This cool and creamy Raspberry Pretzel Salad Recipe is the perfect summer treat with three layers of salty-sweet deliciousness!
There is something so satisfying with the flavors and textures of this sweet, salty, creamy and fruity dessert… you’ll find yourself licking your plate clean and going back for seconds!
Raspberry Pretzel Salad Recipe
Technically speaking, this is far from a “salad” recipe, but that’s the common name for this layered jello cheesecake dessert, so salad it is!
- Start by lightly crushing 2 cups of salted pretzels. After much recipe testing, you really only need to do a light crush, so there are still larger pieces of pretzels visible.
- Combine the pretzels with butter and sugar and press into a 9×13″ baking pan to form a crust.
- Bake for about 12 minutes and then let cool completely.
What Kind of Pretzels are Good for Pretzel Salad?
You’ll want to use a small, hard and salted pretzel. My recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of pretzels that are lightly crushed. You’ll first measure out 2 1/2 cups of pretzels, then crush them. That’s why it’s easier to use the small pretzels to measure first.
Layered Jello Cheesecake Recipe
Once your pretzel crust is cooled you’ll quickly mix together a no-bake cheesecake layer and spread it over the top of the pretzels. Make sure you spread the cream cheese layer all the way to the sides of the baking pan to seal off the pretzel layer.
PRO TIP: Use a damp paper towel to run along the edges of the glass dish to get a clean line above the cheesecake layer. It makes for a pretty presentation when the jello layer is added.
Tips for Making a Layered Jello Salad:
The flavor options for this simple dessert are endless, here are some varieties you can try, plus some of my best tips for optimal results.
- Not a fan of raspberries? Try using strawberry jello and frozen strawberries!
- Orange jello with mandarin oranges is another fun and fruity option.
- Not into the salty-sweet combo? Skip the pretzels and go with a graham cracker crust (use 3 cups crushed graham crackers).
- Recipe can be made up to 24 hours in advance.
Can I Use Fresh Fruit Instead of Frozen?
YES! You can definitely use fresh fruit in place of the frozen, but here is WHY I prefer to use frozen…
The frozen fruit is added to the boiling hot jello, which in return immediately starts cooling down the jello, helping it to set up super fast. If you’re using fresh fruit it’ll take about 30 minutes for the jello mixture to cool enough to pour over your cheesecake mixture, then another couple hours in the fridge to set up firmly.
More Fruity/Creamy Dessert Recipes:
- Orange Fluff Salad is a fun and creamy dessert that’s ready in less than 30 minutes!
- Quick Cherry No Bake Cheesecakes
- Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake Bars
- No Bake Banana Split Cake
Be prepared for everyone to ask for this simple recipe. It’s definitely a keeper!
Helpful Products To Make This Recipe:
Amazon.com
Raspberry Pretzel Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups salted pretzels, lightly crushed
- 3 tbsp sugar
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 8 oz cool whip, thawed
- 6 oz package raspberry jello
- 2 cups water
- 4 cups frozen raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine the crushed pretzels, sugar and melted butter in a bowl or large ziplock bag. Pour mixture into 9x13” pan and press to form a crust. Bake for 12 minutes, then let cool completely.
- Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, lemon juice and ½ cup sugar until smooth and fluffy. Fold in cool whip and spread mixture over cooled pretzel crust, making sure to go to the edges to seal.
- Bring 2 cups water to a boil and stir in raspberry jello mix until dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in frozen raspberries. Pour mixture over the cream cheese layer and refrigerate until jello is set, about 2 to 4 hours.
Nutrition
PIN THIS IMAGE TO SAVE THE RECIPE:
Kid Friendly
One Skillet
Pressure Cooker
Slow Cooker
9x13 Recipes
15 Minutes
30 Minutes
Freezer Friendly
Is the crust supposed to stick together? Mine is still crumbly. Not holding shape
Am making this dessert right now. Since the 9×13 pan was not greased or butter will it be hard to cut without the crackers being stuck to the bottom?
No, you should be good!
in Australia we dont have cool whip, what is the alternative please.
Whipped cream will work.
DELICIOUS & REFRESHING!
Everyone was raving about it at my work potluck! No leftovers, just compliments 😛
Key tips:
1) ZEST the lemon to make a heaping tsp, then add to the cream cheese mixture. Adds an extra kick of tart.
