Raspberry Pretzel Jello
This raspberry pretzel jello is a classic. It’s all about a salty-sweet pretzel crust + fluffy cream layer + raspberry laden jello. Yum!
Today’s classic recipe is dedicated to my husband, Brian. This is one of his favorite side dish-dessert-salad-whatever you’d call it recipes of all time.
I figure at this point, everyone who loves this recipe has their go-to version already. And everyone else has either never heard of it or thinks it is a travesty.
So, today’s post is honestly a selfish gesture in order to put a placeholder on this blog (which will always be my go-to “cookbook”) for Brian’s tried-and-true favorite.
My Version is a Wee Bit Different
I’ve made a few changes to the wildly popular original recipe to make it more our style. But otherwise, it’s pretty much what you’ve come to expect from this iconic recipe.
The biggest change is that I swap out the cool whip and granulated sugar in the cream layer for heavy cream and powdered sugar.
I’m certainly not doing this for healthy-eating reasons. Ha! That’s funny. These small changes create a cream layer with a flavor and consistency that is ultra-delicious and a little bit more my style.
Pretzel Crust
This salad-y dessert starts with a pretzel crust. A buttery, lightly sweet pretzel crust.
It actually might be my favorite part of the entire thing.
After mixing the pretzels, butter and brown sugar together in a bowl, I like to press the mixture into the pan with the bottom of a measuring cup to lightly compress it into an even layer.
This delightful crust gets baked for a couple minutes before assembling the rest of the recipe.
*Sidenote: I had some “help” from little hands when making this and taking pictures for the blog so the pretzels aren’t quite as small as I normally crush them. They don’t need to be (and shouldn’t be) pulverized into dust, but they should be coarsely crushed.
The Assembly
After the crust has cooled, the cream layer is spread over the top.
The key here is to spread the cream layer all the way to the edges sealing off the pan really well so the jello layer doesn’t leak down the sides and get the pretzel crust all soggy. Ew.
You can a) refrigerate at this point to firm up the cream layer…or you can b) throw caution to the wind and spread the jello + raspberry mixture over the top.
I’m lazy. I always go for B.
Pro Tip: You’ll notice in the recipe that I dissolve the jello in boiling water and immediately add the frozen raspberries. I set the whole mixture aside before starting on the crust and cream layer. This allows the jello/raspberry mixture to set up and thicken a bit before being layered on top which prevents leaking and splattering issues.
As with all good jellos, let the assembled dish set up in the refrigerator before serving.
This dessert can be made a day ahead of time. Just keep in mind that the pretzels will soften the longer it is in the refrigerator. Not a deal breaker (they don’t get full on soggy if it’s just a day ahead of time), but something to think about.
Are you a fan of this classic raspberry pretzel jello? Is it something you grew up eating?
To be honest, I always have a bit of an inner struggle knowing where to place this in a meal lineup. Does it get served with dinner? I mean, a lot of people call it a salad, so…
Or should it appear as dessert?
Instead of inciting a heated debate, may I suggest that if you really want to live life to its fullest, consider serving it as a side dish with dinner so you can have a dessert, too.
In closing, I’d like to give a special thanks to my friend, Jamie, Ultimate Jello Connoisseur, who also helped convince me this recipe deserved a spot on the blog (and who consulted on several other jello recipes, as well). 🙂
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Raspberry Pretzel Jello
Ingredients
Pretzel Crust:
- 1 ¾ cups (140-150 g) crushed pretzels (see note)
- 3 tablespoons (40 g) packed brown sugar
- ½ cup (113 g) butter, melted
Cream Layer:
- 8-ounce package (227 g) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups (143 g) powdered sugar
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream (see note)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Raspberry Jello:
- 6-ounce package raspberry jello (see note)
- 2 cups boiling water
- 12-ounce package frozen raspberries (don't thaw)
Instructions
- For the pretzel crust, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the pretzels, brown sugar, and butter until evenly combined.
- Press the mixture in the bottom of a 9X13-inch pan, pressing lightly with the bottom of a measuring cup to lightly compact the crust. Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let cool completely.
- For the cream layer, in a medium bowl with an electric mixer (stand mixer or handheld mixer), whip together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy, 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the heavy cream and vanilla and mix (start on low speed so it doesn't spatter everywhere) until thick and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Spread the cream layer evenly over the cooled pretzel crust. Make sure to spread all the way to the edges and into the corners to make a good "seal" with the cream layer so the jello layer doesn't leak down the sides.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the jello and boiling water until the jello is fully dissolved. Stir in the frozen raspberries. Let the mixture sit for just a few minutes to set up a bit (but take care not to let it sit for too long or it will be difficult to spread evenly).
