Our 5 Minute 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.
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!
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 potluck or family dinner.
Love Jello salads? Try our Raspberry Cream Cheese Jello or our Layered Strawberry Jello Salad with Ripe Bananas! They are family favorites!
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.
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
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 our Youtube 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.
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
- 5 Minute Orange Jello Salad
Serves: 8
5 Minute Jello Salad Recipe
Our 5 Minute Jello Salad is a classic dessert–and so easy to whip up. Great for a pot luck, taking to a work party, or you just want to end your family night with a tasty treat, this recipe is just what you need.
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.
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
Recipe Details
RELATED RECIPE: OUR CARAMEL APPLE JELLO SALAD IS ALWAYS A CROWD-PLEASER! GET THE RECIPE HERE!
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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!
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I made this for my family. We have 7 children so I doubled the recipe!! Turned out great.
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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.
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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
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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!!??
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I still make the pistachio salad!!! I LOVE it!!! I use the cottage cheese with pineapple :-)
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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.....
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We always made this too...called it "Pistachio Salad" but we did not drain the crushed pineapple. One of our favorites!
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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!
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What size cool whip and cottage cheese are you using?
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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.
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Great ideas!
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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!
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This looks easy and good. Pinning so I can make it this summer. Thanks for the idea
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Thanks for sharing this recipe, fast and good is key. Enjoy your page Thanks for posting this recipe, fast and good is always the key. Really enjoy your page.
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That is a beautiful jello salad, definitely want to try this! Perfect summer side :) Happy Blogging! Happy Valley Chow
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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!
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When you say "container of Jello" it could confuse some people. You do mean a 4 ounce box of dry Jello powder, right?
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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.
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where did your pin button go?
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I just made this recipe for my diabetic mother with sugar free jello. I*t was great-thanks!
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love your recipes!!!!!
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Love this! We also use orange jello and mandarin oranges.
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This works out really well using orange jello and mandarin oranges in place of the strawberries and strawberry jello. Is like eating orange sherbet.
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Please can you tell what is cool whip? Thanks
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My Mom's recipe is almost like this. It is my go to for quick easy and delish! We use fruit cocktail, 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!
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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".
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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.
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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.
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are you talking about a box of jello dry mix or that premade stuff
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Our family has been making this for years, but didn't know the name. We always call it 'pink stuff'.
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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.
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We've made another version of this "salad" for years, since my aunt introduced us to it. We use fruit cocktail, small box of orange flavored jello, cottage cheese, cool whip and top it with walnuts. Can't wait to try it with strawberries!!
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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.
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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!
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About how many servings does this make? I am helping put on a bridal shower and will need to make a LOT.
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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?
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I made this and I think it would be great for a wedding/baby shower, potluck or a funeral brunch.
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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. :)
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Our family has always made it with raspberry jello with raspberries. DELISH!
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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!
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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!!!
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We have been making this for years, ours is called "Heavenly Delight", thanks for reminding me of this recipe.
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this recipe is great but instead of strawberrys & bananas i put diced pears
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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)
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We use peach Jello and canned peaches. It's Delish!
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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!)
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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.
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When you add the jello to the cool whip, is it just the powder or the actual jello after it's done?
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I can't find a 4 ounce box of jello. Can I use three 1.4 ounce boxes?
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Have you ever used frozen berries?
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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.
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Frustrated again! Unable to watch the advertisement video on my ipad to then be able to copy the recipe. Sadly....Will not be searching your site anymore due to this problem.
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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!
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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 !!
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There's ALWAYS room for Jell-O!!!
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Awesome and totally delicious!
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How many points are I no thanks is dessert?
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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 cocktail to it, but it must be drained really well
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I made this last night, it looked excellent. Today it turned watery... what went wrong? is this dish a must eat same day dish?
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Did you drain the pineapple? Very important step.
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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)
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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.
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Really dislike cottage cheese. I would use cool whip or cream cheese instead. So many options for this recipe!! Thanks for posting!
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Does anyone know how many smartpoints this ends up being?
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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 cocktail 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 cocktail you can easily change up the jello flavor/color to whatever you want!
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Can you use ricotta instead of cottage cheese the the jello salad? Thanks
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Can you make the5 min jello salad the night before?
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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.
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What can be subbed for the cottage cheese---yuck?
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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?
