5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe (2024)

Our 5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad is a classic dessert--and so easy to whip up. Whether you're headed to a pot luck, taking something to a work party, or you just want to end your family night with a tasty treat, this recipe is just what you need.

5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe (1)

Every Sunday my Mom used to make a jello salad. I grew up LOVING it. I don’t always have a lot of time to make an immaculate salad. This is my favorite “fast” salad. You don’t have to cook anything, it doesn’t need to set up before you eat it, and it is DELICIOUS!

Everyone loves a sweet side dish. Fluff salads and jello desserts are perfect for big get togethers or small family dinners! There’s just something comforting and delicious about the basic ingredients used in these recipes. They’re great for holiday meals too!

The funny thing about this salad is how many names people have for it. Pink Fluff, Heavenly Delight, Grandma’s Pink Stuff…whatever you decide to call it, we know it will be a hit at your next church potluck or family dinner.

Satisfy your sweet tooth in just 5 minutes with our Easy Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe. This delightful dish is a perfect dessert for family gatherings, backyard BBQs, or any occasion where you need a quick and delicious salad that everyone will love.

Love Jello salads? Try our Raspberry Cream Cheese Jello or our Layered Strawberry Jello Salad with Ripe Bananas! They are family favorites!

5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe (2)
How to Make 5 minute Jello Salad

When we say this will take 5 minutes, there is no catch. It really does take 5 minutes.

Start by putting the Cool Whip and the powdered (unprepared) Jello in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until they are well blended and most of the Jello dissolves into the Cool Whip.

5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe (3)

Next, fold in the cottage cheese, strawberries, and bananas. Serve right away or store in refrigerator until you are ready to eat.

What other add-ins can I use?

Just like there are so many different names for Jello Salad, there are so many things you can mix in. Really, the trick is to pick the combination that sounds the tastiest to you. Here are some ideas:

  • Jello: orange, raspberry, just about any flavor
  • Fruit: fresh or canned, although we recommend draining your canned fruit
    • pineapple
    • mandarin oranges
    • raspberries
  • Additional mix-ins:
    • nuts
    • mini marshmallows
5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe (4)

Can you use sugar free jello?

While we haven’t personally used the sugar free Jello, many of our readers have let us know that it works great. So, if you’re looking for a lower calorie option, go ahead and give it a try.

Some readers have paired the sugar free Jello with low-fat cottage cheese and Cool Whip.

If you love this 5 minute jello salad, you’ll want to try our creamy cherry whip salad. It’s so easy and delicious!

Watch how to make another Delicious dessert

Looking for another delicious dessert recipe that the whole family will love? Well you are in luck. Today on ourYoutube Channel, we are showing you how to make White Raspberry Poke Cake.

Each recipe on our channel and blog is tried and true, so you know they will be tasty.

We take you through each recipe, step by step, and show you exactly how to make it. Watch how to make these simple and delicious recipes, Here.

RELATED RECIPE: OUR CARAMEL APPLE JELLO SALAD IS ALWAYS A CROWD-PLEASER! GET THE RECIPEHERE!

BE SURE TO NOT MISS ANOTHER RECIPE!

Have you heard about our newest cookbook, Copycat Cooking? We took over 100 of our favorite restaurant recipes and simplified them so that you can make them right at home

Every recipe has a beautiful mouth-watering photo and has been picky-eater approved. The directions are simple, easy to follow, and do not require any strange ingredients.

5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe (5)

This cookbook includes copycat recipes from Wingers, Texas Roadhouse, Starbucks, Panera, Cheesecake Factory, Kneaders, and so much more. We have you covered from drinks, to dessert and everything in-between.

We are so excited to share these recipes with you. Order your copy today!

Love cooking as much as we do? Join our FREE private Facebook Group: Six Sisters’ Dinner Club!

