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Passing as a salad rather than a dessert in the Midwest, Raspberry Pretzel Jello Salad is sweet, salty, made with Jell-O, and topped with cool whip. It’s a great make-ahead recipe that everyone will love!
I love introducing my California friends to crazy Midwest recipes like this Raspberry Pretzel Jello Salad.
I have several people who taste-test my recipes, all California natives, and they always shake their heads in amazement at this unexpected, yet so delicious, combination of pretzels, cream cheese, and raspberry Jello.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Pretzels: To crush pretzels, place in a zipper-top plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin or mallet. Or, place in a food processor and pulse until crushed.
- Whipped topping: One 8-ounce container of whipped topping contains about 3 cups. This recipe calls for 2 cups whipped topping. You can use the last cup for garnish, if desired. Whipped topping is a little more stable than fresh whipped cream (it sets better and lasts longer in the refrigerator).
Step-by-step instructions
- To make the pretzel crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, add crushed pretzels, butter, and sugar. Toss well to combine. Press into an un-greased 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
- To make the filling, in a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Stir in whipped topping until combined. Spread over pretzel crust and refrigerate until chilled (at least 30 minutes).
- In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in frozen raspberries and chill until partially set, about 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully pour or spoon over cream cheese filling.
- Chill until firm, about 4 to 6 hours. Garnish with additional whipped topping and pretzels if desired.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe will make 12 or 16 slices of salad depending on how you slice it.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
- Make ahead: Raspberry Pretzel Salad is best when made at least 8 hours in advance so the layers have a chance to really set and chill.
Recipe FAQs
I made this Raspberry Pretzel Salad in a disposable aluminum pans (the “half-size” which is 12-3/4″ x 10-3/4″ x 2-9/16″). I baked the pretzel crust and assembled the dessert with any changes. However, when I was eating the salad, the layer of pretzels felt too thick. Because there was a smaller surface area in the pan, the pretzel layer was taller (packed higher). I prefer the salad in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan and the way the pretzels are more spread out in there.
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
More dessert than salad, Strawberry Pretzel Salad is sweet, salty, made with Jell-O, and topped with cool whip. If you’re still reading, it loves to be made ahead and is an absolute winner at potlucks…
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Raspberry Pretzel Salad
Ingredients
For the pretzel crust:
- 2 cups pretzels crushed (about 8 ounces, see note 1)
- 3/4 cup butter melted (1 ½ sticks)
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
For the filling:
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups whipped topping thawed (from one 8-ounce container, see note 2)
- 2 (3 ounce) packages raspberry gelatin
- 2 cups boiling water
- 32 ounces frozen raspberries
- whipped topping for garnish, optional
- Pretzels uncrushed, for garnish, optional
Instructions
To make the pretzel crust:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, add crushed pretzels, butter, and sugar. Toss well to combine.
- Press into an un-greased 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
To make the filling:
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Stir in whipped topping until combined. Spread over pretzel crust and refrigerate until chilled (at least 30 minutes).
- In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in frozen raspberries and chill until partially set, about 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully pour or spoon over cream cheese filling.
- Chill until firm, about 4 to 6 hours. Garnish with additional whipped topping and pretzels if desired.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Pretzels: To crush pretzels, place in a zipper-top plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin or mallet. Or, place in a food processor and pulse until crushed.
- Whipped topping: One 8-ounce container of whipped topping contains about 3 cups. This recipe calls for 2 cups whipped topping. You can use the last cup for garnish, if desired. Whipped topping is a little more stable than fresh whipped cream (it sets better and lasts longer in the refrigerator).
- Yield: This recipe will make 12 or 16 slices of salad depending on how you slice it.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
- Make ahead: Raspberry Pretzel Salad is best when made at least 8 hours in advance so the layers have a chance to really set and chill.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
For those of us on keto…
I swapped out the pretzels for ground pecans but it didn’t get firm in the oven so scooped it out and poured the sugar free raspberry jello in the pan, used Swerve in place of sugar for all parts that called for sugar. Discovered the fresh raspberries were already eaten so swapped them out for strawberries. And put the cheesecake layer on top of jello w/strawberry slices after the jello was set. And the pecans became crumble as the top layer:
Raspberry-strawberried- jello–cheesecake-pecan-crumble!!
Thanks to my daughter in law who made it all and made it happen!
I just wanted to let you know that I served this at a meal for 70 people. It was a raving success! Thank you so much for helping with the recipe.
is it 1/4 or 1/2 cup of sugar in pretzel mixture? Above it says 1/2 but in the instructions it says 1/4.
Hi Liz! Sorry about this typo. It should be 1/2 cup of sugar. I adapted a recipe from my friend and ended up doubling the amount of pretzels she had in the base (I just felt like it needed more). And so I doubled the butter and the sugar, but apparently only in the ingredients and not in the recipe! Fixing it now. Should definitely be 1/2 cup. I just made this last week, it was a hit! Thank you!
That is great information! Thank you so.much for conducting a test kitchen for me!
Can this recipe be made the night before or will it make the pretzels soft?
Hi Kristi, in my experience the pretzels do not get soggy. The trick is to make sure they are totally covered by the cool whip/cream cheese mixture so no jello gets through. I’m going to make this again Tuesday just to make sure! Thanks for the question.
Hi Kristi! Tested this out. The pretzels will NOT get soggy in the fridge overnight. In fact, I left mine in the fridge for 3 days and the pretzels were still crunchy on the third day. The thing that makes the pretzels soggy, though, is when it sits out at room temperature. So when you pull it out to serve it, if it’s there 2-3 hours later, the pretzels will soften. But in the fridge, they are fine. I hope this helps! Thanks.
I made this with gluten feee pretzels (Glutino brand) and it came out perfect. Â A word of caution, if you are easily lead astray by sweet-tart, creamy smooth decadence, stay away from this addictive dessert.
A grand slam hit.Â
Not to be dramatic, but this dessert right here is one of my favorite parts of living in the midwest. I mean seriously, there’s just no beating it!
I adore your ‘crazy’ midwest recipes too.
One of the greatest things about ‘American food’ are those amazing regional specialities. I love watching shows like ‘Diners, Drive-ins and Dives’ for this reason.
This sounds incredible. I would sure enjoy going to a Midwest pot-luck!