Pecan Cranberry Jello Salad
This salad can be made ahead of time and refrigerated, covered, overnight.Yield: 1 (9x13) pan (Recipe can be halved to fit a 8x8 pan.)
Servings: 12 people
Ingredients
For the Jello Layer
- 1 ⅓ c water
- ⅔ c 100% cranberry juice concentrate, thawed if frozen
- ½ c sugar
- 12 oz cranberries (fresh or frozen, thawed)
- 3 tablespoon unflavored gelatin (3 pkgs)
- ½ c cold water
- 1 can (10 oz) crushed pineapples, with juice
- 3 c red grapes, halved
- 1 ½ c pecans, coarsely chopped
For the Topping
- 1 ½ c heavy whipping cream*
- 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese (⅓ fat works well), softened to room temperature
- ½ c powdered sugar
- 1 c mini marshmallows
Instructions
For the Jello
- In a medium saucepan, mix 1 ⅓ c water, the cranberry juice concentrate, and sugar. Add the cranberries and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the cranberries have all popped open, 3-5 min.
- While the cranberries are simmering, in a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over ½ c cold water. Let it stand to bloom, or soften, for 5 minutes. (If all the gelatin does not soften, add an additional splash of water, to ensure all the gelatin is moist and soft.)
- Scoop the softened gelatin to the hot cranberry mixture. Stir to mix well.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and mix in the crushed pineapple (with juices), halved grapes, and chopped pecans.
- Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until mixture has set.
For the Topping
- In a large, chilled bowl, beat the heavy cream with an electric mixer fitted with whipping beaters, until soft peaks form. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with the powdered sugar, until light and fluffy.
- Scoop the whipped cream cheese into the bowl with the whipped cream. Continue beating until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
- Add marshmallows and fold them in with a rubber spatula, until evenly distributed.
- Spread the topping evenly over the set cranberry mixture.
- Return the salad to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour before serving.
Notes
*If you would like, substitute 2 cups of already sweetened whipped cream for the heavy cream and powdered sugar in the topping. Simply whip the cream cheese until fluffy and then add it to the whipped cream along with the marshmallows.
This recipe was updated November 2016. We made a few tweaks to use more whole ingredients. Enjoy!