You may also like these dessert recipes:

  • Oreo Pudding Pie
  • Twix Bars
  • Orange Cream Yogurt Fruit Salad
  • Banana Cream Dessert Salad
  • Mandarin Orange Cookie Jello Salad Recipe
  • Homemade Jello Fruit Snacks
  • Berries and Cream Jello Salad
  • 4th of July Jello
  • Orange Fluff Jello Salad
  • Frozen Creamy Lime Jello
  • Raspberry Cheesecake Fluff Salad
  • Fresh Strawberry PIe

5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe (6)

Serves: 8

5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Our 5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad is a classic dessert–and so easy to whip up. Great for a holidays, a pot luck, or taking to a work party.

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

PrintPin

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces Cool Whip thawed
  • 3 ounces strawberry jello
  • 12 ounces fat free cottage cheese
  • 8 ounces strawberries sliced
  • 1 banana sliced

Instructions

  • Spoon the Cool Whip and the powdered (unprepared) Jello in a large mixing bowl and whisk until they are well blended and most of the Jello dissolves into the Cool Whip.

  • Next, fold in the cottage cheese, strawberries, and bananas.

  • Store in refrigerator until you are ready to eat.

Video

Notes

Other add ins that taste great in this salad:

  • Jello: orange, raspberry, just about any flavor
  • Fruit: fresh or canned, although we recommend draining your canned fruit
    • pineapple
    • mandarin oranges
    • raspberries
  • Additional mix-ins:
    • nuts
    • mini marshmallows

Nutrition

Calories: 136 kcal · Carbohydrates: 25 g · Protein: 6 g · Fat: 2 g · Saturated Fat: 1 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 8 mg · Sodium: 211 mg · Potassium: 186 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 18 g · Vitamin A: 66 IU · Vitamin C: 18 mg · Calcium: 73 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Equipment

  • Mixing Bowl

  • Rubber spatula

Recipe Details

Course: Dessert, Salad

Cuisine: American

This post was included in our10 of THE BEST Thanksgiving Side Dishes video– for more inexpensive and delicious recipes like this one,click here to check it out!

Be sure to not miss another recipe! Follow Six Sisters’ Stuff onInstagram|Facebook|Pinterest|YouTube

If you made our recipe be sure to tag us on Instagram so we can see your hard work using#sixsistersstuff.

Join The Discussion

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Deirdra says:

    I've made a version of this for years :) We use orange jello and mandarin oranges - will have to try it w/ the strawberries & banana!

  2. Karen says:

    One of my favorites from growing up is the green jello salad. Pistachio pudding dry mix? mix with a container of cool whip, drain a big can of pineapple and add the chunks, add marshmallows?green goodness!!""SALAD""" right!!??

  3. Maggie Marriott says:

    I make and am asked to make often, this same jello salad, except that I also add drained, crushed pineapple. The pineapple completes what I have been calling "jello cottage cheese salad. What is so fantastic about this salad, you can use any flavor of jello and add other ingredients, such as different fruits, canned or frozen, nuts, and marshmallows (for kids). It is always a big hit at each meal I serve it with. My main ingredients are: cool whip, jello, cottage cheese and crushed pineapple. I then add the other ingredients, as desired. The pineapple gives it a citrus flavor and mellows the sweetness of the jello and cool whip. Oh, and always mix the jello with the cool whip before adding the other ingredients. As you can tell, I love this recipe!

  4. Tracie says:

    I love this salad - I make it all the time and use a can of drained crushed pineapple and a can of cherry pie filling for fruit. I never thought to use strawberries and bananas! Great idea - thanks for sharing all your wonderful recipes!

  5. Christa says:

    This looks easy and good. Pinning so I can make it this summer. Thanks for the idea

  6. carol black says:

    Thanks for sharing this recipe, fast and good is key. Enjoy your pageThanks for posting this recipe, fast and good is always the key. Really enjoy your page.

  7. Happy Valley Chow says:

    That is a beautiful jello salad, definitely want to try this! Perfect summer side :)Happy Blogging!Happy Valley Chow

  8. Chantel says:

    I've had this salad my entire life and it was always my favorite thing that my mom made when I was little. I used to want to eat the entire bowl myself. We always put mandarin oranges in it as well. I actually made this salad for a neighborhood party this last weekend. yummy!

