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!
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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 cream jello salad (dessert?) 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 jello with cream cheese was forgotten altogether at dinner and we were forced to eat it with dessert. Pure anarchy.
This is probably our most made side because you can’t really beat two ingredients, but for Thanksgiving we might get really nutty and indulge in this vintage cranberry jello salad and Easter usually means making every one’s spring time hit – orange fluff with cottage cheese!
Wow! My grandmother used to make this! No one knew the recipe she used and I have been looking for it on and off for years.
—Kate
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.
—Gerry
Let’s Make This Together!
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.
Dissolve the jello
First, take any flavor jello and dissolve in 2 cups of boiling water.
Adding cream cheese and blending tips
Make sure the cream cheese is softened so it blends in nice and smooth. Also, full fat cream cheese works better for this. Chopping it in cubes will soften and blend in faster.
For blending it, even though it’s shown here with a hand mixer, which will work, I’ve found using a blender or immersion blender does a better job. It will also save you from some potential splashes and clean up. It’s very liquidy so it will have a tendency to splash!
More water and chill
Now just stir in 3/4 cup cold water, pour it into your serving dish and chill until ready to enjoy!
Tips for Making Creamy Jello Salad 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. 🤓
Pro Tips to Remember!
- 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)
Video
Instructions
- Pour jello into a large bowl (helps with splatters while mixing). Add 2 cups of boiling water and stir to dissolve.6 ounce box any flavor jello, 2 cups boiling water
- 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).8 ounce package cream cheese
- 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.
Notes
Adding 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 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.
More Ideas / Tips
- 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.
- 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.
Adding Marshmallows and Sour Cream
Mix together 1 cup of sour cream, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, and 2 cups of miniature marshmallows. Spread on set jello.This post contains affiliate links. My opinions are always my own. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I make a small commission – at no cost to you. Read full disclosure policy here.
Wow! My grandmother used to make this! No one knew the recipe she used and I have been looking for it on and off for years. I used half orange half lemon like my grandmother said she did. I added Cool Whip after about 60 minutes chilling and a cup of drained fruit cocktail (in water, not syrup) at 90 minutes.
She froze hers and I did the same. Let it thaw for 20 minutes before serving.
Thank you so much for helping me find my memory!!
Oh gosh, I love this so much, Kate! Thank you for taking a moment to share!
Best,
Melissa
Worked out great for me!!
Glad to hear, Alexandria!
Best,
Melissa
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. :))
Thanks for the backup, Robin 🙂 Love the half and half idea! I’ll give that a try.
Best,
Melissa
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
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
When your recipe call for a box of jello, is that the small size or the large box?
Hi Becky,
You use two 3 ounce boxes.
Best,
Melissa
Was a hit!! Fast, easy and great!
Hi Mary,
Thank you for taking a moment to write. I’m so glad it was such a hit!
Best,
Melissa
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
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
I thought Jello gelatin would be good combined with cream cheese, and this recipe is perfect for that combo. Thanks!
Hi Mei,
You are so welcome! I hope it becomes a staple at your house, like it is at ours!
Best,
Melissa
Love this! I used orange jello with mandarin oranges and instead of the cold water, I put in orange juice.
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
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!)
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
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!
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.
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.