Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (2024)

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This homemade Red Jello Salad recipe is easy to make and is very popular with the kidsand our entire family. It is one of the recipes we almost always prepare for major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. We hope you enjoy it!

Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (2)

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Red Jello Salad Recipe

Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (3)

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This easy red jello salad recipe is a family favorite and a staple for Christmas! The family says that we can’t celebrate Christmas without the Red Jello Salad! ;-) It adds a beautiful red color to the Christmas table and children and men seem to really love it.

  • Author: Jill Cooper

Ingredients

Units

1/2 cup boiling water
1 small package cherry Jello
1/4 to 1/2 cup red hot candies
1 1/2 cups applesauce

Instructions

  1. Dissolve Jello and candies in boiling water. I usually do this in a small saucepan so I can keep it on low heat and keep it warm while dissolving the candies.
  2. When the Jello and candies are mostly dissolved, add the applesauce.
  3. Chill until set.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (8)Deborah

    This recipe has been in our family for years, but we call it Red Hot Salad. I love it, and it brings back fond childhood memories.

    Reply

  2. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (9)Joyce

    I make this frequently for potluck dinners at church and always have requests for the recipie. It looks good and tastes so refreshing.

    Reply

  3. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (10)Bea

    With the leaves starting to turn a little, the red of this Salad reminds me of the pretty trees. Can’t wait to make this tonight.

    Reply

    • Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (11)Jill

      Do you know how envious I am of you Bea living where you do and getting to see the trees turn like that? Living in Kansas we do have trees and a few turn but nothing at all like what you have. Even coming from Colorado the trees still aren’t the same as back East.

      Reply

  4. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (12)Bea

    Jill, You’re welcome to visit me ANYTIME! I do love the view of the mountains in my town. SO many trees. Even in my neighborhood there are a lot of trees. I love going into a room I have on the 2nd floor, which is a lovely enclosed porch, with all windows on one side, and looking out at the mountains and the trees. This time of year it’s so pretty. And I also like looking out on snow on trees in winter and on the mountains. God made nature so pretty.
    By the way, that Red Jello Salad is so yummy and pretty. Did you ever use any other flavor Jello? I was wondering if any other flavor would work?

    Reply

    • Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (13)Jill

      Oh Bea I have always dreamed of having a room will lots of windows where I could curl up with a good book, cup of tea and watch the different seasons outside. Some day I might get my room but you be sure to enjoy yours now for me. :) I didn’t know you could see mountains from your home too. That is soooo nice.

      The red jello salad I have always made with the cherry jello so I don’t know how it would taste with something else. You would probably have to be a little careful to make sure it was a flavor that would go well with the cinnamon candies and I can’t think off hand what other flavor that would be. Maybe someone else has tried it and can give a better answer.

      Reply

  5. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (14)Bea

    Jill, I live real close to mountains and the view on my 2nd floor from the old enclosed porch, with was made into a room by my landlord, has a nice view because it’s on the 2nd floor, and I can see the trees in the yards around me. It is real nice. The sun shines in the windows in the morning which is lovely, and the moon the other night was lovely too.
    As far as the Red Jello Salad is concerned I had one box of Cherry Jello and used that and wanted to make a 2nd batch, so I used Strawberry, since I didn’t have more Cherry,and it came out good. I was wondering if Orange would taste good??? I think I may try that next. It might end up having a fruit punch kind of flavor???

    Reply

    • Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (15)Jill

      It sounds like you have one of those rooms that almost makes you feel like you are sitting in a tree house. It really must be so pretty.
      It will be interesting to see Bea what the orange taste like. I know I love cinnamon orange tea and I wonder if it would be kind of like that.

      Reply

  6. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (16)Bea

    Jill, I didn’t think of that BUT I bet the Cinnamon and Orange Salad combo WOULD taste like Cinnamon Orange Tea and I like that TOO! Something to look forward to when I make it. It probably wouldn’t taste that bad regardless.
    And Yes, it’s like being in a tree house when I’m in that room on my 2nd floor. PRETTY DESCRIPTION Jill. You have a great imagination. And what makes it seem like that even more is the room is paneled in wood and the ceiling has wooden beams, so that description is perfect. That room is one of the reasons I really liked the apartment and wanted it after I looked at it.

    Reply

  7. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (17)Bea

    Jill, I’ve been making Jello salads a lot lately for side dishes and desserts, and I made the Salad using orange Jello with the Red Hots and applesauce, and it does taste a lot like the tea. Very good. I think you would like it. Also, since it’s orange it’s nice for Halloween and thanksgiving to have something orange on the table for seasonal colors. Red is also nice.

    Reply

    • Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (18)Jill

      That would be the perfect color for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Will have to try it and see.

      Reply

  8. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (19)Kim

    Hi! I am so excited to try this red hot salad. Can a jello mold be used to chill until set?
    Thanks!
    Kim

    Reply

    • Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (20)Jill

      Yes Kim you can put it in a Jello mold. It is pretty much glorified Jello so like Jello when put in a mold may have to be babied a little more when you try to get it out of the mold. Can’t wait for you to try it. This is always a big hit because of the flavor and the color at Christmas.

      Reply

  9. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (21)CJ

    We always have “green jello salad” (it would never occur to me to use Red Hots in anything!), but maybe we’ll try the red one! Where would I find red hots when it wasn’t Valentines?

    Our salad is 1 package of green jello, 1 brick of cream cheese and 1 small can of crushed pineapple.

    Drain your pineapple but reserve the juice. Add cold water to make 1 cup of liquid.

