A favorite old-fashioned summer dessert, this Easy Strawberry Pretzel Salad is simple to make in an 8x8 pan. This sweet and salty side dish recipe is "small batch" for when you're not going to a potluck. Although, it can easily be doubled for a large family or a party or served as a dessert!
My shortcut version starts with a buttery, salty pretzel crust, then layered with a sweet cream cheese and whipped cream (Cool Whip) mixture, and topped tangy fresh strawberries and Jell-O gelatin.
Strawberry Pretzel Salad is easy to make the night before you serve it for your family or a party. The vibrant red color also makes it popular to serve during the holidays like Christmas.
Fresh, juicy strawberries are plentiful all year round, especially from Valentines Day Fourth of July, so that's when I think to make it the most. If you don't have fresh strawberries, no worries! Thawed, frozen strawberries will work just fine.
Shortcuts
- Small batch- Typically, the traditional recipe for Strawberry Pretzel Salad is made in a 13x9-inch pan or dish. I've cut the recipe in half, so it's just enough for a family or a small gathering.
- No food processor or hand mixer needed- Bonus! I use the bottom of a glass measuring cup or a drinking glass to crush the pretzels; no food processor to clean up. Scroll down to see the printable recipe to see my cream cheese trick to avoiding getting out the hand mixer!
- Pretzel crust- Crushing pretzels and adding melted butter makes a quick & easy crust rather than making a cookie bar-like crust from scratch.
- Optional frozen strawberries- Using frozen strawberries you already have on hand saves time cutting up strawberries and money if you grew them yourself!
- Cool Whip vs Whipping cream- Cool Whip...well... it's already whipped.
Pro tip: I do NOT recommend using the aerosol can of Reddi Wip for the fluffy filling in this recipe. Don't get me wrong, it has real cream in it and I use it in other recipes to quickly top off my 2 Ingredient Mini Pumpkin Pies, but it deflates quickly. So, it is best not to use it in recipes other than replacing a dollop of whipped cream on top of desserts-like this one!
Ingredients
Scroll down to printable recipe for ingredient quantities.
- Pretzels- Salted pretzel sticks and thin pretzel twists work best for crushing.
- Butter- Salted or unsalted butter will work. Avoid the vegetable oil spreads and margarine that look like softened butter. They have a high water content which will result in a soggy crust.
- Sugar- Granulated or powdered confectioners sugar. If using powdered sugar, just increase the amount to ⅓ cup.
- Cream Cheese
- Cool Whip- If you want to make a slightly more healthy version, try Truewhip. It has no hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup. Or, whip ½ cup heavy whipping cream with an electric mixer.
- Strawberry Jell-O gelatin
- Fresh Strawberries, sliced
How to make Easy Strawberry Pretzel Salad in an 8x8 pan
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees
- Crush pretzels in a zip-top plastic bag with a rolling pin or bottom of a glass. No need for a food processor here.
- Combine crushed pretzels, brown sugar, and melted butter in a medium-size bowl.
- Be sure to combine well. I usually use my fingers to mix in the butter.
- Press the mixture onto the bottom of an 8x8 pan or baking dish.
- Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature (about 20 minutes).
- Dissolve Jell-O gelatin in boiling water. Place in the fridge until slightly thickened.
- Meanwhile, whisk softened cream cheese. (See my microwave trick below to avoid using an electric mixer here.
- Gently fold in Cool Whip.
- Dollop cream cheese mixture on cooled pretzel crust, then spread all the way to the edges of the 8x8 pan to seal it.
Pro Tip: Waiting for cream cheese to get to room temperature can take hours. Shortcut this step by removing it from the wrapper, place on a small plate and microwave on HIGH for 10 seconds. Flip it over and microwave again for another 10 seconds. Done. Room temperature cream cheese.
Finally, spoon or pour strawberry gelatin mixture onto the cream cheese layer, spreading all the way to the edges of the 8x8 pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm.
Cut the chilled salad into squares to serve as a salad or side dish. It can also be spooned out.
