This Pretzel Salad is made with three layers: sweet and salty pretzel crust, whipped sweet cream cheese filling, and raspberries in jello on top! It’s always a favorite potluck or party dessert!

Looking for more dessert recipes? Try Tres Leches Cake or our Berry Cake!

A piece of Pretzel Salad served on a plate.

What I love about this Pretzel Dessert:

  • Real Whipped Cream instead of cool whip makes this recipe stand out. It’s delicious!
  • Crowd Pleaser: The salty and sweet combination of this dessert is enjoyed by everyone, and I never have any leftover!
  • Make Ahead of time, when it’s convenient for you, then just take out of the fridge and serve!

How to Make Pretzel Salad:

Pretzel Layer: Stir crushed pretzels, light brown sugar and melted butter in a mixing bowl. Press firmly into a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Crushed pretzels, brown sugar and butter mixed in a bowl, then poured into a 9x13 inch baking pan for the crust of jello salad.

Cream Cheese Layer: Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar together until creamy. Add whipping cream and beat until cream has stiffened into soft peaks. Spread mixture over the top of the pretzel crust, spreading it all the way to edges of the pan on all sides (so the Jello won’t seep through).

Cream Cheese, powdered sugar and whipped cream mixed in a bowl, then added on top of a pretzel crust, in a 9x13 inch pan.

Jello Layer: Boil 2 cups water. Add Jello and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in frozen berries. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then pour over cream cheese layer and refrigerate for 2-4 hours, until Jello has set.

Raspberry Jello cooked in a saucepan, frozen berries added, then layered on top of pretzels and cream cheese in a pan for jello salad.

Make Ahead Instructions:

This dessert can be made up to one day ahead of time. Assemble the entire pretzel salad and store it in the fridge until ready to serve.

Recipe Variations:

  • Strawberry Pretzel Salad: Substitute strawberries instead of raspberries, or use any favorite fruit!
  • Fresh Fruit: I recommend frozen fruit as it helps the Jell-O set up faster. If using fresh berries, layer them on top of the whipped cream mixture in the pan, then pour the prepared room temperature Jell-O mix over the top. 
  • Bigger Pretzels Pieces: I crush the pretzels using my food processor because I like them with a finer crumb, but if you like them chunkier in the dessert, add them to a Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into pieces.

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Recipe

A piece of Pretzel Salad served on a plate.
Prep 1 hour
Cook 10 minutes
Refrigerate 4 hours
Total 30 minutes
Save Recipe

Ingredients
 
 

  • 2 cups crushed pretzels
  • 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
  • ¾ cup butter , melted
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 cups water
  • 6 ounce box raspberry jello
  • 4 cups frozen raspberries* (about 2 cups)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add crushed pretzels, light brown sugar and melted butter to a mixing bowl and stir to combine. 
  • Press firmly into a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 
  • Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until creamy. Add the whipping cream and beat until cream has stiffened into soft peaks.
  • Spread the mixture over the top of the pretzel crust, spreading it all the way to edges of the pan on all sides (so the jello wont seep through).
  • Boil 2 cups water. Add jello and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in frozen berries. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then pour into dish and refrigerate for 2-4 hours, until jello has set.

Notes

Make Ahead Instructions: This dessert can be made up to one day ahead of time. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Variations:
  • Strawberry Pretzel Salad: Substitute strawberries instead of raspberries, or use any favorite fruit!
  • Fresh Fruit: I recommend frozen fruit as it helps the Jell-O set up faster. If using fresh berries, layer them on top of the whipped cream mixture in the pan, then pour the prepared room temperature Jell-O mix over the top. 
  • Bigger Pretzels: I crush the pretzels using my food processor because I like them with a finer crumb, but if you like them chunkier in the dessert, add them to a Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into pieces.

Nutrition

Calories: 413kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 4gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 405mgPotassium: 123mgFiber: 2gSugar: 28gVitamin A: 910IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 49mgIron: 1.1mg

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I originally shared this recipe March 2016. Updated June 2021.

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About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

  1. I’m confused about the amount of raspberries to use. Your recipe shows 4 cups of frozen raspberries (2 cups). Is the 2 cups if you use fresh berries?

  2. 5 stars
    This is a must have!! I remember making something similar when I was younger, but it has been years since I have made anything similar. The whole family love it!

  3. I have a recipe like this called Pretzel Torte that my mother-in-law gave me years ago. When I take it to pot luck luncheons, I come home with an empty pan: always a good sign. Her recipe calls for pie filling, with the cream cheese/whipped cream divided in half, above and below the fruit, and the top sprinkled with 1/4 cup reserved pretzel crust.

    I find the best way to crush the pretzels is a rolling pin or meat mallet. A food processor makes tiny crumbs and big chunks.

    I use organic, high quality, often organic pie filling, or make pie filling from frozen fruit like peaches, cherries or berries. If all I can find is ordinary grocery store pie filling, I buy two cans and take out the most of the sauce so that I’m using mostly fruit.

  4. I’m using fresh blueberries and cherry jello. The ingredients list was a bit confusing where brown sugar is not differentiated from white when mixing with cream cheese then whipped topping. So I mixed the brown in with the cream cheese and the white with the whipped cream ( I used cool whip instead). And this took an hour and a half from prep to fridge.

  5. Fresh raspberries are difficult to obtain where I live (an island in the middle of Penobscot Bay in Maine). Could I use frozen?

    1. Hi Betsy,
      I think this will work fine! I would recommend thawing the raspberries and draining as much of the juice as you can! I’d love to know how it turns out!