretzel Salad, strawberry pretzel salad recipe

Servings:

Calories: 471kcal

Ingredients

2½ cups crushed pretzels (You’ll need five cups of whole pretzels. After you crush them, you’ll have about two and a half cups.)
1½ cups sugar, divided in half
¾ cup butter, melted
12 ounces cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla
12 ounces Cool Whip
6 ounces strawberry gelatin (2 packages)
2 cups boiling water
2 cups cold water
3 to 4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly butter the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan.
In a medium bowl, combine crushed pretzels, ¾ cup sugar, and melted butter. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. (You can crush pretzels by putting them in a Ziploc bag and using a rolling pin, wooden spoon, or your hands to crush them.)
Bake the pretzel base for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, the remaining ¾ cup of sugar, and the vanilla until well combined. Next, carefully fold in the Cool Whip.
Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the pretzel crust. When adding the cream cheese mixture to the pan, make sure that it goes all the way to the edges. This creates a barrier to prevent the jello from seeping down into the pretzel base and making it soggy.
In a medium bowl, dissolve the jello in two cups of boiling water. Once it is completely dissolved, add two cups of ice water and stir. Stir in the sliced strawberries. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or until the jello is just starting to thicken but has not yet set.
Carefully pour the strawberry jello over the cream cheese layer. Cover and refrigerate for two hours or until the jello is set. Slice into squares to serve.

Video

Notes

Be sure to crush the pretzels very well to make sure there aren't any large pieces of pretzels. If you would like, you can use a food processor to crush them.
When making the jello, don’t leave it in the fridge for too long. If it sets too much, it will have chunks and won’t pour evenly. If you just can’t get enough of jello, you can add an extra 3-ounce box of gelatin and an extra two cups of water.
If the Cool Whip is your favorite ingredient in this dessert, you can add a little more on top of each serving.

Nutrition