Video
Watch the video of me making this dish with a WBRC anchor live on the Good Day Alabama morning show. Click on the image to watch!
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Substitutions & Variations
- Pretzels - Use what you have- sticks, small twists, large thins twists. I don't recommend unsalted unless you are on a low-salt diet.
- Graham cracker crumbs- For a more cheesecake-like dessert, substitute same amount of graham cracker crumbs for crushed pretzels.
- Go nuts! Stir in about ¼ cup chopped pecans or peanuts to add an extra layer of Southern flavor.
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad Pie- Make this filling and strawberry gelatin topping and put in a deep-dish, store-bought graham cracker pie crust for a shortcut pie version.
- Frozen strawberries- If you're like me, you have frozen strawberries in your freezer. Just be sure to drain them after thawing.
- Don't throw away the frozen thawed strawberry juice! Reserve it and trade out some of the water for making the Jell-O with the drained juice for an even more flavorful salad.
- Other fruit- Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and halved fresh cherries (or any combination of fruit) would be delicious. If using cherries, just substitute cherry Jell-O. Stir in an 8-ounce can of drained crushed pineapple into the cream cheese mixture for a tropical twist.
- Other Jell-O flavors- Get creative! Use what you have. For a kid-friendly version, cut Moon Drop grapes (or any grapes) in half and use grape Jell-O.
- To save a few calories, swap out cream cheese for Neufchatel cheese. It's also slightly softer, so you may not even need a hand mixer. Here's a breakdown of the differences in the two cheeses.
- Whipped cream- I've already mentioned it, but whipped real cream can be used instead of Cool Whip. I've seen another recipe mention that whipped cream makes the crust soggy, but I have not experienced that. I use whatever I have on hand and both work fine for me. For 1 cup of whipped cream, beat ½ cup heavy whipping cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
Dollop Easy Strawberry Pretzel Salad with Cool Whip or whipped cream to serve as a dessert.
Helpful Information
According to Philadelphia cream cheese, you can store it in the refrigerator up to 1 month past the "Best when sold by" date. So, this gives you plenty of time to use up leftover cream cheese.
My Southern brain immediately goes to pimento cheese. My Creamy Jalapeno Pimento Cheese calls for exactly 4 ounces of cream cheese. Here are a ten creative ideas for using up your leftover cream cheese.
Yes. Press the crust into a large bowl and instead of baking it, freeze it for 15 minutes. Proceed with the rest of the recipe. It will take a little longer for the Jell-O to set up since it will be slightly deeper in a bowl. The crust will be more crumbly. If you use an oven-proof Pyrex 3 quart bowl, you can even bake the crust.
The short answer is no. You can freeze it for 15 minutes to help firm up the crust before spreading the filling over it. It will be more crumbly, but will work. See my Pro Tip on how to spread the filling in the NOTES of the printable recipe below.
Yes. For a 9x9 pan, you can either make the recipe as is and it will be slightly thinner, or increase all the ingredients a little. Use these amounts: 1 ⅔ cups crushed pretzels, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 9 tablespoons butter, 3 ounce package strawberry gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ¾ cup cold water, 6 ounces cream cheese, ⅓ cup granulated sugar, 1 ½ cups Cool Whip plus more for dolloping on top.
To make Easy Strawberry Pretzel Salad in a 13x9 inch pan, simply double all the ingredients from the original amounts.
Yes. Thaw and drain 16 ounces or about 1 ½ cups frozen strawberries. The drained strawberry juice can be traded out for an equal amount of boiling water.
What to serve with Easy Strawberry Pretzel Salad?
If you're serving it as a salad, I recommend these shortcut side dish recipes:
- Fresh Green Bean Casserole
- Candied Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Easy Southern Macaroni Salad
- Shortcut Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
If you're serving it as a dessert, I recommend these shortcut main dish recipes:
- Instant Pot Bone-In Turkey Breast & Gravy
- Grilled Spatchcocked Turkey
- Instant Pot Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya
- Grilled Venison Burgers
- Easy Hamburger Vegetable Soup
Storage
Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. Cream cheese and gelatin mixtures do not freeze well.