  9. Kathy says:

    When you say "container of Jello" it could confuse some people. You do mean a 4 ounce box of dry Jello powder, right?

  10. Jonna says:

    IMy grandmother used to make this and I thought I was the only one who liked cottage cheese in with Jello. Yum I am going to make this tonight. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

  11. Pamela S says:

    where did your pin button go?

  12. Pam C says:

    I just made this recipe for my diabetic mother with sugar free jello. I*t was great-thanks!

  13. Jewel says:

    love your recipes!!!!!

  14. Wendy says:

    Love this! We also use orange jello and mandarin oranges.

  15. MarleneHouse says:

    This works out really well using orange jello and mandarin oranges in place of the strawberries and strawberry jello. Is like eating orange sherbet.

  16. Qurat Ul Ain Desai says:

    Please can you tell what is cool whip? Thanks

  17. Beachgrammy says:

    My Mom's recipe is almost like this. It is my go to for quick easy and delish! We use fruit co*cktail, small curd cottage cheese, cool whip, sour cream and jello. I use small containers of everything for a small family meal, or large containers if I'm taking it for potluck!! We call it Pink Salad!! Will have to try yours!

  18. Rachel says:

    This has been a family favorite since I was a little girl. We call it "Pink Salad". We make this using crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges instead of the strawberries and bananas. One tip, mix your jello with the cottage cheese and that way you don't have to worry about mixing your cool whip too much as sometimes it will lose it's "whip".

  19. Pam Kellogg says:

    I make this with suger free jello, low-fat cottage cheese fresh fruit, [ when in season ] or no sugar added canned fruit , and sugar free cool whip . It taste great and you can't tell it's made with sugar free ingredients.

  20. Bev T says:

    My mother in law made this a lot! But instead of strawberries and bananas, she used pineapple. The kids loved it and always called it Grandma's pink stuff.

  21. Melissa says:

    are you talking about a box of jello dry mix or that premade stuff

  22. Leona says:

    Our family has been making this for years, but didn't know the name. We always call it 'pink stuff'.

  23. Cyd says:

    Use the 4 ounce box of jello. No premade stuff.

  24. Cyd says:

    Cool whip is an imitation whipped topping. It is located in the freezer section of your store.

  25. Cyd says:

    Yes, a 4 ounce box of dry jello powder. We changed it so that it won't be so confusing. Thanks!

  26. Ellicia says:

    I had forgotten about these salads. My aunt used to make this back in the late 70's. Behind her back, her kids used to call it the Pepto salad or the pink barf because of the texture. However, that didn't keep them from eating it up down to the last spoonful.

  27. Rhonda P. says:

    We've made another version of this "salad" for years, since my aunt introduced us to it. We use fruit co*cktail, small box of orange flavored jello, cottage cheese, cool whip and top it with walnuts. Can't wait to try it with strawberries!!

  28. Chrissy says:

    Our family made this with red or green gelatin powder, drained crushed pineapple, whipped topping, and cottage cheese. My mother knew I liked it and made it even as I got older. There's something about the texture of the cottage cheese in the whipped topping. Thanks for reminding me of it.

  29. heather curtis says:

    I made this for my family. We have 7 children so I doubled the recipe!! Turned out great.

  30. sears prom dresses says:

    Hey, you used to write wonderful, but the last few posts have been kinda boring?I miss your great writings. Past few posts are just a bit out of track! come on!

  31. ERIN says:

    I have made the same version as Deirda. It is one of your signature dishes when we go to parties. We love it and can't get enough of it.. I will have to try it the Strawberry version except I will not add the banana.

  32. Jennifer says:

    About how many servings does this make? I am helping put on a bridal shower and will need to make a LOT.

  33. Heather says:

    I know this might seem like a silly question, but can I substitute Reddi whip in place of cool whip for any of your recipes that require it?

  34. Cyd says:

    Not sure how comparable Reddi Whip is to Cool Whip. You may have to check out the ingredients and consistency to see how close they match.

