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 Midwest we 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 separate stemmed 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!
- Dissolve any flavor jello in 2 cups boiling water.
- Add a package of cream cheese and use a mixer or blender to blend thoroughly.
- 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.
- 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).
- Once it’s the consistency of unbeaten egg whites, stir in about 1 cup of fruit.
- 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 these little nifty containers and 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.
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5 Minute Jello Salad with Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 6 ounce box any flavor jello
- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened and chopped into large pieces
- 2 cups boiling water
- Optional toppings: Cool Whip, fresh fruit, mini marshmallows mixed with sour cream (see recipe notes)
Instructions
- Pour jello into a large bowl (helps with splatters while mixing). Add 2 cups of boiling water and stir to dissolve.
- Add 8 ounce softened and chopped cream cheese to dissolved, hot jello. Let stand for 5 minutes for cream cheese to soften. Use hand mixer (or blender) on LOW speed to thoroughly combine. (TIP: A blender or immersion blender makes the least amount of mess and blends in the cream cheese best. If you don't have a blender, place the mixing bowl in the sink and beat it in there with a hand mixer. You will have yourself a kitchen counter clean up!) Mix until smooth and large lumps are no longer visible. (This will take a couple minutes to mix and some very small lumps may remain).
- Add 1/2 cup cold water. Stir and pour into individual cups or serving bowl. Refrigerate until set, about 6 hours or overnight. Top with whip cream or fresh fruit before serving.
- DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? DON'T FORGET TO GIVE IT A STAR RATING AND COMMENT BELOW!
Recipe Notes
- 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 90 minutes).
- Once it’s the consistency of unbeaten egg whites, stir in about 1 cup of fruit.
- Drain fruit well so extra liquid doesn’t prohibit the jello from setting.
- 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.
- For ultra creamy jello salad, 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 these little nifty containers and your jello shot party is portable!
- Add Cool Whip, homemade whipped cream, or miniature marshmallows mixed with sour cream (see heading below) 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.
Nutrition
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Robin says
I just want to say, that is was SUPER messed up, for whoever it was on Feb 14th of 2019, to have left you a poor review just because a hand blender did that.
Not your fault it happened that way.
Maybe they should use a bowl with HIGHER SIDES!
Anyway, thanks for the simple and yummy recipe!
Using it for a half-and-half regular jello and whipped jello cups for my daughter’s 18th birthday today. :))
Melissa Erdelac says
Thanks for the backup, Robin 🙂 Love the half and half idea! I’ll give that a try.
Best,
Melissa
Carol Thiel says
I made it with Raspberry jello, I mixed it very slow and steady blended on low. Then I moved it to next speed still it was blended well with the whip look. Then stirred water in and poured into bowl. It looks great! Thanks! Carol
Melissa says
Thank you, Carol! Although the recipe isn’t at all difficult, you have to be careful to mix on low speed as to not make a mess. Sounds like you found a great method!
Best,
Melissa
Becky says
When your recipe call for a box of jello, is that the small size or the large box?
Melissa says
Hi Becky,
You use two 3 ounce boxes.
Best,
Melissa
Mary Parkwell says
Was a hit!! Fast, easy and great!
Melissa says
Hi Mary,
Thank you for taking a moment to write. I’m so glad it was such a hit!
Best,
Melissa
Gerry - BK says
Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe. We loved it. I used the blender option and went with cream cheese, lime jello and thinly sliced strawberries that I added right into the jello. Stirring a few times over the 1 1/2 hour period so that the fruit wouldn’t sink to the bottom, it worked perfectly. Garnished with whipped cream and a raspberry for a wonderful dessert. BK
Melissa says
Hello! That sounds like the perfectly refreshing dessert. I’ve never thought of adding the strawberries to lime, but I love the sound of that!
Best,
Melissa
Mei says
I thought Jello gelatin would be good combined with cream cheese, and this recipe is perfect for that combo. Thanks!
Melissa says
Hi Mei,
You are so welcome! I hope it becomes a staple at your house, like it is at ours!
Best,
Melissa
Kathy says
Love this! I used orange jello with mandarin oranges and instead of the cold water, I put in orange juice.
Melissa says
Thanks for sharing that! It sounds like a wonderful version, like an orange creamscicle. I do love how adaptable this recipe is. You can change it up everytime!
Best,
Melissa
Julie says
I cut the recipe in half, which made it perfect for 1-2 people. I made it with orange jello, and used an immersion hand blender which perfectly incorporated the jello and cream cheese. I then added 2 snack=sized cups of mandarin oranges (drained). Came out perfect! Thanks for a super easy and quick “desert” (because I’m a Midwesterner, who has uttered the words, shoot, I forgot the jello salad! more times than I can remember!)
Melissa says
Your comment made my day! First of all, I love the variation with orange and mandarin oranges. Second, I love that you totally understand the importance and perils of jello salad!
Best,
Melissa
Anonymous says
I will use a blender next time. I placed the hand mixer into the bowl of cream cheese and jello-water, pushed the mixer dial from 0 to 1 and blam! Black cherry water all over my shirt and counter tops!
Melissa says
I’m so sorry that happened to you! Oh my gosh, that is the absolute worst to clean up a huge mess in the middle of cooking.
Sarah says
Canned pineapple will allow Jello to set because it is partially cooked as part of the canning process, and this destroys the protease enzyme. Cooking the other fruits mentioned will do the same thing.