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Easy Strawberry Pretzel Salad (8x8 pan)
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups small pretzel twists or sticks about 3 ounces (1 ½ cups crushed)
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar or granulated sugar
- ½ cup salted or unsalted butter melted (1 stick or 8 tablespoons)
- 1 3 ounce package strawberry flavored gelatin (I used Jell-O)
- 1 cup boiling water + ½ cup cold water (measured separately)
- 4 ounces cream cheese (½ of an 8 ounce package)
- 1 ¼ cups Cool Whip plus more for dolloping on top, if desired
- ¼ cup granulated sugar or ⅓ cup powdered confectioners sugar
- 1 ½ cups hulled and sliced strawberries about ¾ of a 16-ounce container
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
- Combine crushed pretzels, brown sugar, and melted butter in a medium-size bowl. Press the mixture onto the bottom of an 8x8 pan or baking dish. Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature (about 20 minutes).
- Meanwhile, combine boiling water (see Notes for microwave time) and strawberry gelatin, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Stir in ½ cup cold water. Place in refrigerator until slightly thickened to the consistency of egg whites (about 20 minutes-which is perfect for the timing of the crust to cool down). (Be careful not to let it get too thick at this point.)
- To avoid using an electric mixer, I get the cream cheese very soft by microwaving it. Unwrap the cream cheese and place on a plate. Microwave on HIGH for 10 seconds; flip it over and microwave again for 10 seconds. The cream cheese should be soft enough to stir with a whisk or spoon.
- Whisk together softened cream cheese and granulated sugar. Whisk until sugar is almost dissolved. Gently fold in Cool Whip with a spatula until you don’t see any streaks of cream cheese.
- When the crust is about room temperature, dollop the cream cheese filling onto the crust, then spread evenly to the edges of the pan. This step is important so the gelatin won’t seep down to the crust.
- Add the sliced strawberries to the gelatin or arrange on top of cream cheese mixture. It should slightly thickened at this point but still pourable. Pour or spoon the strawberry mixture over the filling and spread it all the way to the edges of the pan.
- Place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for at least 2 hours or until the gelatin is firm. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Cut into squares to serve. Dollop with additional Cool Whip, if desired.
Notes
To make Easy Strawberry Pretzel Salad in a 13x9 inch pan, simply double all the ingredients from the original amounts.
Nutrition
Nutrition analysis on GritsAndGouda.com recipes are mostly calculated on an online nutrition calculator. I am not a dietitian and nutritional information is an estimate and can vary based on products used.
Joanne SCHLUND
I was searching for a recipe for a smaller batch of this salad to avoid the soggy crust, since the family is grown and gone. Great solution for us!
Kathleen
I completely get it. Since my husband and I are empty nesters, we often don't want or need an entire 13x9 of anything! Plus, sometimes it's nice to have smaller amounts if families don't like leftovers. Let me know if you try the sprinkling of the pretzel idea!
Barbara
Love the size of this dessert!!!
The pretzels don't get mushy before it's all gone.
Recipe was really simple and taste delicious!!!
Will make it again I'm sure!!!
gritsandgouda
So glad you love it! Yes, the smaller size is perfect for us when we aren't going to a potluck. Thank you for commenting and hope you'll rate it 5 stars!
Deanna Loden
I can't eat cool whip. So I make the same amount of whipped cream to incorporate with the cream cheese.
gritsandgouda
That's a perfect substitution. So glad you can still enjoy this sweet and salty treat.
Zeeka
The jello was not thick enough. I did what you said on the short cut recipe,used the 8x8 pan. Still taste good
gritsandgouda
I'm so sorry your gelatin wasn't thick enough. Were you able to chill the gelatin in the fridge until slightly thickened, first? The printable recipe card suggests 20 minutes or until consistency of egg whites before adding strawberries. If using frozen strawberries, that adds extra liquid, too.
Joanne SCHLUND
This is exactly why I searched for a recipe for a smaller batch! My husband even suggested not doing the pretzel crust, and sprinkling them over the top when serving! May try it!