Easy Strawberry Fluff Salad Recipe with Jello Mix

How to make the best ever strawberry fluff salad that can feed a crowd with crushed pineapples, Jello mix, mini marshmallows, fresh strawberries and a creamy whipped topping. Easy recipe that makes a sweet and refreshing no bake dessert with one bowl in 5 minutes or less!

Jello salad is a big deal here in the Midwest. In fact, I can’t remember one holiday dinner or church potluck without strawberry cottage cheese Jello salad, blueberry Jello salad or some other easy dessert salad on the table.

Although traditional Jello salad uses cottage cheese, I chose to leave it out for this strawberry fluff salad recipe. Cottage cheese adds great flavor, but a lot of people don’t care for the texture. Strawberry fluff is so light and fluffy, and it makes the best sweet and refreshing summertime sweet treat you could ask for!

Why You’ll Love Strawberry Marshmallow Fluff

• Strawberry fluff is an easy one bowl recipe that uses just 5 simple ingredients, and you can make it in 5 minutes or less.
• This is a no bake dessert. That’s what’s great about fluff salad– you just mix it together, chill it in the refrigerator for a few hours and serve!
• You can easily double or triple this recipe to feed a crowd. It may look a little weird at first, but I’ve yet to see anybody dislike this fluff dessert after tasting it.
• It’s the perfect side dish or dessert for any party, large gathering or other special occasions, including summer potlucks, backyard BBQ’s, a baby shower, picnics, Easter dinner, baby showers or even family gatherings.
• Strawberry fluff is so light and refreshing with an unbelievably fluffy texture, and it’s practically bursting with sweet, fresh strawberry flavor.
• Although traditional Jello salad uses cottage cheese, strawberry fluff salad uses NO cottage cheese. It’s the perfect recipe for anyone who just can’t stand the curdy texture of cottage cheese in their strawberry Jello salad!

Ingredients Notes & Substitutions

This recipe uses pretty basic ingredients. You probably already have everything you need…

• Crushed Pineapples – Strawberry fluff recipes just wouldn’t be the same without crushed pineapples. This essential ingredient adds just enough tang to balance out any overpowering sweetness from the other ingredients.
• Strawberry Gelatin – Although I call for strawberry Jell-O mix for this delicious dessert recipe, you can actually use any flavor you want. In fact, my guys love it when I make this recipe with orange Jello mix and Mandarin oranges, just like my Mandarin orange Jello salad recipe.
• Mini Marshmallows – I recommend using mini marshmallows for this recipe. Although I use plain mini marshmallows, you can use flavored mini marshmallows if you want.
• Fresh Strawberries – I prefer fresh strawberries, but you can also use frozen strawberries for this strawberry fluff recipe. Just be sure to let them them thaw out before mixing everything together.
• Cool Whip – For the sake of convenience, I usually make my strawberry fluff with Cool Whip, but you can also make your own homemade whipped cream. In fact, any whipped topping will work!

How to Make Strawberry Fluff Salad

Before getting started, open and drain the can of crushed pineapples, and set it aside. You’ll also want to get your strawberries diced up and ready to go.

Instead of using a knife to slice them up, you can also “shred” your strawberries with a cheese grater for fluff salad. Not only is this quicker, but the super fine strawberry shreds will mix into the salad more evenly.

Mix Up the Strawberry Fluff

1. Start by adding the crushed pineapple and strawberry gelatin to a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula until fully combined.
2. Next, gently fold in the marshmallows and diced strawberries.
3. Lastly, fold in the Cool Whip until everything is well combined. 
4. That’s it! You can eat strawberry fluff immediately, but I recommend covering the large bowl with plastic wrap and letting it chill in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours before serving.

I highly recommend letting your strawberry fluff chill for at least a few hours before serving, but if you must serve it immediately, it helps to drain the crushed pineapples and set them in the refrigerator for a couple hours before making this recipe.

How to Serve Strawberry Fluff Dessert

Once chilled, your strawberry fluff is ready to serve! If you’re serving it at a party or other special event, you can scoop it out into individual cups for everybody to choose their own.

I like to garnish my strawberry fluff salad with fresh diced strawberries on top. You can also add a big dollop of Cool Whip or whipped cream, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to sprinkle a few more mini marshmallows on top.

Strawberry fluff serves really well alongside mixed berry fruit salad. Sometimes I make mixed berry fruit cups or even tropical fruit cups to go along with it.

Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ’s

Recipe Variations

Looking for ways to switch up this retro dessert? Here are a few ideas that come to mind…

• For a creamier texture, try using instant pudding mix instead of strawberry gelatin mix!
• Remember, you can use any Jello flavor you want for this recipe. I’m thinking raspberry, cherry, orange, pineapple, or even berry blue. Just be sure to change the fruit accordingly; the sky’s the limit when it comes to fluff salad!
• You can add chopped walnuts, chopped mini pretzels or even crumbled up graham crackers to make this dessert a little bit more interesting.
• I think this strawberry fluff would make the best no bake Jello pie if you scooped it into a scrumptious pecan nut pie crust, sort of like my no bake strawberry Cool Whip pie recipe.
• Speaking of pies, I’ve always wanted to try making this recipe with strawberry pie filling instead of strawberry Jello. I bet that would be soooo good!

More Jello Recipes

Around here, we eat a lot of Jello desserts, simply because they’re so dang easy! Here are a few more of our favorites…

• First on the list, you just can’t beat plain old Jello. Here’s how to make Jello from the box with step by step instructions.
• Change things up by making Jello with strawberries!
• Once you’ve learned how make Jello, you can use it to make my kids’ favorite Jello Jigglers recipe with a fun assortment of cookie cutters.
• Did you know that Jello makes the best ever poke cakes? I make orange Jello poke cake, lemon poke cake with Jello mix and raspberry poke cake. I even make a red, white and blue strawberry Jello poke cake for the 4th of July!
• My entire family loves these gooey strawberry Rice Krispie treats with strawberry Jello and freeze-dried strawberries!
• If you like Jello fluff, I know you’ll love this yummy ambrosia salad.

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