Strawberry Jello Cottage Cheese Salad

Whip up this strawberry Jello cottage cheese salad in 10 minutes or less. It's a quick and easy side dish recipe just like Grandma's back in the day!

Remember the retro cottage cheese Jello salad at just about every potluck dinner, whether church or family get together? I do, and here in the Midwest, it's still quite the popular holiday side dish.

Strawberry cottage cheese salad is a sweet side dish that surprisingly will disappear. I say surprising because it doesn't seem like cottage cheese and Jello should go together in the same sentence, let alone the same dish. But somehow it works! Just ask my oldest about his favorite mandarin orange Jello salad.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Jello salad is so light and fluffy. My favorite part is all the little mini marshmallows that add a really soft texture to the salad.
• It's so quick and easy to make. It takes 10 minutes or less to mix it up, and then you just let it chill 'til you're ready to serve it.
• Fresh strawberries add real flavor to the salad, but it doesn't take a lot.
• You can add any flavor Jello you want; it doesn't have to be strawberry.
• It's a budget-friendly side, costing less than $10 to make.

Ingredient Notes

• Small Curd Cottage Cheese – Make sure you use small curd cottage cheese, because large curd will give a whole different texture to the salad.
• Strawberry Jello – While I use a regular strawberry Jello mix, you can make this salad any flavor you want just by switching out the flavor of Jello you use. Sky's the limit when it comes to Jello.
• Crushed Pineapple – Canned crushed pineapple is the way to go with gelatin salad. Fresh and frozen pineapple won't be the same… Fresh pineapple won't have enough moisture, and frozen pineapple will add way too much moisture to the salad.
• Fresh Strawberries – Just dice them up and add them in.
• Mini Marshmallows – These are my favorite ingredient. You can use plain mini marshmallows, or you can even use flavored if you want.
• Cool Whip – While you can use homemade whipped cream, it won't be as stable and the salad will need to be eaten fairly quickly the same day. Cool Whip makes it easy.

Ways to Add Variety to Jello Salad

You can add more texture and flavor to your salad with one or a few of these optional add-ins…

• Substitute a different type of fruit, like a fruit cocktail mix or fresh raspberries or blackberries.
• Add chopped walnuts or pecans.
• Use pineapple tidbits instead of crushed pineapple.
• Add flavored marshmallows instead of regular.
• Use Dream Whip instead of Cool Whip.

How to Make Jello Cottage Cheese Salad

Before you start to mix up your Jello salad recipe, be sure to gather your ingredients so they're ready to go. I like to drain the pineapple and dice up the strawberries beforehand, as well.

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