Looking for a festive and easy jello salad recipe for Thanksgiving dinner?
This cranberry jello salad is perfect! It's made with fresh cranberries, orange juice, and pineapple chunks, and is always a family favorite.
Best of all, it only takes a few minutes to make.
Delicious recipes like this easy cranberry salad are one of the many reasons we love Thanksgiving!
What's not to love about a holiday season that celebrates family, friends, and good food?
We hope your Thanksgiving is as wonderful as ours. And don't forget to add new recipes like this one to the Thanksgiving dinner table.
What is a Jello Salad?
A jello salad is a dish made with jello (usually fruit-flavored) and various mix-ins, such as fruits, nuts, and whipped cream.
Jello salads were popular in the mid-20th century, and are making a comeback in recent years for Thanksgiving time.
The old fashioned recipe almost always involves jello, cottage cheese, brown sugar, and whipped cream, however, there are now many different variations from old fashioned Jello salad recipes.
This recipe is a twist on the classic jello salad, made with cranberries, juice, and pineapple chunks. It's perfect for holiday meals!
This jello salad is typically served as a side dish or dessert along with a main dish.
It goes well with easy recipes like roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans. It would also be delicious served with pumpkin pie for dessert!
It's perfect for potlucks, holiday gatherings, and summer BBQs!
This Thanksgiving cranberry Jello salad recipe is a perfect example of a jello salad.
It's made with fresh cranberries, orange juice, pineapple chunks, and you can add mini marshmallows. This is easy to make and always a hit at holiday gatherings!
Thanksgiving Cranberry Jello Salad Recipe
This Thanksgiving cranberry jello salad recipe is a great way to use up fresh cranberries.
If you can't find fresh cranberries, you can also use frozen cranberries, although you may need to adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe.
Ingredients:
To make this jello salad recipe, you'll need the following ingredients:
- 1 (15 oz) can whole cranberry sauce
- 2 (3 oz) pkgs. of cranberry Jello (strawberry jello or black cherry jello works)
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- ¾ cup cranberry or apple juice
- 20 oz crushed pineapple
- 15 oz mandarin oranges (cut and drained)
- 1 ½ cup of water (boiling)
Instructions:
Holiday dinners are made easy with this Thanksgiving Jello salad recipe!
1. In a large bowl add your Jello packets to boiling water and stir until completely dissolved. It needs to be hot water for the jello to dissolve.
2. Next, stir in your whole cranberry sauce, mandarin oranges, and pineapple chunks (with juice). Using the back of your spoon crush up any chunks from the sauce.
3. Then, add in ¾ cup chopped pecans and cranberry or apple juice. Stir to combine it all.
4. Using cooking spray, coat the pan before adding in the gelatin mixture.
5. Carefully pour Jello mixture into a 9x13 square pan or jello mold and refrigerate until set. This should take about 2 hrs.
6. Once done serve the whole thing with cool whip or ice cream!
For more of a fluff you can add heavy whipping cream to the recipe. Just fold it in at the end. You can also use a smaller mold or pan if you want it to set up quicker.
Tangy Cream Cheese Topping
The best things about this jello salad recipe are that it's so versatile and takes no time!
If you want to take this jello salad recipe over the top, you can add a cream cheese topping. Cream cheese adds a tangy flavor and rich, creamy texture.
To make the cream cheese topping, you will need 8 oz cream cheese (softened), ½ cup powdered sugar, and 1 cup of sour cream.
To make cream cheese layer:
1. In a medium-bowl beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on high until smooth.
2. Add in your sugar and sour cream. Mix until combined.
3. Next spread on top and sprinkle your remaining ¼ cup of pecans.
Jell-O salad recipes can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Be sure to keep this delicious side dish covered so with plastic wrap so that the jello doesn't dry out.
Substitutions
This great recipe is very versatile and can be easily customized to your liking for special occasions.
- If you don't like cranberries, you could use raspberry jello and add in raspberries instead.
- You could also use chopped apples or pears in place of the mandarin oranges.
