This Strawberry Pretzel Salad is one of the best summertime or anytime desserts! Salty & sweet crushed pretzels create the perfect crust and foundation for all the goodness that goes on top. A whipped cream and cream cheese mixture forms the second layer and then all of those delicious strawberries mixed with strawberry gelatin goes on top. It’s the perfect combination of honestly...everything!
This is seriously one of my all-time absolute favorite desserts. But if you haven’t guessed by now it’s actually not a salad at all, lol, it's definitely a dessert so I’m not sure where the name Strawberry Pretzel Salad comes from. When I was growing up we always called this sweet treat a Strawberry Pretzel Surprise. It’s one of our family favorites during the summertime for holidays and cookouts and will have all of your guests asking you just how in the world did you make it?!😊
Ingredients For Strawberry Pretzel Salad
The ingredients to make this delicious dessert are pretty simple. Here's what you'll need:
Crushed Pretzels - Just grab you a bag of regular salty pretzels from the chip aisle and crush them in a large ziplock bag. This will help form the crust.
Butter & Sugar - What dessert doesn’t have a little butter and sugar mixed in. This gives the pretzels that delicious salty & sweet taste and also sweetens the cream cheese mixture.
Cream Cheese (softened) - I try to get the best quality ingredients when it comes to any dessert recipes. They make a huge difference. So grab a good quality cream cheese package and make sure it has time to soften at room temperature.
Cool Whip - The cool whip will get mixed with the softened cream cheese to form the second layer of this dessert.
Sliced Strawberries - Frozen or fresh strawberries will work for this dessert! I’ve recently noticed that fresh work a little bit better.
Strawberry Gelatin - Gotta have the strawberry gelatin or jello to help it all come together!
Step-By-Step Instructions
Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here’s a quick overview:
Step One: Crush your pretzels in a large ziplock bag (or pulse them a few times in a food processor). Use a rolling pin to help you crush them if you have one. Add the crushed pretzels to a large bowl. Mix in the melted butter and sugar with the pretzels and stir until well combined. Spread pretzel mixture into the bottom of a baking dish making sure the entire bottom layer is covered with pretzels. Gently press the pretzel mixture down to create an even and flat crust.
Step Two: Place the baking dish in the oven and bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the crust to completely cool.
Step Three: In a large bowl combine the softened cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixture. Next fold in the whipped cream or cool whip with the cream cheese until the mixture is completely blended and smooth.
Step Four: Spread cream cheese mixture on top of cooled pretzel crust. Make sure to spread evenly. Put the dish in the refrigerator for a few minutes just until mixture is cool and slightly set.
Step Five: While you are cooling your cream cheese layer, melt the gelatin with boiling hot water. Allow the gelatin to cool for 5-10 minutes then add the sliced strawberries and stir. Carefully pour the strawberries and gelatin mixture on top of the cream cheese layer. Now cover with a lid or plastic wrap and place the entire dish back in the refrigerator and allow it to completely cool and set for at least 3-4 hours before serving.
The Best Recipe Tips!
- Allow it to cool. Make sure to cool each layer before moving on to the next one. This will help make sure each layer is completely set and doesn’t melt too fast when moving to the next step.
- Thoroughly mix the cream cheese, sugar, and whipped cream together. Make sure your cream cheese is soft enough to blend with the sugar. Mix the two together then fold in the whipped cream so they all become one mixture. But be careful not to over mix the whipped cream.
- Fresh vs. Frozen Strawberries. For years I used frozen strawberries to make this recipe, which works very well. This is how you will see me make it in my Youtube video below. However the frozen strawberries can cause the gelatin to set a lot faster and ultimately end up not as smooth. I recently started using fresh strawberries and I like the consistency a lot better. Either way, both options work well and taste great! If you choose to use frozen, just make sure to buy the "sliced" frozen strawberries.
More Sweet Dessert Recipes
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Ingredients
Pretzel Crust
- 2 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 3 tablespoon granulated white sugar for pretzels
Cream Cheese & Strawberry Layers
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 8 oz. cool whip
- 6 oz. strawberry gelatin
- 2 cups boiling water
- 3 cups fresh sliced strawberries* (if using frozen get the "sliced frozen" strawberries)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add several handfuls of pretzels to a large ziplock bag and crush them with your hands or a rolling pin. You can also add the pretzels to a food processor and pulse several times. Repeat this process until you have roughly 2 1/2 cups of crushed pretzels.
- Add the crushed pretzels to a medium bowl. Add in the melted butter and 3 tablespoons of granulated white sugar. Mix the pretzels with the butter and sugar until well combined. Layer the pretzel mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Press the mixture down and spread it evenly.
- Bake the pretzel crust in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the dish from oven and let it cool.
- Next grab another large bowl and blend the softened cream cheese and ½ cup white sugar together with a hand blender. Blend until the sugar is thoroughly combined and cream cheese is smooth.
- Fold the cool whip into the cream cheese mixture with a large spoon or rubber spatula.
- Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the cooled pretzel crust. Make sure to spread it evenly all the way to the edge. Do not leave any gaps around the sides of the dish. Place the dish in the refrigerator to keep the cream cheese layer cold.
- Now melt the strawberry gelatin in a large bowl with the boiling water. Allow the gelatin to cool for 8-10 minutes. Add the sliced strawberries. Stir them carefully with the gelatin and pour the strawberry mixture on top of the cream cheese layer.
- Cover the dish with a lid or with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 3-4 hours. You want the dessert to cool completely and set. Once strawberry pretzel salad has completely set its time to enjoy!
Glenda
Making it today for the first time . Will give an update . Looks delicious .