Cranberry Jello Salad:
Tart, sweet, and brightly colorful, this Cranberry Jello Salad is always on our holiday table.
The combination of orange juice, cranberry juice, and pineapple make it an unforgettable treat for the taste buds.
We load it with crunchy walnuts, pineapple, and celery and it is more than a sweet. It is a delicious side, and a great compliment to turkey and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole.
Cranberry Jello Salad
©Eazy Peazy Mealz by EazyPeazyMealz.com
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Okay, I was a huge skeptic the first time I saw this cranberry Jello salad. Let me say I am not really one for Jello anyway, but the bright red color, and the additions of nuts and celery kind of threw me for a loop. I was pretty sure I was going to hate it. In fact, I really tried to not even have to eat it.
But it was Thanksgiving, and my mother in law had made it. And she offered it to me. Everyone was eating some, so I figured for politeness-sake I would try it. I slowly took a spoonful, trying to get only Jello and leave off the extras. I was not successful. My plan was to spoon a little off here and there, and kind of push the rest around my plate until I could covertly throw it away. But, in my paranoid state, I was sure my mother in law was watching, so I took a bite.
And to my surprise and delight, it is actually very good. So I ate it all, and continue to eat it at every holiday. And sometimes just make it for fun. I usually order my Cranberry Jell-O from Amazon since it can be tricky to find, but when I am in a pinch I use Cherry Jell-O.
Find the Jello-Mold I use in this photo here on Amazon.
Who Would Have Thought?
Cranberry Jello Salad is a tradition in my husband’s family, as is the dish it is made in. In fact, a couple years ago at Christmas, my in-laws gave each of the kid’s families their own Jello mold for this salad. I was again surprised by how excited everyone was to have their own Jello mold. I am telling you…this cranberry jello salad continues to surprise me.
It is special. It is tradition. And lucky for me, it is delicious. And it is the perfect Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish. I highly recommend adding it to your holiday menu planning, along with these bacon wrapped green beans, braised honey carrots and these amazing yams.
The cranberry is bright fun, and flavorful, and the additions give it some great texture, and additional flavor. If you have never had a Jello salad with stuff mixed in it, you have to give it a try. It might surprise you, it certainly did me.
Helpful Suggestions
- To set up jello more quickly, use a water bath with ice in it to initially cool heated contents of jello mold, before putting it into the refrigerator.
- You can add other additions to the mixture after it cools to “just before setting up” in the ice water bath (diced banana, mandarin oranges, raspberry, coconut, or your favorite Old-World Cheese).
- If you want to go more tropical, add a little shredded coconut.
- If you want to be more Highlander, add small bites of your favorite old-world cheese to the mix (af
Other Great Holliday Recipes
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- Easy Holiday Cookies
Cranberry Jello Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups cranberry juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 6 ounces Cranberry Jell-O or Cherry Jell=O 1 large package or 2 small
- 1 cup Orange Juice
- 1 can 20 ounces crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 cup crushed walnuts
- 1 cup celery chopped fine
- Jello Mold
Instructions
- In a medium sized pot over medium-high heat, bring 2 cups of cranberry juice and sugar to a boil, and stir until sugar is melted.
- Add package of jello and orange juice and stir.
- Add crushed pineapple, walnuts, and celery, drain pineapple and discard juice, or replace some of the other juice with it
- Pour into Jello mold, and refrigerate until firm
- Remove from mold and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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Patti says
What size crushed pineapple?
Rachael says
20 ounces, sorry!
GRANNY says
WHEN ADDING THE PINEAPPLE, DO YOU ADD THE JUICE TOO?
Rachael says
No, so sorry for not clarifying that.
Jill Burch says
I have an even better recipe like this.. Cherry Jello (large box) 1 lemon, 1 orange pealed with all of he white pealed off. Put lemon and orange in food processor and grind them. Don’t use large pieces of the fruit. Put the orange and lemon in a large bowl. Grind up 2/3 of a bag of raw frozen cranberries (coarsely. Put the cranberries in with he orange and lemon. Grind 3/4 cup of walnuts and put them in with the fruit. Put a large can of crushed pineapple in with it. Stir. (No the cranberries are not cooked)
Now make the jello like you normally would, BUT, instead of using 4 cups of water, use 3 cups. Boil 2 cups of water and pour in the jello, stir til dissolvedd. Add 1 cup of sugar and stir, then add one cup of ice cold water and stir. Thats a total of 3 cups.
Pour the liquid into the the fruit and nut bowl and stir. Pour into a jello mold.Refrigerate. I make it 2 days before the holiday. The reason I only use 3 cups of water is because it gels well. This will be the best jellow you have ever eaten. I promise.
Rachael says
Well thanks for the recipe! I appreciate it.
Erin says
I have never used a jello mold before and I do not own one. Could I use a bundt cake pan instead of the mold for this recipe?
Rachael says
It may be difficult to get out. The mold I have has a center piece that pops out so it is very easy to get out. But You could try it. You could line to bundt pan with plastic wrap first so it can be pulled out. I honestly haven’t ever had to try it since I have the mold. But you could just make it in a glass casserole dish (9×9) if you were worried about getting it out of the ring. Or you could try to find one. This is the one I have: http://amzn.to/2fm5eFm #affiliate
Erin says
I borrowed a mold from my mother in law! Thank you! Can’t wait to try it!
Rachael says
Oh good, so glad she had one you can borrow! I hope you guys love it.
Boo says
My mum has made this my entire life. She makes it every holiday and I even ask for it! I love this recipe and has such warming memories for me. One of my favorite cranberry dishes ever! Thank you so much for sharing it. It is now in my recipe box as my mum makes it from memory and never remembers to write it down!
Rachael says
I am so glad to have been of service. It is a tradition for us as well.
Lisa Cerasoli says
How far ahead can this be made and still be fresh? I do an annual bake sale for thanksgiving and would love to sell this . My bake sales are the Sunday before thanksgiving so it needs to last through the week. Thanks!
Rachael says
It is Jello salad, so as long as you get fresh celery so that it doesn’t go bad, you should be just fine with it lasting the week.
Dianne says
The two cups of cranberry juice: Is that sweetened juice, unsweetened juice, or cranberry juice cocktail?
Rachael says
Cranberry juice cocktail. Thanks for asking.