- If you want a less sweet jello salad, you could use sugar-free jello. Just be sure to adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe accordingly.
- Use can use fresh fruit like fresh cranberries or fresh pineapple for a more natural jello salad recipe.
- Substitute pineapple juice or orange juice for the cranberry juice.
- Add small curd cottage cheese for a different texture.
- You can add cold water to the gelatin mold before adding the Jello mixture to help it set up quicker.
- For a fun twist, try adding in some rum or vodka for an adult jello salad!
- Add mini marshmallows on top for a festive touch.
- For presentation use a bundt pan or Jello mold for a fun jello shape.
No matter what substitutions you make, Jello recipes are sure to be a hit at your holiday table! Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same without it!
Nutrition Information
This cranberry pineapple Jello salad recipe is filled with protein, vitamins, sugar, and carbohydrates.
Nutrition facts:
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 27g
- Vitamin A & C
- Protein 3g
- Fat 11g
Prep time for this easy cranberry salad recipe only takes 5 minutes but can take a while for it to refrigerate.
A pro tip to remember is to make it the day before. This will ensure it is set and chilled for when you are ready to serve it! If you don't have time for that, then 2 hours should do the trick.
The whole berry cranberry sauce is a good source of fiber and vitamin C.
This gelatin salad is a great way to get your kids to eat their fruit! It's also a good potluck dish because it feeds a large crowd.
More Great Fruit Salad And Dessert Options
Fruit salads are full of flavor, color, and texture. They make a great side dish or dessert and can be easily customized to your liking.
If you're looking for more great fruit salad recipes, be sure to check out these easy jello salads:
- Ambrosia Salad
- Orange Jello Salad
- Apple pie
- Raspberry Cranberry Jello salad
- Pecan pie
- Banana pudding
- Orange bread
- Raspberry fluff Jello salad
- Raspberry gelatin salad
Tips and Tricks
This easy salad makes for a great addition for any dinner party or any Thanksgiving table. Here are some tips and tricks for this festive dish:
- If you want a really smooth jello salad, use an immersion blender to blend the cranberry sauce before adding it to the jello mixture.
- To get perfectly round jello salad slices, use a serrated knife.
- For an extra festive touch, garnish with fresh cranberries or mint leaves.
This jello salad recipe is so easy to make and always a hit at holiday gatherings!
You'll be using this recipe years to come.
It's perfect for potlucks, a Christmas dinner, and summer BBQs! Give it a try this Thanksgiving and see for yourself!
For a creamy cranberry salad check out Alexandra Lypecky recipes and Pinterest board for more great Thanksgiving recipes!
Get the scoop on more like this:
- Thanksgiving Turkey Cupcakes Dessert Recipe (With Video)
- Easy No-Bake Pumpkin Fluff Dessert Recipe
- The Best Thanksgiving Apple Pie Recipe
- 50 Air Fryer Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Thanksgiving Cranberry Jello Salad Recipe
This cranberry jello salad is perfect! It's made with fresh cranberries, orange juice, and pineapple chunks, and is always a family favorite.
Ingredients
- 1 (15 oz) can whole cranberry sauce
- 2 (3 oz) pkgs. of cranberry Jello (strawberry jello or black cherry jello works)
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- ¾ cup cranberry or apple juice
- 20 oz crushed pineapple
- 15 oz mandarin oranges (cut and drained)
- 1 ½ cup of water (boiling)
Instructions
- In a large bowl add your Jello packets to boiling water and stir until completely dissolved. It needs to be hot water for the jello to dissolve.
- Next, stir in your whole cranberry sauce, mandarin oranges, and pineapple chunks (with juice). Using the back of your spoon crush up any chunks from the sauce.
- Then, add in ¾ cup chopped pecans and cranberry or apple juice. Stir to combine it all.
- Using cooking spray, coat the pan before adding in the gelatin mixture.
- Carefully pour Jello mixture into a 9x13 square pan or jello mold and refrigerate until set. This should take about 2 hrs.
- Once done serve the whole thing with cool whip or ice cream!
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