  35. Cyd says:

    It makes about 8 servings. Just click on the magic button under the picture and then click on "Nutrition". It will give you the serving size, calories, and all kinds of fun info on the recipe. It's our new sister site - MyRecipeMagic.com. Hope you'll stop by and leave a fun family recipe! -The Six Sisters

  36. Monica says:

    I made this and I think it would be great for a wedding/baby shower, potluck or a funeral brunch.

  37. Angela @ Honey, I Shrunk the Mom says:

    5 minute Jell-O salad saved my booty today when I didn't plan ahead for a family reunion. Whipped this baby up in 5 minutes flat. :)

  38. Pixie says:

    Our family has always made it with raspberry jello with raspberries. DELISH!

  39. Tracy says:

    I grew up with this salad and love it! My husband and kids won't eat it which makes me sad so I never make it. I might have to come over next time one of you make it!

  40. Kelle Scott says:

    I, as most of you grew up with this salad except we did this...pistachio instant pudding, cool whip, crushed pineapple, mini marshmallows (optional) and Acini di Pepe macaroni which are really tiny pieces of macaroni that you cook ala dente and add...anyone guess what it called??? FROG EYED SALAD!!! The boys LOVED it and the girls went screaming out of the room!!! O how I love the holidays!!!

  41. mf says:

    this recipe is great but instead of strawberrys & bananas i put diced pears

  42. Cindy says:

    Oh, I Love this stuff. I call it Pink Fluff. Just recently tried the Orange and Green jello's in it and they are yummy to. I always put pineapple and mandarin oranges in it. But I have just started adding marshmallows and coconut. I Love It!!! So excited to try the Strawberries and Banana's. Sounds yummy! :0)

  43. Deedee says:

    We use peach Jello and canned peaches. It's Delish!

  44. Norma Wright says:

    Could whipping cream be used? Has anyone tried that?In addition, I really dislike cottage cheese. I am wondering if anyone knows of a Jello dish that is yummy like this, with no cottage cheese? (It is too late to do this for the potluck tonite, but as Baptists, we do lots of potlucks!)

  45. Cyd says:

    Hi Norma. I think we can help you for your next potluck. We have our sister site - MyRecipeMagic.com. It has over 20,000 recipes and also will give you the nutrition on each one. Just go to Myrecipemagic.com and in the tab "search by ingredient" you can type in jello salad or whatever kind of salad you are looking for. There may be over a thousand, so give it a minute to load and all of the pictures and recipes will come up. Just click on the recipe you are interested in. Hope this helps and you will stop by and check it out!Cyd (mother of the six sisters)

  46. Maribel says:

    When you add the jello to the cool whip, is it just the powder or the actual jello after it's done?

  47. Cyd says:

    Just add the powder jello!

  48. cathey harris says:

    my sis in law and her four sisters said they made this salad in every possible flavor Jello has, and hands down they preferred the orange with the mandarin oranges. Love it

  49. James Davis says:

    I can't find a 4 ounce box of jello. Can I use three 1.4 ounce boxes?

  50. Cyd says:

    That should work just fine!

  51. Jayma Emrick says:

    Have you ever used frozen berries?

  52. Cyd says:

    You would have to be sure they were thawed and drained well. Frozen berries are a little mushier than fresh.

  53. Rhonda S Adams says:

    1st... Awesome site... You girls have done a great & outstanding job for the beginner to the more fortunate one's for their favorite recipe's.... I'm 60 yrs old and never enjoyed anything to do with the Kitchen growing up. My mother nor my aunt's ever required my help, but, this recipe was a staple on all dinner tables of all of our family gathering's. Thank you for allowing and for providing everyone's replies. So many sound so close to what use to be. Again Thank you.

  54. Bob says:

    Frustrated again! Unable to watch the advertisem*nt video on my ipad to then be able to copy the recipe. Sadly....Will not be searching your site anymore due to this problem.

