This easy old-fashioned cranberry Jello salad, made with just five ingredients—raspberry or cherry Jell-O, cranberries, pineapple, oranges, and pecans—is a delicious make-ahead side dish or dessert for the holidays.
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If you’re looking for even more cranberry recipes, be sure to try our favorite Christmas jam, these oatmeal cranberry cookies, my grandmother’s cranberry pie, and a batch of cranberry muffins, too!
It’s a hit!!!! 5-Stars !!!! This is exactly what I was looking for to complete my Thanksgiving Dinner. Classy and Delicious.
– Denice
Jello salads totally remind me of my grandmother. Her vintage recipe box is full of tattered cards with handwritten recipes for all different types of gelatin mold dishes, from salmon mousse to vegetable sides and this cranberry jello salad. I’m not adventurous enough to try the savory jello salads that are studded with veggies like celery and tomatoes, but I sure do love a sweet fruit salad!
What to Know Before You Get Started
- Prep the cranberry salad well in advance of when you want to serve it. You don’t want to be stressed out wondering if it will set in time for your Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas dinner! The salad should only require about 4 hours of chilling time, but you can certainly cover it with plastic or foil and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.
- I use crushed pineapple that’s very well drained. Pineapple tidbits would also work.
- I like Ocean Spray whole berry cranberry sauce for this dish, but you can also use homemade cranberry sauce.
- Once you put the Jell-O in the refrigerator to thicken slightly, be sure to set a timer so that you remember to go back and check it after about 45 minutes or an hour. You want the Jell-O to thicken slightly, but you don’t want it to set completely before you stir in the remaining ingredients. Don’t forget about it!
- In order to avoid a runny Jell-o salad, drain the fruit really well (so that you don’t have excess liquid), don’t overmix the salad, and allow plenty of time for it to set.
How to Make Cranberry Salad with Jello
You don’t need a special jello mold to prepare this easy cranberry jell-o salad. Just a large bowl and an 8-inch square dish will do the trick!
- Dissolve the Jell-O in boiling hot water. You can easily boil water for your Jell-O by microwaving the water on high for about 2 ½ – 3 minutes. Whisk for 2 minutes, and then add cold water. Whisking the Jell-O mixture will likely result in some bubbles or foam on the top. That’s fine! Just use a spoon to gently skim off the foam before you stir in the rest of the ingredients.
- Chill the Jell-O in the fridge and allow it to thicken for about 1 hour.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl; stir.
- Transfer the mixture to a square dish.
- Chill in the refrigerator until completely set.
- Slice into squares and serving on a larger serving platter or individual plates.
- If you’re serving the dish for dessert, top the cranberry jello salad with cool whip or homemade whipped cream. For a side dish with Thanksgiving dinner, garnish the salad with fresh parsley or other chopped herbs for a bright, savory contrast.
Preparation and Storage Tips
Wrapped tightly, the jello salad will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days. I do not recommend freezing this dish. The jello changes structure when frozen and will not hold its structure when thawed.
Perfect side dish with your holiday meal. Not too sweet and was easy and didn’t make for a lot of.leftovers. I did as suggested cutting in squares and served 12.
– Lucy
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Cranberry Jello Salad
Ingredients
- 1 (3 ounce) package raspberry jello or cherry jello
- 1 cup boiling water
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 small orange (or 2 clementines), peeled and diced
- ½ cup crushed pineapple, well drained
- 1 (14 ounce) can whole cranberry sauce
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- Optional garnish: chopped fresh parsley; whipped cream or Cool Whip
Instructions
- In a large bowl, dissolve Jell-O in boiling water, whisking for 2 minutes. Whisk in the cold water. Cool in the refrigerator just until slightly thickened (about 45 minutes – 1 hour).
- Gently skim off any foam or bubbles on top of the Jell-O. Stir in oranges, pineapple, cranberry sauce, and pecans.
- Pour into an 8-inch square dish that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Chill in the refrigerator until completely set (at least 4 hours or overnight).
- Slice into squares and garnish with optional toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
Cranberry Jello Salad Recipe Variations
- The recipe calls for raspberry jello or cherry jello. Really, any similar jello flavor will work. Try cranberry jello, strawberry jello, or orange jello, too. Just make sure to use the small 3-ounce box.
- To serve a larger group, double all of the ingredients and prepare the salad in a 9 x 13-inch pan.
- Instead of 1 small orange, substitute with two smaller clementines or mandarin oranges, or use a can of well-drained mandarin oranges.
- Some cranberry salads with Jell-O also call for celery. I leave that out of my salad, but you can feel free to add about ½ cup diced celery.
- Use chopped walnuts or almonds instead of the pecans. You can also omit the nuts if you don’t like that added crunch.
- Instead of crushed pineapple, use pineapple tidbits. Do not use fresh pineapple, since an enzyme in the fresh pineapple will prevent the Jell-O from setting (a great tip from a blog reader)!
More Sides for Your Holiday Table
This recipe was originally published in October, 2018. It was updated in November, 2024.
Sounds delicious, but do not use fresh pineapple in a jello salad. It contains an enzyme that will prevent the jello from setting up. Canned pineapple has been cooked, so that enzyme has been denatured, and the jello will set up. Fresh pineapple is delicious; it just doesn’t work in jello salads.
Oh, great tip, Annette! Thank you!
❤️It’s a hit!!!! 5-Stars !!!!❤️
This is exactly what I was looking for to complete my Thanksgiving Dinner..
Classy and Delicious.
Wonderful! Thanks, Denice. Happy Thanksgiving!
Tasty and good! So glad you use pecans….we live in a huge pecan orchard and I need to use them up Sandra
Thank you, Sandra!
Sounds so delicious, can’t wait to make it this year. Just wondering if i can make a cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries instead of using the canned sauce??
Hi, Chris! I’ve never tried making this particular recipe with homemade cranberry sauce. I think it would probably work well, though.
Perfect side dish with your holiday meal. Not too sweet and was easy and didn’t make for a lot of.leftovers. I did as suggested cutting in squares and served 12.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Lucy!
You have a real talent for this subject. illplaywithyou