I was recently helping my mother in planning our families 4th of July meal when the topic of dessert came up. All of the familiar classics were proposed like cheesecake fruit tart, layered coconut cake, and zucchini cake. However, In honor of 2020 being such a “strange” year, we both decided to try something different. And while a lot of ideas were brought to the table my mother suggested something that I have never even heard of before, pretzel salad!
Now like most people who hear the word “pretzel salad” for the first time, my initial reaction was one of disgust. I mean a salad made out of pretzels, what kind of deranged human would come up with that. But after my mother explained what it is, I decided that it sounded pretty good.
So what is a pretzel salad?
Basically it’s like a dessert casserole. There’s a top layer made out of strawberry jello with sliced fresh strawberries in it. A middle layer that’s composed of a mixture of sweetened cream cheese and whipped cream. And a bottom layer that’s essentially a crushed pretzel crust, hence the name pretzel salad. Doesn’t sound too bad right? So with that being said let’s get to making our pretzel salad.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- Not a fan of strawberries? Then you can easily swap them out with a different type of fruit/jello flavor combination like pineapple.
- One easy way I have found to crush the pretzels is to place them in a plastic bag and then you a rolling pin to break them up.
- It takes this dish some time to properly set up so I recommend you make it one day in advance from when you plan on eating it. It will stay good for 3 to 4 days in your fridge.
Pretzel Salad Recipe
Total time: 4 hours (mainly to let the jello layer set up)
Servings: 12
Ingredients
For the pretzel crust:
2 ½ Cups of pretzels, crushed
¾ Cup of butter, melted
¼ Cup of granulated sugar
For the cream layer:
8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened
8 oz. container of Coolwhip, defrosted
¾ Cup of granulated sugar
For the strawberry topping:
6 oz. packet of strawberry Jello
1 Lb of fresh strawberries, tops removed and sliced
2 cups of boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Make the pretzel crust: Get out a large bowl and add the crushed pretzels, 8 tablespoons of butter, and ¼ cup of sugar to it. Use a spoon to incorporate all of those ingredients together. Then transfer this mixture to a 9 x 13 baking pan and use your hands to firmly press the crust to the bottom of the pan.
- Bake the pretzel crust: Place the pan in your heated oven and let it bake for 12 minutes. Then let it sit out on your counter until it has completely cooled.
- Make the cream layer: Use either a stand mixer or a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese and ¾ cup of sugar.
Then add the cool whip and fold it into the beaten cream cheese. 
Next, pour the cream layer over the pretzel crust and spread it out so that it completely covers it. Make sure that there are no holes or else the jello layer might seep into the bottom.
Finally, place this in the fridge and let it cool for 2 hours.
- Make and add the jello layer: Get out a large bowl and dissolve the jello in 2 cups of boiling water. Let this cool down to room temperature and then add in the sliced strawberries.
Finally pour this over the cream layer and place it in your fridge for 2 to 4 hours, or until the jello has set.
- Slice the pretzel salad into squares and enjoy!
Pretzel Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the pretzel crust:
- 2 ½ Cups of pretzels crushed
- ¾ Cup of butter melted
- ¼ Cup of granulated sugar
For the cream layer:
- 8 oz. block of cream cheese softened
- 8 oz. container of Coolwhip defrosted
- ¾ Cup of granulated sugar
For the strawberry topping:
- 6 oz. packet of strawberry Jello
- 1 Lb of fresh strawberries tops removed and sliced
- 2 cups of boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Make the pretzel crust: Get out a large bowl and add the crushed pretzels, 8 tablespoons of butter, and ¼ cup of sugar to it. Use a spoon to incorporate all of those ingredients together. Then transfer this mixture to a 9 x 13 baking pan and use your hands to firmly press the crust to the bottom of the pan.
- Bake the pretzel crust: Place the pan in your heated oven and let it bake for 12 minutes. Then let it sit out on your counter until it has completely cooled.
- Make the cream layer: Use either a stand mixer or a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese and ¾ cup of sugar. Then add the cool whip and fold it into the beaten cream cheese. Next, pour the cream layer over the pretzel crust and spread it out so that it completely covers it. Make sure that there are no holes or else the jello layer might seep into the bottom. Finally, place this in the fridge and let it cool for 2 hours.
- Make and add the jello layer: Get out a large bowl and dissolve the jello in 2 cups of boiling water. Let this cool down to room temperature and then add in the sliced strawberries. Finally pour this over the cream layer and place it in your fridge for 2 to 4 hours, or until the jello has set.
- Slice the pretzel salad into squares and enjoy!