  55. Dana says:

    I found I only had peach jello, so I drained four individual packs of diced peaches and added those. It was delicious! I also like marshmallows in mine, but not mini marshmallows. I found ULTRA mini marshmallows (NOT dehydrated) at a bulk food store, and they are perfect!

  56. sharon martini says:

    Try adding cream cheese instead of cottage cheese but make sure cream cheese is a room temp. before whipping up with cool whip or use dream whip instead !!

  57. jennifer says:

    I still make the pistachio salad!!! I LOVE it!!! I use the cottage cheese with pineapple :-)

  58. jennifer says:

    There's ALWAYS room for Jell-O!!!

  59. Sue's Akorn Shop says:

    Awesome and totally delicious!

  60. tina franceschi says:

    Love this salad used all ingredients except I use pineapple cottage cheese instead of the plain. I also add a few chopped walnuts to it, I also add one packet of Knox geletin to give it a little bit of thickness so its not to runny, everyone I've made it for loves it. Also u can add a can of fruit co*cktail to it, but it must be drained really well

  61. Maureen says:

    We always called the green salad made with pistachio pudding "Watergate Salad". We added mini marshmallows, pineapple chunks, and crushed pecans. It is still one of my husbands favorites! I make a large batch, and he has a bowl every night for desert until it is gone. Of course I love it also.....

  62. shirley says:

    I made this last night, it looked excellent. Today it turned watery... what went wrong? is this dish a must eat same day dish?

  63. Katy says:

    Can you make this the night before? Will it set up? I wanted to take this to a party but I'm afraid I will have a puddle when I get there(2hrs away but plan to take on ice)

  64. janet says:

    I used what was on hand:raspberry jello........drained some mandarin oranges and pineapple tidbits to add. Thought is was too sweet so added about 1/2 c. plain yogurt. Thank you for the idea, it tastes really good.

  65. Holly says:

    All I could find at grocery store is a 3 1/2 oz box of jello. Not 4 oz.

  66. Cyd says:

    Just use the small box you find at the store. It will work great. When I googled ounces in the small box of strawberry jello, everything came up as 3 ounces. Just be sure it's the small box and not the large box. Be sure you don't use the sugar free.

  67. Olympia says:

    We always made this too...called it "Pistachio Salad" but we did not drain the crushed pineapple. One of our favorites!

  68. Olympia says:

    Really dislike cottage cheese. I would use cool whip or cream cheese instead. So many options for this recipe!! Thanks for posting!

  69. Natalie says:

    Does anyone know how many smartpoints this ends up being?

  70. Cyd says:

    Here is the nutritional information we have on this recipe. https://www.myrecipemagic.com/5-minute-jello-salad-2500714306.htmlWe should have the "Get Nutrition Info" button by the end of the day. We lost a lot of them when we switched our blogsite.

  71. Mandy says:

    2 cups boiling water turn off add 8oz cream cheese till it dissolves keep stirring it's ok if you see small specks of cream cheese drain large can crushed pineapple reserve the juice to make 2 cups cold water stir in to cream cheese stir for 2 min.add drained pineapple and 1 cup chopped pecans set in 9x13 aluminium pan in fridge over night.

  72. Norma says:

    How many points are I no thanks is dessert?

  73. Deana says:

    Why not sugar free?

  74. Chellag says:

    What size cool whip and cottage cheese are you using?

  75. Cyd says:

    Scroll down on the post to the recipe and ingredients and all of the measurements are listed.

  76. Cyd says:

    You can try sugar free jello in the recipe. We have not yet tried it with Sugar free, so not sure of the outcome and didn't want her to waste all of those ingredients if it doesn't taste good.

  77. Maxine Arnold says:

    Yes, do use sugar free jello. I do it all the time and it tastes great. It has fewer calories. Great diet dessert if you use sugar free and fat free products.

  78. Sandy says:

    I used frozen raspberries. I folded them in very frozen while they are firm at the end. Worked great. They mush up if you let them thaw. I used raspberry jello, bananas, drained pineapple, cottage cheese and frozen raspberries. Be very careful about over whipping your cool whip. You will lose the airiness as I found out once when my daughter-in-law tried to help.

