Strawberry Jello Salad
Easy strawberry jello salad is a quick, budget-friendly dessert made with fresh strawberries, flavored gelatin, and cook-and-serve vanilla pudding for a soft and creamy texture. This cheerful family favorite comes together easily and is the perfect dish to bring to a potluck party or serve as a simple treat.
We have several summertime potluck parties to attend each year and I'm always looking for something new to bring that is a crowd-pleaser.
This simple strawberry Jell-o salad is a classic "church dessert" type recipe that fits right in on a party table and is so easy to travel with.
It works as either a unique side dish or as a simple fruity dessert when topped with whipped cream or Cool Whip topping and could even work as the base for a super easy flag cake if you decorate the top with fresh blueberries, too.
Ingredients
This chilled Jello salad needs just a handful of ingredients:
- Fresh Strawberries: You could substitute fresh cherries as a fun variation.
- Instant Strawberry Jell-O: Pair the cherry flavor if you use fresh cherries.
- Cook and Serve Vanilla Pudding Mix: Do NOT use Instant pudding here.
- Whipped Cream or Cool Whip: For garnishing or frosting the entire top.
Prep the Fruit Layer
Assembling the salad is so quick and easy.
Start by thoroughly washing your fresh fruit. Trim and hull the strawberries and slice them.
Scatter the pieces in a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Add the gelatin and pudding mixes to a large saucepan. Stir in the water and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. You'll want to whisk it as it heats to make sure nothing settles to the bottom.
Pour the mixture over the fresh fruit.
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Chill Time
Place the dish in the fridge and let the Jell-o set for 3 1/2 - 4 hours.
The strawberries will float to the top and make a very pretty dish:
Add the Topping
You could add portions of whipped topping to each individual serving as desired or spread a container of Cool Whip evenly over the top.
This gives the dish a pretty surface for decorating with additional fresh fruit like blueberries if you'd like to make a quick and easy flag cake for a Memorial Day dessert or 4th of July potluck.
Serving Suggestions
When the summer is at its peak, this would be a refreshing treat to serve as an afternoon snack or even a dinnertime side dish without the whipped topping. It's so easy to just keep it in the fridge.
It's also a quick potluck party treat to bring when you're heading to a backyard barbecue. It's a fun vintage recipe to add to any buffet table.
More Potluck Party Desserts
Looking for more easy party desserts to bring to your next event? Here are a few of my favorites that travel well:
📖 Recipe
Strawberry Jello Salad
Ingredients
- 2 quarts fresh strawberries quartered
- 1 (4.6 oz) box of cook and serve vanilla pudding NOT instant pudding, the big box
- 4 (3 oz) boxes of instant strawberry jello the small box
- 4 cups water
- Whipped cream or Cool Whip for serving
Instructions Start Cooking
- Place the sliced strawberries in an even layer along the bottom of a 9x13-inch dish.
- Add the packages of vanilla pudding, strawberry jello, and water to a large pot. Whisk it all together and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Pour the jello mixture over the fruit and let set in the fridge for 3 1/2 - 4 hours.
- Serve squares of the fruity jello with dollops of whipped cream or Cool Whip over the top. For a fancy potluck dessert, you could spread the entire container of Cool Whip over the top and decorate with additional fresh berries.
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