Every Thanksgiving, my grandmother cooked this cranberry orange Jell-O salad. It is still excellent without the creamy garnish. I occasionally prepare this side dish even when it’s not Thanksgiving since it’s so delicious! Depending on the shape of your salad, you can either layer the topping over the Jell-O or, if you’re using a ring mold, place it in the center. It is optional because you may alternatively serve the topping in a bowl on the side.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 8 hrs 20 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
Ingredients
- 1 (6 ounce) package raspberry flavored Jell-O® mix
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 (16 ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
- 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 (4 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup whipped topping
Instructions
- Place gelatin into a bowl, pour in boiling water, and stir until gelatin dissolves. Mix in cranberry sauce, pineapple, celery, pecans, and orange zest until evenly blended. Pour gelatin mixture into a mold or serving dish.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours to overnight.
- To make topping, beat cream cheese with 1/2 of the whipped topping. Fold in remaining whipped topping until well blended.
- Unmold gelatin, then spread with topping mixture.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 231 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 32 g |
| Cholesterol | 10 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 82 mg |
| Sugars | 13 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Thanksgiving and Christmas, every year!
Tastes great, I made this in place of cranberry sauce and nobody missed it.
I didn’t make the topping. Was trying to mimic my aunts from holidays as a kid. Came out exactly like hers! A+
We don’t eat jello that often and this was a welcome change. Really enjoyed it.
Everyone loves this when I make it at Thanksgiving. It has become a traditional side for our family. It is so pretty without the topping!
Loved it and so did the residents of our assisted living community.
It was very good, better without the topping! At first it was weird to have something crunchy in jello, but it was delicious!
I love this recipe I made it for Thanksgiving and it was a hit no I did not put the orange zest in and I did not use to talking still very good!
Yes drain the pineapples, and also try layering jello, cream, jello
Just had one of these salads for Easter side dish . Instead of pecans in it cranraisins were used and she had used cottage cheese. So good. It was raspberry jello, whole cranberry sauce canned pineapples undrained, chopped celery,kcranraisins, and cottage cheese. But I don’t know amounts
Thanksgiving hit! Substituted the water & canned cranberry sauce with freshly made cranberry sauce (boiled/cold as needed).
Superb! My mom used to make a salad very similar to this. I loved it then and I still do! I pretty much followed this to a T with one exception. As royalhiness did, I also used a different recipe for the topping. I remember my mom’s salad having a sweet-tangy topping and thought that this one might be a touch too sweet for my liking. To compensate, I mixed together a (softened) 8 oz. package of reduced-fat cream cheese, a c. of lite sour cream, 3/4 c. sugar and a 1/2 t of vanilla. DELISH!!! My only change for next time will be to use a 9 in. baking dish instead of a 9 x 13 in. one (I decided to not use a mold because I wanted to spread my topping rather than serve it tableside). I would have liked for my gelatin layer to be a *tad* thicker (but that’s just me). This was a hit at my in-law’s Easter dinner, so much so that I will be making this again for our Thanksgiving feast. 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Carissa!
Delicious! This was really a nice addition to our Christmas table. Will definitely make again!
Very good a keeper for Thanksgiving
Made this the last two Thanksgivings and we love it. I wasn’t fond of the topping (needed to be a little sweeter), so I substituted one I found in several similar recipes: Beat till smooth an 8 oz package of cream cheese, a cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of sugar. Spread it on top and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Making it tonight for a staff Christmas party for tomorrow!
I made this salad yesterday to have for Thanksgiving and it did not congell! A neighbor told me the recipe was incorrect and should have read DRAIN THE PINEAPPLE! This had to be eaten with a spoon.
I’m a beginner cook (at 50 it’s never too late to start) anyhoo… easy recipe and the taste was awesome! Definately on my to make again list.
I made this recipe for christmas. I used sugar-free black cherry jello (my daughter grabbed the wrong box of jello) instead & it turned out pretty good. I will be making this again for thanksgiving & next time I well try the raspberry jello.
I just made this for Thanksgiving, exactly as written and it was wonderful! Next time I will use 1/4 c less pecans, but it was great!
I have been making a very simular salad for years,but, lost mine. I read all the reviews and for the ones that didn’t put the celery in really lost out and again for the ones that didn’t put the topping on top again really cheated your guest. It is a salad not a dessert. Thanks for Grandma’s Cranberry Orange Gelatin Salad , I’ll be making it for Thanksgiving Dinner again this year 2010.
I have made a variation of this recipe for years, and it has become a staple at our holiday meals. I use one 6oz pkg of the raspberry jello and another 6 oz pkg of cherry jello. I also had a cup of chopped fresh cranberries for added crunch. I omit the whipped topping mix, and usually make this dish in a jello mould for presentation.