  79. Sandy says:

    Did you drain the pineapple? Very important step.

  80. Karalynn Freeman says:

    We have used the Cottage Cheese, sugar free jello, pineapple, (crushed that is) for years, and LITE cool whip for years. Lite cool whip reduces the sugar along with sugar free jellow. This is great for Diabetic's. Pineapple is in its own juice and drained. We have always combine jello and cottage cheese first, using a fork to reduce the size of the cottage cheese curds.

  81. Kim H. says:

    As you said, this salad has many variations and many names! My family always called it “pink” salad as we would use raspberry or strawberry jello but we make it with 2 cans of fruit co*cktail and one can of pineapple tidbits! The cottage cheese and cool whip are the same! And yes we used to primarily use sugar free jello in ours and it was always delicious! But the fun thing is with the fruit co*cktail you can easily change up the jello flavor/color to whatever you want!

  82. Karen says:

    Can you use ricotta instead of cottage cheese the the jello salad? Thanks

  83. Momma Cyd says:

    We haven't used ricotta cheese in this salad, Cottage cheese is probably best.

  84. Stephanie Sands says:

    Can you make the5 min jello salad the night before?

  85. Camille Beckstrand says:

    Yes! This will work just fine if you make it the night before - just give it a good stir before serving!

  86. Momma Cyd says:

    Yes, you can make this the night before.

  87. Darlene Lemons says:

    Love this recipe. Make it often. I use sugar free Jello, lite Cool Whip and 1% cottage cheese. Sometimes use pineapple and mandarins oranges. Always use pecans.

    5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe (7)

  88. Marilyn says:

    What can be subbed for the cottage cheese---yuck?

  89. Greg says:

    I’m going to make this as it sounds delicious but I have a question. It says to use 4oz of strawberry jello but at the store the jello boxes only come in 3oz or 6oz packages. Do I need to get the 6oz and measure out 4ozs? Or can I just use the 3oz or 6oz package?

  90. Momma Cyd says:

    Thanks for catching that. It's 3 ounces of strawberry Jello. We have fixed the recipe in the post.

  91. Claudie says:

    Is it possible to find a conversion into grams instead of ounces on your site? Looks delicious!

  92. Dana Martin says:

    One little section above in the article (before the actual recipe) mentions mixing sour cream with the cottage cheese, but it’s never mentioned again. Is this a typo? Or can you add sour cream to this for creaminess, as it mentions?

  93. Momma Cyd says:

    Good catch. I've updated the post. It should have been whipped cream topping (Cool Whip).

5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe (8)

About The Author:

Kristen Hills

Kristen lives in northern Utah with her husband, Ammon, and her four daughters. She’s the blog’s YouTube guru and she loves running in her spare time.

Read More

More easy and delicious salads for you:

Winter Cranberry Apple Salad

15 minutes mins

Caramel Apple Jello Salad Recipe

10 minutes mins

Cheesy Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe

2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Creamy Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe

43 minutes mins

Readers’ Favorite Recipes

Easy Baked Crack Chicken Recipe

30 minutes mins

Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars Recipe

40 minutes mins

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Peaches and Cream Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

20 minutes mins

Peach Cobbler Dump Cake {4 Ingredients} Recipe

50 minutes mins

Chicken Zucchini Casserole Recipe

55 minutes mins

5 Minute Strawberry Jello Salad Recipe (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Pres. Lawanda Wiegand

Last Updated:

Views: 5961

Rating: 4 / 5 (71 voted)

Reviews: 94% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Pres. Lawanda Wiegand

Birthday: 1993-01-10

Address: Suite 391 6963 Ullrich Shore, Bellefort, WI 01350-7893

Phone: +6806610432415

Job: Dynamic Manufacturing Assistant

Hobby: amateur radio, Taekwondo, Wood carving, Parkour, Skateboarding, Running, Rafting

Introduction: My name is Pres. Lawanda Wiegand, I am a inquisitive, helpful, glamorous, cheerful, open, clever, innocent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.