- Pour the raspberry jello mixture over the top and gently spread into an even layer. Refrigerate until firm and set up, 6-8 hours. Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from the many other versions of this recipe online (I think it’s originally from a cookbook published in the 1960’s called The Joys of Jello)
Do you also add the cold water? To tell jello
No. Only add the boiling water followed by the frozen raspberries as indicated in the recipe.
Definitely a family favorite! Love this recipe
Fantastic. Made this for Thanksgiving and will now be making for Thanksgiving till the end of time. Bye bye Cool Whip.
I’ve been making a similar recipe for years but using Cool Whip. Made your recipe today using real heavy cream and OH MY WORD it makes it 100 times better! I wish I would have known. Amazing. Thank you.
Oh wow. I’ve always loved raspberry pretzel “salad”, but your version looks amazing! Going to make this for Thanksgiving!! Any idea if you can prep this the night before? Thank you!!
Yes! You can make this the day before. The pretzels might be slightly softer, but I do it this way all the time!
Can this be made ahead of time and frozen? I’ve never froze Jell-O. But have frozen lots of other desserts.
I don’t think the pretzel crust would fare too well frozen (I think it’ll get soggy once thawed) so unfortunately, I don’t think this would be a great freezable recipe.
Loved this version.
My BFF and I have always called this “white trash jello”.
Because, obviously, no “ foodie” would serve jello w pretzels!
This would be good using any flavor jello, and its corresponding frozen fruit,
or, in a pinch, jello without fruit.
My husband and I disagreed over what to call this for YEARS! I couldn’t believe that he had the nerve to call it a dessert! I had no choice but to push back, so at our house it is now referred to as a vegetable. He rolled his eyes at first, but he’s never once complained about having a separate dessert! I love the idea of using whipped cream instead of Cool Whip! I’m so excited to try it!
Everyone ,always asks me to bring this to any kind of gathering. I really like your cream layer idea and am using it as I type. My favorite tweak is to make the raspberry jello with hot pineapple juice. It makes it extra delicious. Even the pickiest kids go haywire for this dish.
We use raspberries and strawberry jello.
This looks delicious! I request our version for my birthday cake often. I have a thing where I don’t ever want real cake as my birthday cake for some reason… Not sure why. Just been that way ever since I got married hah. We would need to try this one day! Thanks for sharing!
I like this version but I also had issues with making the jello too soon and think it should wait until the crust is baked and started to cool. My jello was almost completely solid when it finally went on.
Thanks for the comment and review – I’ll edit the recipe to help other readers!
Yes please add this comment!! My jello looks chunky and not great. I’m sure it will taste as good but would have liked to know not to make it as the first step!!!
Same issue here. In my experience, jello sets up quite quickly when anything frozen is added to it. I put the crust in the freezer to cool it faster when I saw what was happening, and still had to take it out and add the cream and jello layers before it was completely cool so that the jello could go on before it was completely set. I’ll make and cool the crust first next time.
This is a family favorite in my house, but in my cream layer I use 8 oz of cream cheese, 1 cup of powdered sugar (creamed together), about a half to 3/4 can of crushed pineapple, and 1 cup of whipped cream (that I always just whip myself). It’s been a classic in my family since I was a kid, so it was fun to see your version on here.
I made this for Thanksgiving and it tasted delicious but there are some wonky things. First, I weighed 75g of pretzels and thought it didn’t look like enough but trusted it. But when putting it in the bottom of the 9×13 pan it was clear that amount wouldn’t come close to covering the whole bottom of the pan. I had to quickly add more and wasn’t ideal. I am wondering if you meant 175g? Also, making the jello first led to an issue. It took enough time to make the crust and let it cool that the jello had almost completely set up before being added on top of the whipped cream. It led to a somewhat choppy jello top and not a smooth cohesive top. I am not sure if that is how it was supposed to be or not but it didn’t look quite like the pictures. It did taste super yummy. Definitely no points lost for flavor. Can you help with the pretzel amount and how to get a smooth jello top?
Hi Stephanie, thank you for your review and comment. First of all, I have to sincerely apologize because you are right, the gram amount was incorrect when I posted this recipe. I’m sorry for the confusion (and mess) that caused you as you prepped for Thanksgiving! I had written 75 g in my notes when I was testing this recipe which I believe was for a measurement of uncrushed pretzels, but I hadn’t updated it with the correct gram amount. Totally my error! I just remeasured and corrected the recipe to 140-150 grams. Again, I am so sorry. It’s so frustrating when that happens in a recipe, and I apologize.
