Strawberry Pretzel Salad

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – one of the best things about food blogging has been meeting an incredible group of people along the way. And today a group of us has come together to celebrate one of our own with a virtual baby shower.
Aimée is the editor of Simple Bites, a wildly popular site that focuses on bringing your family together at meal time with real, wholesome food. Simple Bites provides its readers with healthy recipes, fantastic meal plans, and practical tips.
This month, Aimée and her husband are expecting a baby girl – turning their family of four into a party of five. Congratulations to Aimée and Danny on your new addition!
For Aimée’s virtual baby shower, I wanted to put a modern spin on the retro Strawberry Pretzel Salad. I’ve always wondered why this is called a salad as opposed to say – a pie? Any ideas? It’s a dessert that I fondly remember preparing with my Nana for all types of occasions – including baby showers. Although I couldn’t locate Nana’s exact recipe, I used one that I had tucked away in my recipe binder that used the same ingredients from her popular sweet and salty dessert. Only instead of serving it in a boring 9×13-inch pan, I decided to make it a little more girly and adorable by presenting them in Mini Mold Jars from Weck.
Whether you’re making these for a baby shower, or just because – I hope you enjoy this modern take on a classic dessert.

Be sure to check out the links below for more delicious recipes from some amazingly talented food blogger friends.
Strawberry & Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Jam Frosting from Bluebonnets & Brownies
California Veggie Wraps from My Kitchen Addiction
Waffle Cone Fruit Cups by Dine & Dish
Mini Berry Pies on a Stick and Kettle Corn at Food for My Family
Perfectly Pink Pomegranate Smoothies from Food Your Way
Grapefruit Avocado Couscous by Stetted
Quiche Lorraine from GoodLife{Eats}
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These are adorable! I want to make some right now!
I know this is a stupid question, but what’s the difference in white sugar and granulated sugar? Is the “white” sugar powdered?
Faye-
They are the same thing. White = granulated. Hope this helps.
-Jamie
Where can I purchase some “Weck Mini Mold Jars Style #976”? They are perfect for this dessert and I would love to find some for Easter. Thanks!
Can fresh strawberries be substituted for the frozen? Thanks!
So did you find out if fresh strawberries can be substituted for frozen?
No. The frozen strawberries help to set the jello and are sweetened.. i have been making this’ for many years and always made it in a 9×13 pan. The idea of making it in individual dishes is interesting
Thanks for visiting.
-Jamie
I pinned this from your website and I’ve probably had 400 people re-pin! I’m making it again right now. Thanks for this and all of your wonderful recipes! I’m really enjoying your addictions.
Love this and am making it for Easter Sunday dessert! If I use the 9 x 13 pan, how long should I pre bake the crust? 10 minutes? Thanks!
Your pretzel recipe has been featured on the Limefish Studio National Pretzel Day guide! http://limefishstudio.blogspot.com/2012/04/national-pretzel-day.html
Hi,
The individual idea is great. Do you think this would work with using cupcake wrappers?
Nikki-
I wouldn’t recommend this recipe to be used with cupcake wrappers, I think you’ll want to use something a bit sturdier. Thanks so much for stopping by.
-Jamie
This was absolutely delicious. I lightened it up with light cream cheese and light cool whip and sugar free strawberry jello and it still was awesome! I remember having this when I was a child, but I wouldn’t have thought it was pretzels for the base. Thanks for sharing!
Lee-Anne-
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for sharing your experience with it. Have a great day.
-Jamie
Interesting combination of flavours.. I must try it
When I make this “salad” I use a few salty pretzels, but then mostly use the low sodium pretzels so the crust isn’t quite as salty.
Personal preference I guess.
My husband’s favorite…. bonus that you called it a “salad”!
Thank you for this recipe, and the one hint I have been looking for – but didn’t know I was looking for. I pack the pretzels tightly (a guy thing) and I am always dissatisfied with the pretzel crust. Now that I know better, I am looking for any opportunity to make this again.
Love me some pretzels salad, but I do this with a raspberries instead of strawberry and it’s so good! I popped over just for those jars. I am a big canner and have never ever heard of that brand. I’m so glad you put all of the details and such on your post. I now need about half the jars off their site for Christmas presents. I’m a total Ball Company snob, but I may just have to bust out of that habit and buy lots and lots of these. I assume they are oven safe too considering you can can with them. Have you used any of them in the oven?
Melissa-
Hi! Yes, I have baked with Weck Jars many times and I’ve never had any issues. Have a great day!
-Jamie
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I have made this same recipe with raspberries. Delicious. One thing I have learned is that it doesn’t work for left overs so I come up with a solutions. Follow the recipe the same as above but bake pretzels seperately and sprinkle them on top of the desserts when ready to eat then the pretzels won’t get soggy
Debbie,
I’ve had this recipe for nearly 30 years, and that is exactly how it was suggested to use the pretzels. We always put them on top…and keep them in larger bits so they look recognizable as pretzels. (Not big, appx ¼” to ½”)
Can fresh strawberries be used?
Cheryl-
I have never attempted to use fresh strawberries in the recipe. If you give it a try, let me know how it goes. Have a great day.
