Strawberry Pretzel Salad

This delicious strawberry pretzel salad has the perfect combination of salty, crunchy, creamy, and sweet. 

I’ve made a raspberry pretzle salad, so I was excited when I stumbled upon an easy strawberry pretzel salad recipe on Natasha’s Kitchen. These strawberry pretzel bars were super easy to make, and we all agreed they were delicious! Layered with a buttery pretzel crust, slathered with a cream cheese/whipped cream layer, and topped with sweet and tart strawberry slices in sweet jello–it’s such a fun & tasty dessert.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Jello:

• 6 oz strawberry jello
• 2 cups boiling water

Crust:

• 8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 2½ cups mini salted pretzels, well-crushed

Cream Cheese Mixture:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz Cool Whip, thawed in the refrigerator

Other Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled & sliced
• Whipped cream, for serving, if desired

How to Make Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, dissolve the strawberry gelatin in 2 cups of boiling water and mix well; set aside to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Add the crushed pretzels and stir until well combined. Press the mixture firmly and evenly into an ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

Place into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and cool to room temperature on a wire cooling rack.

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy.

Fold in the whipped topping until no streaks of cream cheese are visible.

Spread the creamy mixture evenly over the cooled crust, spreading it to the very edge of the pan to prevent the jellolayer from leaking through.

Place the pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the strawberries.

Hull and slice the strawberries, then add them to the large bowl of dissolved jello; mix well. Pour and spread the strawberry jello mixture evenly over your cooled cream cheese layer. Side Note: You can also layer the strawberries on top of the cream cheese layer and then pour the cooled jello on top of them if you’d prefer. 

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until jello is set (2-4 hours).  Slice and serve. Enjoy.