The Best Raspberry Cream Cheese Jello Salad (2024)

This Jello Salad recipe takes five minutes and uses only jello and cream cheese to make! Easy, old fashioned jello salad can be adapted for raspberry, strawberry, lime, or orange flavors, mixed with fruit, or topped with a creamy dollop of cool whip.

Cream cheese jello salad is the perfect easy side for potlucks, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or family dinners!

What is Jello Salad and its history

Although the height of jello dishes peaked in the 1960s, gelatin actually dates back to medieval times. Gelatinous collagen was rendered from animal bones and served as molded centerpieces for elaborate gatherings.

According to Serious Eats, the process was tedious and not for the faint of heart, so gelatin dishes were reserved for high society and nobility.

Instant gelatin came with the emergence of the Industrial Revolution. It was quick, economical, and saved the housewife from using up stores of sugar.

Post World War II, corporations didn’t want to slow down their wartime productions of feeding troops with instant and processed foods. Jell-O found a revitalized niche when advertisers appealed to busy housewives, caught up with children, chores, and increasingly working outside the home.

Cookbooks at the time mimicked home cook’s new found obsession. The Joy of Cooking and Betty Crocker devoted entire sections to the genre. Jello molds or “jello cookery” made impressive presentations of gelatin encasing fruits, vegetables, and even meats.

Old Fashioned Jello Salad with cream cheese

Here in the Midwestwe consider jello salad an essential food group.Holiday meals, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter consist of an entree, rolls, potatoes, casseroles, and jello salad as our “fruit.”

Creamy jello salad is such a fundamental side dish, many households stock individual serving bowls solely devoted it.

God forbid the gelatin salad gets plopped down next to the mashed potatoes.It must be held in separatestemmed glass dishes, holding court at the top of the dinner plates.

The fancy serving dishes provide another purpose for my mother.Otherwise there’d be no visual cue for her to jump up halfway through the meal exclaiming, “Shoot! I forgot about the jello salad!”

Sometimes the stemmed jello bowls weren’t enough to jog her memory. (Perhaps because she rarely sat down at holiday meals?) The cream cheese jello salad was forgotten altogether at dinner and we were forced to eat it with dessert. Pure anarchy.

How to Make Raspberry, Strawberry, Orange, or Lime Jello Salad

My family prefers the creamy raspberry jello salad version, but any flavor will work. Two ingredients, 5 minutes, a little refrigeration time, and you have an excuse to break out the fancy jello dessert bowls.

If you love using one easy recipe to make a variety of flavors, try butterscotch delight or pumpkin lush desserts, also made with cream cheese!

1. Dissolve any flavor jello in 2 cups boiling water.
2. Add a package of cream cheese and use a mixer or blender to blend thoroughly.
3. Stir in 3/4 cup cold water and refrigerate till set.

Tips for Making Creamy Jello Salad Recipes with Fruit

Pick a fresh, frozen, or canned fruit to pair with raspberry, strawberry, orange, or lime jello flavors. Read tips below to save yourself from jello mishaps.

1. You may stir in fruit after adding cold water, but it may sink to the bottom. For perfect presentation, refrigerate jello first to partially set (approximately 60-90 minutes).
2. Once it’s the consistency of unbeaten egg whites, stir in about 1 cup of fruit.
3. Drain fruit well so extra liquid doesn’t prohibit the jello from setting.

Types of Fruit to Add

When adding fruit to old fashioned cream cheese jello salad, make sure it is very well drained. Too much extra liquid added will prevent jello from setting.

• canned or crushed pineapple (Also tastes great in Raspberry Cranberry Jello Salad!)
• canned mandarin oranges, well drained (For a creamsicle flavored jello, try Orange Jello Fluff Salad!)
• fresh or canned pears
• bananas
• fresh or frozen strawberries
• grapes
• berries – blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries

Types of Fruit to NOT put in Jello

Certain fruits shouldn’t be added to jello. Any fruits that contain proteases will prevent the gelatin from solidifying.

• fresh pineapple (Drained canned or crushed pineapple is fine, though. Weird jello-science I cannot explain.)
• mango
• guava
• kiwi
• papaya
• figs

Adding Marshmallows and Sour Cream

If you are making raspberry jello salad, you might as well go totally retro and a tangy sweet marshmallow sour cream topping!

Mix together 1 cup of sour cream, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, and 2 cups of miniature marshmallows. Spread on set jello.

If you want to get really nutty, throw some chopped walnuts on top. 🤓

How long will jello last?

Generally, jello disappears before anyone worries if it’s gone bad. However, if you have some freakish willpower, jello will last 7-10 days covered in the refrigerator.

According to The Kitchn, if your jello has fruit added, it’s best consumed within three days.

best Ideas / Tips for Making Jello Salad with cream cheese

• The cream cheese blends in smoother if it is softened and chopped into large pieces.
• If using a hand mixer, be careful mixing the cream cheese with jello because it’s very liquidy. To avoid a mess throw it in a blender or use an immersion blender. Alternatively, place the mixing bowl in the sink and mix it in there to avoid cleaning your kitchen counter.
• For ultra creamy jello, whisk in 2 cups cool whip topping into jello after adding cold water. Refrigerate until set.
• Jello shots anyone? Reduce the boiling water to 1 1/2 cups and pour in 1 cup of vanilla or raspberry vodka after the cream cheese is mixed in. Pour into theselittle nifty containersand your jello shot party is portable!
• Add Cool Whip, homemade whipped cream, or miniature marshmallows mixed with sour cream (see heading above) as a topping.
• Go nuts and make a parfait – In individual serving dishes layer jello cream cheese salad, fresh fruit, cool whip, marshmallows, and coconut.

Click here to see thestep-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!

Other Effortless Side Dishes:

• Salt Potatoes
• Best Grits Ever
• Frozen Fruit Salad
• Smashed Potatoes
• Apple Pecan Salad

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