A tasty and uncommon fruit salad is what you'll find in this here Strawberry Pretzel Salad. It's as attractive as a dessert but light and not too sweet. The pretzels tout their saltiness, complementing the sweetness in the jello, strawberries, and cream cheese layers.

It's so good, one serving per person may not be enough to go around!

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We're taking it one step at a time for you newbies in the kitchen!

To those of you who haven't honed your kitchen skills yet, here's some friendly guidance. I realize not everyone feels at ease when following a recipe and this is the perfect dish to walk you through. So here we go!

First Step

Let's begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees and buttering a 9"x13" rectangle casserole dish. I like using a glass container to show off the 3 layers of the salad. Pretty, pretty!

Next, we crush the pretzels. The small round pretzels are better than the sticks because they leave chunky little bits to bite into. You can dump them into a zip-top bag and crush with a rolling pin or pass them through the food processor. Just be sure you don't over-process and turn them into crumbs.

The crust is simple with softened salted butter added to the pretzels and white and brown sugars for a buttery, salty-sweet taste. All you do is mix together, press the pretzel dough into a buttered rectangle basking dish, and bake. You can use your hands instead of a spoon if you like. Easy-peasy!

Whole pretzels and crushed pretzels in a plastic ban for a pretzel crust.

A pretzel crust in a glass casserole dish for Strawberry Pretzel Salad.

It's best to allow at least an hour for the pretzel crust to cool before adding the layers. You don't want the cream cheese mixture to melt into the crust. This is a good time to make the strawberry jello topping and the cream cheese filling while the crust bakes and cools.

Second Step

Even though the cream cheese layer goes on the crust first, let's make the jello layer first. We are using hot water to dissolve the jello and it needs to cool while the crust cools. Once it's put together, let it hang out in the refrigerator or freezer to speed things along.

All you need here is a small box of jello, hot water, and sliced fresh or frozen strawberries. I've used both fresh and frozen berries with a satisfactory outcome. But using frozen berries speeds up the chilling of the jello.

Ingredients of sliced strawberries and jello.

A bowl of sliced strawberries and jello.

Third Step

Now for the filling. It's a combination of cream cheese, sugar, and whipped cream (or cool-whip, if you want to go the easier route). I prefer using fresh whipping cream because of its rich flavor.

A bowl of whipped cream and a block of cream cheese with sugar in a measuring cup.

All you do here is beat the softened cream cheese with the sugar, then fold in the whipped cream and spread it over the cooled crust. Make sure you spread the filling all the way to the edges of the casserole dish. This makes for easier serving when you cut into the fruity salad. The crust will hold together better since it's somewhat looser than a regular flour crust.

Cream cheese filling spread onto a crust with a spoon.

Next, pour the cooled strawberry jello topping on top of the filling.

Strawberries poured onto a layer of cream cheese filling for a Strawberry Pretzel Salad.

Chill, slice, and serve!

It's that easy! The hardest part seems to be crushing the pretzels, but using a food processor can make it easier.