Best Jello Salad Recipe

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Jell-O Salad is one of my very favorite recipes from my childhood. It was at every single family event, and I would eat heaps of it! If there were leftovers (seldom), I’d eat those for every meal until it was all gone. It may sound a little strange to mix cottage cheese, Cool Whip, Jell-O, and fruit– but I promise it’s SO GOOD!

This Jell-O Salad is a must at any family event or holiday meal! It’s perfect for spring and summer potlucks, and you can really change it up to add any kind of fruit that you love.

– Ashton
Jello Salad in bowl with cut strawberries on top

Everyone loves Jell-O Salad!

A FEW THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT THIS RECIPE FOR JELL-O SALAD:

  • One of the greatest things about this recipe is that you can change out the strawberry Jell-O I call for in this recipe and use any flavor you’d like! I’ve made Jell-O salad with raspberry Jell-O, lime Jell-O, cherry Jell-O, and orange Jell-O! I bet pineapple and lemon would be pretty good too.
  • I really love using pineapple in this recipe. It never gets soggy or loses it’s texture like some other fruits do, which means it stays great in the fridge for days. But if you aren’t planning on leftovers and will be serving the day you make it (or maybe the day after), you could definitely sub in other fruits. Raspberries, strawberries, mandarin oranges, maraschino cherries, and blueberries would all work really well.
  • It’s really important to follow the ORDER of adding ingredients as listed in the instructions below. The Jell-O powder must be added directly to the cottage cheese before the Cool Whip is added. Otherwise, you’ll have chunks of Jell-O powder throughout the salad. Trust me– I’ve made this mistake enough times to know!
  • You can certainly use low fat cottage cheese, sugar free Jell-O mix, and fat free/sugar free/light Cool Whip to lighten up this recipe! It STILL tastes delicious and the texture is still great too. For reference, I always use sugar free Jell-O and light Cool Whip when I make this recipe.
Overhead photo of pink jello salad

This Jell-O Salad is a must at any family event or holiday meal! It's perfect for spring and summer potlucks, and you can really change it up to add any kind of fruit that you love.

Best Jell-O Salad

Yield: 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

It may sound a little strange to mix cottage cheese, Cool Whip, Jell-O, and fruit-- but I promise it's SO GOOD!

Ingredients

  • 16 oz cottage cheese
  • 2 packages of 3.4 ozΒ Jell-OΒ mix (or .6 oz sugar free), strawberry flavored
  • 1 cupΒ pecanΒ halves, chopped
  • 16-20 oz pineapple tidbits, drained (do NOT use crushed pineapple!)
  • 16 ozΒ Cool Whip

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix together the cottage cheese and the Jell-O mix.
  2. Mix in the pineapple tidbits and pecans.
  3. Fold in the Cool Whip.
  4. Can be served immediately, but I like it best when it's had an hour or two to chill.

Notes

CaloriesΒ 208 |Β FatΒ 13g |Β Saturated Fat 3g |Β CarbsΒ 14g |Β Fiber 1g |Β SugarsΒ 8g |Β ProteinΒ 10g

Nutrition approximated using sugar free Jell-O mix and Cool Whip Light

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41 thoughts on “Best Jello Salad Recipe”

  1. I am not even going to lie, the cheese is fuh-reaking me out. I need to try it just so I can find out if you’re crazy or not. Haha! πŸ™‚

    • haha, really??? It’s awesome. You need to do it! I didn’t even think it might be weird until I was writing this, and I was like– I wonder if anyone is going to be weirded out by the cheese??

  2. Haha that’s so funny you posted this! Every year at Christmas my mom makes a green jello salad (minus the pecans), and we call it green goo! She also makes it with a lemon sauce sometimes and it’s so good!

  3. I just finished eating half a big bowl of this stuff (made with orange jello, mandarin oranges and crushed pineapple). My mom used to make it and now my sister and I make it whenever we remember. Fortunately for me, my husband doesn’t like it (can you believe I married someone who doesn’t like whipped cream:), so sister and I split the leftovers and are two happy ladies.

