Fruit Jello Salad
A creamy, no-cook salad of strawberry jelly powder, cottage cheese, whipped cream and tinned fruit, chilled until set.
Photograph credit: Lime jello salad by Jengod · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Making Fruit Jello Salad Ahead
Keeps in the fridge for 2 days.
Making Fruit Jello Salad
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Stir the jelly powder into the cottage cheese in a large bowl until evenly mixed.
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Fold in the drained fruit and marshmallows.
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Fold in the whipped cream gently until just combined.
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Cover and chill for 2 hours until lightly set. Spoon into bowls to serve.
A Few Pointers
- Drain the fruit on kitchen paper for the best texture.
- Fold the cream gently to keep the salad airy.
- Serve it very cold.
Why the Method Is What It Is
It looks like a dessert and sits on the table beside the main course, which is what makes a jello salad so American. A mixture of cottage cheese, dry gelatin powder, whipped cream and fruit chills into a pink, creamy, lightly set dish with a texture somewhere between a mousse and a cheesecake filling.
There is no cooking, which is the surprise. The powder is stirred straight into the cottage cheese, where the moisture and the cold bring out the flavour and the sweetness, and the gelatin sets the salad lightly as it chills. Drain the fruit very well, because any syrup will thin the mix and leave a puddle at the bottom of the bowl.
Fold in the whipped cream last and gently, so the mixture stays airy. Chill for 2 hours before serving. It is best in a glass bowl, so the pieces of fruit show through. Spoon it out onto plates and serve cold, as a side at a barbecue or a potluck.
Good Alongside
Barbecued chicken · Baked ham · Potato salad · Burgers
Quick Answers
How long does Fruit Jello Salad take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and of cooking, plus 2 hours of Chilling, so allow 2 hours 15 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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