As for the jello, if your jello set up too fast, next time, make the jello after the crust comes out of the oven so it is less set when you pour it on top. That should help!
Mel ~ I made this for our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and my grandsons loved it . In fact, they requested it for Christmas dinner as well. I have used many of your recipes over the years and all of them have been excellent. Thank you.
Thank you so much!!
This is my absolute favorite dessert recipe! But the changes you’ve made in your recipe sound amazing! I can’t wait to make it with the few tweaks you suggested!
I love your recipes. You have made me a rockstar in the kitchen. I just had a question on the grams of the pretzels. I am trying to up my cooking game and measure with accuracy. When I measured 75 grams of pretzels, it was only about 1 cup of crushed pretzels…I am just wondering if this is inaccurate? I ended up adding more to make it to 1 3/4 cup. Would love to know your thoughts.
Hey Amber, I’ll go remeasure just to be sure – thanks for the comment! The pretzels are a bit tricky with this recipe because of the different types of pretzels available and how finely/coarsely the pretzels are chopped. I’ll check back in when I measure again!
Hi Amber, I remeasured tonight, and I sincerely apologize because my gram amount was off. In my notes while testing, I had written 75 g and I think that was to indicate when I measured one cup of the uncrushed pretzels. Either way, that was totally my fault for not giving the correct gram amount when posting this recipe. I’m so sorry! I’ve edited it to reflect the correct amount (140-150 grams).
I was raised on Strawberry Pretzel Salad! However I made this and it is amazing ! May have ruined the strawberry version for me
gonna totally make this recipe, and I love that it doesn’t use Cool-Whip!
Because I love you and your food, I want to point out that you used the word “unthaw” when talking about the raspberries 😐 how about “defrosted” or “thawed”?
oops, saw you already posted a reply to a similar comment!
Actually, Mel said it correctly. You don’t thaw the berries because their frozen state allows the jello to set quickly. So, they are “unthawed” frozen berries.
Oh my. From a British perspective you Americans are so willing to play fast and easy on eating sweet things outside of dessert. Cannot get my head around this recipe being anything other than dessert, but many of you good folks clearly think differently…and you were right about maple syrup with bacon and blueberry muffins for breakfast so I’m going to trust you all here too even though everything in my head is screaming THIS IS DESSERT! Just to be straight though, does the type of meal I serve this up with matter? I mean are we talking roast meat and gravy or pasta or what? Please help an unfamiliar Brit out on this one, this is brand new information to me 🙂
Haha, I don’t blame you for being confused. I think this dish confuses even the best of us here in the US. I think this is served as a side dish for more holiday-type meals, like Thanksgiving and Christmas where there is turkey, ham, and a lot of comfort foods.
From the US and my family eats this for dessert!
We totally ate it as part of our desserts on Thanksgiving. I love it. It’s like a version of a no-bake cheesecake.
I always I layer it in a Bundt pan so I do the jello first but it ends up on top when I dump it out. It’s a pain to get out and the jello drips down the sides—pretty dramatic and fancy looking.
I have never seen this recipe with raspberries before…always STRAWBERRY pretzel salad. Raspberries sounds really great, I will try it!
I’ve been making this recipe for several years. I got bored with raspberry and strawberry and started using black cherry Jell-O and mixed fruit. It’s absolutely delicious! Give it a try.
I was just searching for a raspberry Jello salad recipe and yours popped up! I make so many of your recipes and I am sure this one will be a hit also. I downloaded and printed my “Mel’s Thanksgiving Organization Sheets” and have begun filling them out. Thank you so much for all you do for us!
Family favorite. The tip I learned from my in-laws is to do the jello layer first, creamy layer and then top with the pretzels (toasted) when served.
No worries for soggy pretzels. Game changer for leftovers.
It comes with a risk of the family snitching the delicious pretzels beforehand. I’m excited to try the cream layer modifications!
I love this! I’ve made it (with strawberries) for many, many years. It’s certainly a hit at pot lucks! I’ll try your update to make the pretzel crust with brown sugar. Thanks for the tip!
I’ve been making this for my little family for Christmas Eve Eve (why not add an extra day of holiday celebration?) for years. I’m totally excited to try your brown sugar in the crust modification!