    • I make it like this too, my son requests this the most and he is now 33 years old! I like it with strawberries and strawberry jello as well.

      • Cottage cheese is wonderful with Jello! Especially the tangy flavors. It’s great to use on layered Jello with a layer of sour cream and a layer of cool Whip. And a layer of nuts on the top! Can also put a layer of cream cheese if you want.

  4. I bet this is really good and that you can’t even taste the cottage cheese. I seriously love the mandarin orange + marshmallow jello salad, but this one may need to be brought to the table soon as well!

  5. the cottage cheese in this is wonderful.whats better then fruit and cottage.add cool whip and its a party worthy dish.very good stuff.the old version,my mother used to fix and the newer improved version

  6. Haven’t made or seen this in a long time, but it IS great! The cottage cheese works! Not that I am off sugar, going to try the SF version.

  7. I make something kinda similar. It has cool whip, canned cherry pie mix, crushed pineapple, sweetened condensed milk, and marshmallows. Ok so maybe it’s not that similar…. But it’s still very good!

  8. Sounds yummy and easy!! Questions, do you drain the pineapple tidbits? What jello flavor seems to be the best choice? Thanks!

  9. My husband HATES cottage cheese so I never make this. But my family calls it Quick salad! We do all sorts or flavors too, peach with canned peaches, raspberry with raspberries and pineapple, etc. So fun!

  10. We’ve been making this for years but we use pistachio jello with pistachio bits and crushed pineapple (well drained). Oh my I must go to the kitchen now!

  11. We’ve been making this for years(over 30). Peach jello has the best flavor and has a pretty pink. We usually add fresh green grapes and manderine oranges.

    Never aded pecans though.

  12. This looks so yummy! And everyone knows cottage cheese is a diet food, so obviously this is too! Can’t wait to try it, thanks for sharing.

  13. Oohh! This stuff is so yummy! If you freeze it then it’s like really healthy ice cream πŸ˜€

  14. I must say I’m really loving your pictures of your food! This jello recipe looks amazing as well! LOL I’m pinning so I can add this to my ever growing list of “must makes”. In the meantime, I have got to work on my picture-taking skills! πŸ™‚

  15. I just made this a couple of hours ago (and a couple of days ago too) before seeing your recipe. Our favorites are lime or orange Jello. I, too, mix the Jello with the cottage cheese first, then I add miniature marshmallows (we like the chewy texture), then I add mandarin oranges, drained, and crushed pineapples, drained, then chopped pecans – a lot, then stir in the Cool Whip. It’s so yummy and a favorite at covered dish meals, too. Never bring any home.

  16. I have made this Jello salad and added mandarin oranges, coconut and drained fruit cocktail. Also fresh strawberries! It is so YUM! Not to sweet, thanks to the cottage cheese. Wonder if it would also taste good with a little sour cream or yogurt???? I have a couple of teenagers who simply LOVE it! πŸ™‚

  17. My family feel the same way about this salad. We never had a name for it beside Pink Stuff. The question was always and still who is making the Pink Stuff. We never tell anyone what is in it bc many people freak out about the cottage cheese. If you try it you will love it.

  18. This is funeral salad. It got its name because it’s at every luncheon after a funeral. πŸ™‚ At least in Arizona it was. Been eating it for at least 35+ years because of my Mum.

  19. My Granny always made this with orange jello & she used crushed pineapple instead of the tidbits.
    We loved this salad. Thanks for inspiring me to make it in memory of my Granny πŸ™‚

  20. I love, love, love this salad!!! I grew up calling it the Dry Jello Salad. In fact that’s how it is listed in my recipes too! I used crushed pineapple instead of tidbits – still yummy with any type of pineapple used! Now I must get some ingredients at the store this weekend and make me some!! **Licking my Lips**!!!

  21. I have had this since I was a kid. My mother always made it with peach jello and drained diced peaches in it. That’s still my favorite although I have now tried it with many flavors of jello and fruit. Always a winner.

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