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:
Raspberry Pretzel Salad Recipe
Ingredients
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
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Patty Duncan
I love this dessert, but i didn’t like the crust. Needed more pretzels crushed smaller, maybe baked?
Christie Ann Weber
I crush my pretzels pretty fine (not dust) and I measure after they are crushed. Bake the crust until it is firm and a little brown. It MUST cool completely before the cream cheese layer.
Brandee
Has anyone doubled this recipe and see if it would fit in a 9 x 13 pan?
And if you make this a day ahead of time, do the pretzels get soggy?
Debbie K
This is a wonderful recipe, we’ve always made it with strawberries, I think the raspberries will be our new fav.
Just a word of caution- NOT about this recipe , BUT from a ‘bad experience.
do NOT use the thin pretzel STICKS! It will ruin your dessert. I did that ONCE and it was SO salty we had to scrape all the good stuff off and eat without the crust, the GOOD stuff was still a bit salty from the pretzels permeating throughout.
Now I only use regular pretzels nothing fancy.
Aricka LaFramboise
I cannot wait to try this! I have made this a million time over making the strawberry version. I don’t usually get to enjoy it as I am GF but times have changed and GF products have come along way and there are GF pretzels now, so I will be making this and enjoying it.
Elaine M Pyer
If you only want 8 servings can you cut the recipe in half and use an 8×8 pan?
Benny Williams
Looks beautiful and delicious, Thanks for sharing
Gloria
It is 12;45 pm, the day before T-giving day, I just finished spreading the cream cheese over the pretzels and I covered it with saran wrap and put it in the fridge. It looks great so far. Tonight I will make the jello raspberry topping to put on top. I just want it to be perfect for tomorrow. I like to make everything the day before so that all I have to do on the day of is Roast the turkey and make the gravy, besides heating up everything else. I can’t wait to try this dish. the last time I had this it was very runny and was made with strawberries. I didn’t make it. It kind of turned me off from having it again. That was about 15 years ago. But now I am giving this one a try. I will take a picture and post it tomorrow before I cut into it. I can almost taste it. Thanks again for sharing this.
Kelly
This looks great! Can it be made ahead of time? Like the night before?
Shawn
Yes! It can definitely be made ahead of time. Store covered in the fridge!
Ruth
Our local deli makes this and is sold for$8.00 lb….excellent dish and much cheaper if made at home…
Virginia Schweigert
Is the crust supposed to stick together? Mine is still crumbly. Not holding shape
Elaine Pyer
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?
Shawn
No, you should be good!
Elaine Mckenzie
in Australia we dont have cool whip, what is the alternative please.
Shawn
Whipped cream will work.
Sam
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.
Shawn
Yay!! So glad you enjoyed it Sam!
Lindsey
I spread my cream cheese/cool whip mixture to the edges and the jello still seeped through to the bottom
Judy P
I remember my mom making this and I’m 73!! I like to add finely chopped pecans to the jello.
Shawn
Nice!
Iris Wilson
I have made this and the pretzel crust sticks to my Pan how can I prevent that
Shawn
Try giving it a little spritz of non-stick spray before adding the pretzel crust!
Linda
Mine did too. I found that they should be crushed FIRST, then measured. The recipe says to measure amount first than crush, which gives you a smaller amount of pretzels…it worked for me. So glad I figured it out. Love the pretzel crust..
Chinook
One of my all-time favorite desert recipe! But, I like to FINELY crush the pretzels.
Don’t forget to add whipped cream to top your serving off.
Paige
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!
Shawn
Yeah, pushing the cream cheese mixture all the way to the sides will keep those clean layers. 🙂
Nancy Noel
Can you use frozen blackberries instead? If so…do I do anything different?
Shawn
Yes, frozen blackberries should work just fine. I’m not sure if you’re still planning to use the raspberry jello? If so, it won’t be as red as pictured.
mary
i’m going to make for memorial day! Question, what brand/kind pretzels did you use?
Shawn
I don’t have a specific brand that I use, but I do like the mini twisted pretzels.
Brenda T
I like to use dark pretzels, it really kicks the crust up a notch! If you can’t get dark pretzels, make sure to use browned butter in the crust…mmm!
Tiffanie
Made it for Mother’s Day! It was wonderful. Thanks.
Shawn
Yay! So happy you enjoyed it Tiffanie!
Lillian Meredith
I didn’t think 2.5 cups covered the pan either. I would try 2 cups measured after crushing next time.
Shawn
You can definitely use more to give better coverage. 🙂
Celeste Pearson
Your recipe says 6 oz jello. Do you mean 0.6 oz?
Shawn
It should be a 6oz box. I’m thinking the sugar free version would be much lighter.
marjorie
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!
Shawn
Hope you enjoy it!
Donna Elek
My jello seaped down and didn’t form a top layer. What is the secret of getting it to stay only on the top?
Shawn
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!
Paige
I just saw your comment about pressing the sides of the cream cheese mixture. I’ll do that next time! Thanks!
Christie Weber
I would not make it the night before. It is never great the next day.
Abby
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.
Shawn
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?
Gabriel
Thank you! This recipe looks so great!!
Shawn
You’re welcome! Hope you enjoyed it!
Fiath Fall
Great Recipe! We made a few changes….we used goats milks cream cheese with heavy whip and used fresh raspberries! Yummy.
Shawn
Sounds like some yummy modifications! Glad you enjoyed it!
Missy
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!
Shawn
Sounds great with the cherries and apple!
Rich
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!
Shawn
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. 🙂
Debra W Wilson
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.
Shawn
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!
Nancy Reynolds
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
Shawn
Hope you enjoy the recipe with the graham cracker crust! I’m sure it’ll be fantastic! 🙂
Virginia Schweigert
Is the crust supposed to stick together? Mine is still crumbly. Not holding shape
Shawn
It wont be like your traditional graham cracker crust. It’ll be more crumbly.