    Add the jello powder to 1 c. of boiling water, then add the the brick of softened, chopped cream cheese. Beat until most of the cream cheese is dissolved. Then add the pineapple & the juice/water mixture. Refridgerate until set.

    My SIL & husband usually fight over the leftovers. :)

    Reply

    • Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (22)Jill

      You can find them most places like Wal Mart, grocery stores,$ tree, Walgreens and they are usually hanging up in the bags. You can find them in those “movie” boxes too sometimes.

      Reply

  10. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (23)Barbara A Nauman

    This red jello salad fabulous! I have a version that my family also loves.

    1 can cranberry sauce (I buy this on sale after the holidays. I’ve gotten it for 39 cents a can!!)
    1 can cherry pie filling (I buy a generic store brand-Aldi has a great one at a super price!)
    1 15 oz. can crushed pineapple (generic and always on sale!!)
    2 boxes cherry jello (I buy Aldi brand, or the cheapest I can find!)
    3/4c. sour cream

    Dissolve the two boxes of jello in 1 1/3c. boiling water. Stir in all the other ingredients, including all the juice from the crushed pineapple. Put one half of the mixture in a 9×13 pan and chill well. Then spread the sour cream over the set jello. Gently pour the rest of the jello mixture over the sour cream. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm. My family eats this as a salad, or dessert!!

    Reply

  11. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (24)Laura

    We make a similar recipe, but we omit the candies and melt in a can of cranberry sauce. Everyone loves it!

    Reply

  12. Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (25)Jackie

    Oh oh I followed a similar recipe used 1 cup water and 2 cups applesauce. It’s been over 2 hours and it’s not setting up. Too much liquid?
    There’s always next time. It tastes really good tho

    Reply

    • Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (26)Jill

      Yes too much liquid

      Reply

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Red Jello Salad Recipe - A Tasty Family Favorite! (2024)

FAQs

What happened to Jello salads? ›

Jello salad fell out of fashion in the 1960s and 70s. The rise of Julia Child and the popularization of French cooking in the United States made the jello salad appear less elegant, and dieting trends eventually turned against sugary food like Jell-O.

What were the flavors of Jell-O in the 50s? ›

By the 1950s, salads became so popular that Jell-O responded with savory and vegetable flavors such as celery, Italian, mixed vegetable, and seasoned tomato. These flavors have since been discontinued.

What is Jello salad made of? ›

Empty whipped topping into a medium sized bowl. Sprinkle Jell-O over the top and fold in so it is well blended. Add cottage cheese and pineapple and fold into Jell-O mixture. Chill for about 4 hours so that the jello softens and slightly sets up.

Was Jell-O popular in the 80s? ›

Dandeen, who raised children and grandchildren in the mid-century glory days of the Jell-O salad, would have loved it. While Jell-O products are still very popular as snacks and desserts, the Jell-O salad—particularly in its savory forms—had fallen from culinary favor by the early 1980s.

Why is Jell-O no longer popular? ›

Jell-O's decline

After all, it's commonly associated with patients eating it in hospitals or disgraced comedian Bill Cosby, who was the face of the brand for 30 years. And, Jell-O molds and now-defunct flavors like Italian salad and mixed vegetables are in recipe books for “nauseating” foods.

Why was Jell-O so popular in the 1970s? ›

Soldiers came back from the war with a newly acquired taste for their products, and women were integrating the workplace in droves. Cheap and quick to prepare, products offered by companies like Heinz, Jell-O and Hi-Liner were perfectly adapted to this new reality.

Why did people in the 50s eat so much Jell-O? ›

After World War II, when food shortages and rationing ended, gelatin became a creative kitchen tool, as well as a shortcut. Congealed molded dishes quickly earned a place at the table as impressive salads. According to Clark, mid-century meals had more courses than we serve at home today.

What are the 4 original flavors of Jell-O? ›

1897 – The original four Jell-O gelatin flavors were raspberry, strawberry, lemon, and orange. 1904 – Cherry and chocolate flavors are introduced.

Why do hospitals always serve Jell-O? ›

Why do hospitals serve so much Jell-O? There are a few reasons: Jell-O is easy to swallow and digest, making it suitable for patients who have difficulty eating solid foods or have digestive issues.

Why wouldn t you want to use pineapple in a jello salad? ›

Bromolain in pineapple, papain in papaya and actinidin in kiwi are all enzymes capable of breaking down proteins, hence the warning that these fruits cannot be used in Jell-O. But canned fruits are fine because the pasteurization process they undergo destroys the proteolytic enzymes.

What should not be added to gelatin salad? ›

Just DO NOT include fresh pineapple, kiwi, papaya, figs, or guava (as the gelatin will not set).

What flavor did Jell-O discontinue? ›

Mixed Greens

Alongside the later-mentioned Italian, and seasoned tomato Jell-O mixes, the mixed vegetable flavor was a part of Jell-O's savory line of mid-century flavors. By the 1960s, savory Jell-O salads were in their golden era where chicken, fish, and veggie ingredients were packed into molded gelatin delicacies.

What was the downfall of Jell-O? ›

But in the decades after World War II ended, the problems that JELL-O had initially solved went away. Cheap food items did not impress a wealth-building American society, and wartime staples became repellant. In the 1970s, JELL-O languished as a children's snack and hospital dessert.

What was the first color of Jell-O? ›

The first four JELL-O flavors were orange, lemon, strawberry, and raspberry. Lime was introduced in 1930.

When were jello salads most popular? ›

“Jell-O salads first became popular in the 1930s but reached their highest expression as part of the processed food school of cooking that sprang up after the war,” said Wyman. This was an era of packaged foods and TV dinners, and it was the golden age of gelatin desserts.

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