-Jamie
I used fresh strawberries and it was delicious. Sliced them thinly and ‘ macerated’ them with orange rind. I also used fresh whipped cream w the cream cheese. I do not care for cool whip. The end result was fabulous
Hi Jamie! I am new to your blog and am loving it! Just wondering, is there anywhere you can buy wreck jars in the store as I need them asap! Also, how far in advance would you say it is safe to prepare this recipe? Thanks for all the inspiring recipes! alicia!
Alicia-
I am unaware of any stores that sell Weck Jars. I would recommend contacting customer service ((800)345-7381) for details. Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Jamie
I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this before! It looks so good. I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing! : )
hey Jamie,
I would like to make this for a large group and I love the idea of making individual servings. I don’t have 100 glass jars so I would like to make them in plastic dessert bowls. Do you think it would be okay if I don’t bake the crust?
Pam,
If you didn’t want to bake the crust, I think you’d have to use just plain pretzels, maybe still mixed with the sugar, and be okay with the crust being a bit more like a “granola” mix-in, instead of an actual pie-type crust.
– Jamie
I am made these for a family baptism needed to make them for a large group as well. I bought the Chinet Cut Crystal disposable cups and made them in the reverse, jello, whipped cream and then topped with pretzels. This way I could still make them individually but didn’t have to worry about finding something to bake them in. Worked great!
Brooke-
I am glad the recipe worked for you special occasion. Thanks for visiting.
-Jamie
Will these work in a cooler for a couple of hours ?
As long as it is well chilled, it should be fine. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
Weck jars can be found at William Sonoma
This is not a Salad
Hi Robert,
No it isn’t a traditional salad but this dish is called a salad. I think because it is such a popular side dish for potlucks and barbecues. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
I have been making this salad for more years than you’ve been born. It was my mother’s recipe since 1960 …. now my daughter makes it also. To have someone critique it, as if the old way in a “boring 9 x 13 ” dish” is just passe’ is insulting to all the mothers and grandmothers who made this dish with pride. I’m glad it’s been discovered again and is one of your fun dishes but please don’t be so blatantly rude with your comments. I know I, for one, will continue making it in a 9 x 13 ” dish to serve to a very appreciative family.
MaryBeth-
I am sorry you were so offended my use of the word boring. Obviously, there was no intent to be “blatantly rude” with my word choice, I was simply presenting a classic recipe in a new way. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day! :)
-Jamie
There are so many ads on your pages lately that you can’t even see the recipes any more. I’m not enjoying this site as much as I used to.
Debi-
We’re in the process of testing a few new ad companies at the moment. We’ve actually reduced the number of ads by 5 in recent months. Once the testing is complete, we’ll trim down once again. Thanks so much for your feedback!
-Jamie
Hello Jamie!
Love the look of your strawberry pretzel salad. Strawberries are coming in season, so time to get inspiration for new ideas. You have got a beautiful collection of strawberry recipes!
Thanks for stopping by Anita!
-Jamie
Approximately how many weck jars does this take?
Dale-
You will need about 10 jars. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Have anyone tried freezing these? As a singleton, I often make & freeze mason jar desserts to slowly enjoy (rather than having to eat a whole 9×13 pan before it goes bad!).
Thanx for the recipe. My husband tho’t I was crazy for all the work bur once he ate one he LOVED it, so it will be a “salad” I will make often.
Jan-
Thanks so much for visiting!
-Jamie
Could you sub strawberry pie filling instead of jello and frozen Strawberries?
Anna
Anna-
You could make that substitution but it will yield a different texture. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
For the Jell-O the recipe ask for one 6 oz pkg… I can only find 85 g (4 servings) pkg…. Can I simply use two?
Nathaly-
If you have a scale you could measure out 6 oz, if not try to use about 1 1/2 packages of the jello. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
We make this same dish for Christmas and thanksgiving. But we use gram cracker crust, so good, we always called it jello stuff!!
Jewle-
The graham cracker crust sounds like a great variation. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
I have made the recipe in the pan for years but made this last night for a bridal shower and have a few suggestions. Check before hand, wish I had, if the jars are oven safe. Since I didn’t know I did bake the crust in a large pan and while still hot from the oven I transferred them into the jars and pressed down and this worked just fine. Secondly, I suggest the wide mouth jars………..less messy mistakes! I found piping the cream cheese into the jar was neater and I could control just how much I wanted in. I could not find sliced strawberries so I used whole ones. After adding in the hot gelatin I used a potato masher to ‘smoosh” them so that the topping was more jam like than just whole berries in jello. They were a hit and gobbled up.
Great suggestions, Ginny! I’m so glad everyone liked them!
My family loves this dessert n we have been making it for years . A family friend gave us the recipe n we make it for every occasion even just for dessert after a regular nite dinner. I have also experimented with hello flavors n frozen fruit n it is very versatile. I’ve done strawberry jello w frozen strawberrys n raspberries. Cherry hello w frozen cherries blue raspberry n strawberry hello mixed with frozen blue berries n also w frozen mixed berries . N I also liked peach jello with frozen peaches but I sliced the frozen pieces into bite size size pieces. N also there’s pineapple jello w frozen pineapple chunks . We liked them all but the original is our favorite
What great ideas, Heather! I’m going to give those a try.