2) Pulse-crush the pretzels in a processor BEFORE you measure 2.5 cups of them. I ended up using about half a large bag of mini pretzels.
3) Ensure you COOL the crust completely before adding the other layers, this is a timely step that can be sped-up a bit in the freezer.
4) As the author and others have followed-up, spread the cream cheese mixture evenly with a rubber spatula to the pan EDGES. As said previously, if you don’t do this the raspberry jello will seep into the crust!
5) Let the hot raspberry jello COOL a few minutes before adding the frozen raspberries, then after adding the berries IMMEDIATELY pour over the dessert to avoid the jello instant-setting in the pot.
Yay!! So glad you enjoyed it Sam!
I remember my mom making this and I’m 73!! I like to add finely chopped pecans to the jello.
Nice!
I have made this and the pretzel crust sticks to my Pan how can I prevent that
Try giving it a little spritz of non-stick spray before adding the pretzel crust!
When I made mine, the jello mixture seeped down into the pretzel layer through small cracks in the cream cheese mixture. What would you recommend to avoid this? Do I just need to be more careful? Thanks!
Yeah, pushing the cream cheese mixture all the way to the sides will keep those clean layers. 🙂
i’m going to make for memorial day! Question, what brand/kind pretzels did you use?
I don’t have a specific brand that I use, but I do like the mini twisted pretzels.
Made it for Mother’s Day! It was wonderful. Thanks.
Yay! So happy you enjoyed it Tiffanie!
I didn’t think 2.5 cups covered the pan either. I would try 2 cups measured after crushing next time.
You can definitely use more to give better coverage. 🙂
Your recipe says 6 oz jello. Do you mean 0.6 oz?
It should be a 6oz box. I’m thinking the sugar free version would be much lighter.
I was looking for a recipe I made in Iowa many years ago, since mine is in another state and this is almost the same but mine had nuts in with the pretzels.. so that is the only change I’m making. Thank you for making this hunt easy for me… the first one!
Hope you enjoy it!
My jello seaped down and didn’t form a top layer. What is the secret of getting it to stay only on the top?
Oh bummer! You really gotta make sure your cream cheese layer is all the way to the edges of the pan, creating a seal so the jello layer doesn’t seep down. I’ll usually get a wet paper towel and cover my finger with it, then run it along the edges of the cream cheese layer, making sure it’s nice and covered. Hope that helps!
I just saw your comment about pressing the sides of the cream cheese mixture. I’ll do that next time! Thanks!
What did I do wrong? Flavour was great but my jello/berries slipped off the dessert when I tried to put squares on dessert plates.
Hmm… is it possible that the jello mixture hadn’t cooled 100% yet? I haven’t seen that happen so I’m not sure what went wrong?
Thank you! This recipe looks so great!!
You’re welcome! Hope you enjoyed it!
Great Recipe! We made a few changes….we used goats milks cream cheese with heavy whip and used fresh raspberries! Yummy.
Sounds like some yummy modifications! Glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve made this quite a few times. However, I don’t care for Raspberry anything so I make mine with either cherries and even in apple and everybody absolutely loved both dishes!
Sounds great with the cherries and apple!
Only 45 minutes in the kitchen – so easy to make! I made a few substitutions, 1) A added a layer of fresh blueberries on top of the crust, to create a “Red, White, and Blue” version of the salad. 2) I used gelatin instead of jello and it turned out fine. It probably takes an extra 1/2 cup pretzels too to get full coverage. Overall easy to make and delicious!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Rich! I bet the red, white and blue was pretty! And I’m thinking you’re right about the pretzels. I’ll update the recipe to reflect that. 🙂
Two cups premeasured small pretzels does not cover a 13×9 baking dish, once crushed. Could you explain ? I ended up eye balling enough melted butter ,sugar,and more pretzels to compensate.
Hi Debra, sorry you ran into an issue with the pretzels. I’m going to update the recipe to 2 1/2 cups rather than just 2. Hope your pretzel salad still turned out good!
The recipe looks delicious I would try that you’re the the Crush pretzels but I’m on a salt-free diet with my health so I’m going to make it with the graham crackers like you suggest. I cannot wait to make this thank you for sharing it
Hope you enjoy the recipe with the graham cracker crust! I’m sure it’ll be fantastic! 🙂
Is the crust supposed to stick together? Mine is still crumbly. Not holding shape
It wont be like your traditional graham cracker crust. It’ll be more crumbly.