So interesting this has always been strawberry pretzel salad. Never seen a raspberry version. It really doesn’t matter the fruit flavor on top though! We make a Christmas jello “salad” literally called Christmas ribbon salad. The middle layer is cream cheese, lemon jello (dissolved in hot water) and mini marshmallows melted in pineapple juice with a strawberry, cherry or other red layer and then a lime or other green layer. One day I want to take the middle layer of the Christmas Ribbon salad and try in the pretzel salad. But the pretzel salad is a staple and favorite at all holiday meals so haven’t been brave enough to try it
That’s funny! I’ve never made this but it has popped up at many church potlucks in Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. I’ve never seen a strawberry version—only raspberry. Another commenter also said they have never seen a raspberry version. I wonder if it’s a regional thing. What state are you from?
Also my husband and son-in-laws absolute favorite. Holidays aren’t the same without it. Dessert or side…..I don’t know either but the only rule from the 2 men mentioned above is that is gets it’s own plate, no food touching allowed!;)
Haha, I love this! And wholeheartedly agree. #nofoodtouching
Mel, I love this dish as I’ve made it before, and I can’t wait to try your modifications because they sound delish! As I was skimming through the recipe, I wondered if this dish could be modified to make it a CRANBERRY-pretzel-jello-salad? I’ve never tried anything like that, but it seems so festive! I don’t really know how you would sweeten the cranberries enough or what flavor or jello you would use. Let me know if you ever try to dream that one up!
Oh yes, you might be on to something! I saw cranberry jello in the grocery aisle the other day so if you could find that, it would be perfect! If not, cherry jello would be the next best bet, I think. I posted a jello recipe on Monday that uses cranberries and to offset the tartness, I add 1/4 cup sugar to the jello and boiling water (although quite honestly, jello is sweet enough you probably don’t need it)
My favorite kind of “salad.” We use real cream as opposed to cool whip too and about half the sugar in the cream layer. Makes it taste more like cheesecake. Plus, we find the jello is already sweet enough. This is everyone’s favorite side dish (serve dessert too, please!)
I love the cheesecake vibes in the middle layer, too!
I’m pretty sure I already commented about this on Instagram, but I LOVE THIS. I only let myself make it once, maybe twice a year because I will eat the whole thing. I’m excited to try it with actual cream as opposed to cool whip – I’m sure it makes it even better (if that’s possible)!
We only have it once a year, too…Brian wishes we had it weekly. Haha.
Love this ‘salad’. One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving. I add cream cheese to the cream mixture and use strawberries. I’ve also added a layer of crushed pineapple if I have it. So good. Since it has fruit you can eat it for breakfast
Crushed pineapple sounds deliciuos!
Mmmm…one of my favorites, and I already make it the way you’ve updated it here, because real cream beats cool whip every time! I also spread more whipped cream on top, because YUM! And I use strawberry jello (allergic to raspberries), and forego the fruit and just do the ice cube method, because I don’t love the congealed pieces of fruit in my jello. Ha! Can’t wait to make this for Thanksgiving!
I imagine there are a lot of variations of this recipe. I love it! Thanks, Rochelle!
Just for future recipe writing: Twelve ounces of unthawed raspberries are still frozen. Thawed raspberries are not frozen. My high school English teacher wants the best for you. Love your blog.
The raspberries are supposed to be frozen when you put them in the jello. That’s why the recipe says frozen raspberries, unthawed – it’s specifying that you should not let them thaw before you use them. Mel knows what she’s doing.
Hey Mary Lou, I included “unthawed” with the frozen raspberries because I always get questions when I include frozen fruit in a recipe about whether the fruit should be thawed first. Just trying to add clarification to help readers out!
“unthawed” is, unfortunately, used as a synonym of “thawed”, so it was confusing 🙂 but so glad to know that it was intentional and the raspberries should be frozen. Thanks!
Our family version uses strawberries instead of raspberries. I’m excited to try yours with your modifications! Totally agree with your logic to serve it as a side dish!
I’ve heard it is super tasty with strawberries! Do you use a graham cracker crust with the strawberry version or still pretzels?
My version uses pretzels. I totally gasped when I saw your reply to my comment because now I feel like I’ve actually talked to you. I appreciate your amazing blog so much!
This is so fun/different/crazy to me! I’m always fascinated by these midwest (and/or Mormon)-origin recipes. How the heck did they start getting called salad?!? Someday maybe I’ll even try one 🙂
Haha, it definitely is an interesting evolution of food. I think this one is really popular in the midwest (at least it seemed to be when we lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota)
I’m with Brian. This is my favorite Jello salad. Definitely a salad because there’s always room for dessert. A Thanksgiving tradition for sure. I love your changes. Especially the brown sugar in the crust. Your blog is my place holder for recipes too so I’m glad this one is now here. A keeper for sure!
Love you, Tami!