Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Strawberry pretzel salad combines strawberries with crunchy pretzels and cream cheese whipped topping.

This Southern dessert is a great way to use up some of the strawberries that are in season now!

Prep Time: 1

Cook Time: 10

Cooling/Chilling Time: 1 30

Total Time: 2 40

Course: Dessert, Salad

Cuisine: American, Southern Food

Servings:

Calories: 557kcal

In a zipper sealed bag, crush the 2 ½ cups of pretzels. (I used my spoon rest to crush them; a rolling pin also works well. Reserve the other ¼ cup of crushed pretzels to sprinkle on top of the finished dish.)
Stir together the crushed pretzels, melted butter, and 4 ½ tablespoons of
sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl.
Mix well, and then press the mixture into the bottom of a 9″×13″ baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes in the conventional oven (5-6 minutes in the Instant Pot Omni Plus oven) until the pretzel crust is lightly toasted.
Set the toasted pretzels aside to cool completely.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar until smooth.
Once mixed, fold in the thawed whipped topping.
Spread the mixture onto the cooled pretzel crust.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
While the pretzel crust and cream cheese filling are in the refrigerator, Pour the boiling water into a mixing bowl.
Add the Jell-O to the boiling water and stir in until dissolved.
Stir in frozen strawberries and allow to sit until the strawberries thaw (if using frozen strawberries).
Add the strawberry topping on top of the chilled cream cheese layer.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
After an hour, sprinkle the ¼ cup of pretzel reserve on top of the chilled strawberry layer.
It’s best to eat strawberry pretzel salad within 48 hours, as the pretzel crust will begin to soften.
Serve and enjoy!

A parchment paper sling makes it easy to pull out the salad from the baking dish once it’s cooled.
Use cream cheese at room temperature, as it will whip together quicker than cold cream cheese. I also suggest using whipped cream cheese.
Make sure each layer is cool/chilled before adding a new one.
Spread the cream cheese layer right up to the edge of the pretzel crust to prevent it from becoming soggy.
Before you pour the Jell-O over the strawberries, make sure it’s room temperature to prevent the strawberries from being wilted by heat.
While you can keep this dish in the refrigerator for up to two days, it won’t remain fresh forever. Sadly, the longer you refrigerate it, the soggier it will become.