Raspberry Jello Pretzel Salad – One of my favorite jello salad recipes! The cream cheese mixture and salted pretzel crust mixed with the raspberry jello is the perfect combo. A little sweet, a little salty and a LOT of deliciousness!
This raspberry pretzel salad is always requested by my family during the holidays. It’s so easy, delicious and flavorful. My family also requests razzleberry pie, pomegranate jello and banana cream pie.
Pretzel jello salad
My family can’t get enough of this pretzel salad! When my mom announced “The salad is on the table” at our Christmas dinner, we definitely were not expecting this type of salad. Now THIS is my kind of salad!
Raspberries, cream cheese, cool whip and pretzels. WOW! This raspberry pretzel salad is so delicious and definitely needs to be on your menu for the holidays! The pretzels are the perfect addition and the sweet and salty combo makes this jello pretzel dessert irresistible.
I sometimes also like to use strawberries to make it a strawberry pretzel salad. All you need to do is substitute the raspberry jello for strawberry jello and add diced strawberries in place of raspberries. You can make this jello pretzel dessert any time of year and mix up the fruits. In the summer, I love to use mandarin oranges and make little parfaits. So easy and yummy!
How to make raspberry pretzel salad
Scroll down for the printable pretzel salad recipe and video tutorial.
1st layer for pretzel salad:
- Pre-heat oven to 400° and butter your pan.
- In a food processor or blender, crush pretzels. Then stir in melted butter and sugar until combined.
- Place pretzel mixture in pan and bake for 10 minutes. Then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2nd layer for pretzel salad:
- Cream together cream cheese with an electric mixer in a medium bowl.
- Mix in sugar and then stir in cool whip.
- Spread on top of pretzel crust (make sure to go all the way to the edges so the jello mixture doesn’t leak through).
- Refrigerate for about 1 hour (until it sets).
3rd layer for pretzel salad:
- In small pan, boil water with jello. Stir until sugar is dissolved (about 2 minutes).
- Then mix in frozen raspberries. Allow to thicken slightly, then pour on top of cream cheese mixture.
- Refrigerate until jello is firm (about 2 hours).
Tips for making the perfect pretzel salad
- Plan ahead and start making the pretzel jello the night before (each layer takes time to set).
- Use a blender or food processor to crush the pretzels (you want them to be pretty fine).
- Make sure to go all the way to the edges with each layer (especially the cream layer) to prevent the jello from leaking through.
- Allow the jello to cool a little bit and thicken slightly before pouring on cream cheese layer.
- Allow the jello to set COMPLETELY before slicing pretzel salad.
Variations for pretzel salad
What I love about this pretzel salad recipe is that you can make different variations! Below are some of my favorites. Simple swaps and super delicious!
- Strawberry pretzel salad: Use strawberry jello and frozen sliced strawberries.
- Pineapple pretzel salad: Use pineapple jello and frozen crushed pineapple or frozen strawberries.
- Mandarin pretzel salad: Check out this recipe
- Peach pretzel salad: Use peach jello and frozen sliced peaches.
Raspberry Jello Pretzel Salad
Ingredients
Layer 1:
- 1 3/4 cups crushed pretzels (about 6-7 cups pretzels)
- 3/4 cup salted butter (melted, 12 Tablespoons)
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
Layer 2:
- 12 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 8 ounces cool whip (softened, 1 container)
Layer 3:
- 2 cups boiling water
- 6 ounces raspberry jello (two 3-ounce boxes)
- 2 cups frozen raspberries
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400°. Butter a 9×13 pan and set aside. Crush pretzels in a food processor or blender and then stir in melted butter and sugar until combined. Press evenly in a greased 9×13 pan and bake at 400 for 8-10 min. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until cool.
- In a medium size bowl, cream together the cream cheese with an electric mixer. Mix in sugar and then stir in cool whip. Drop about 8 spoonfuls over the top and carefully spread out on top of pretzel crust. Make sure to go all the way to the edges so the jello mixture doesn’t leak through. You can use your finger with a paper towel to run along the edges to make them clean lines. Refrigerate for about 1 hour, or until set.
- Boil water in a small pan with jello. Stir until sugar is dissolved (about 2 minutes). Then mix in the frozen raspberries. Let sit a few minutes and allow to thicken slightly, then pour on top of cream cheese mixture and refrigerate until jello is firm, at least 2 hours (I like to leave overnight).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, I had my grandson, Aiden (14 yrs old) do most of the work on this dessert. I thought it was pretty straight forward & fairly easy. I will take the blame for pan size. I saw 9×13 but no mention of depth? So we did have a little problem with top layer! I took another 9×13 pan lined it with wax paper & poured top layer in pan. It was a little bit of a mess trying to remove jello layer w/spatula,but we succeeded.And we both agreed it tasted GREAT. I did to pretzels to a finer crumb. Thank you for sharing, Sincerely Pat
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This is easily our favorite go to side in our house or for parties. We do strawberry hello jello or even cherry or orange depending on what we have in hand.
I haven’t tried cherry or orange. I’ll have to give that a try sometime! :)
This really is the best!
Made the strawberry version listed for our holiday gathering tonight, it was delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! :)