Pretzel Congealed Salad

I don't know if congealed salads are exclusively southern or not, but southerners seem to make and enjoy them quite a bit.  Maybe it is because they are a cool addition to our tables in the sweltering heat of the summer or because they are so colorful and pretty.  They also seem to be very popular during holidays.  One of my favorite congealed salads is the strawberry Jell-O pretzel congealed salad.  I have seen it by many names, but basically it is a congealed salad with strawberry jell-o, pretzels, and a layer of cream cheese.  The salty crust, combined with the cream cheese and jell-o is wonderful.

This particular recipe came from one of my favorite cookbooks that I received as a wedding gift.  It is called Land of Cotton, and it was first printed in 1988 by John T. Morgan Academy in Selma, Alabama.  It has some wonderful recipes, and it is a cookbook that I use often.  In this cookbook, the recipe is listed as Pretzel Congealed Salad.

Pretzel Congealed Salad

2 1/2 cups coarsely crushed pretzels

1/3 cup margarine, melted

3 T. sugar

1 (8oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1 c. sugar

1 (12 oz.) package whipped topping

2 (3 oz.) packages of strawberry gelatin

2 c. boiling water

2 (10 oz.) packages of frozen strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine pretzels, margarine, and 3 tablespoons of sugar and mix well.  Bake in a 9x13 pan for 10 minutes, cool completely.  Cream the cheese and blend in one cup of sugar.  Add the whipped topping, mixing well.  Spread over the cooled pretzels.  Dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water.  Add the frozen strawberries, breaking up with a fork as you stir.  Chill until slightly thickened.  Pour over whipped topping layer; chill until set.   Yield:  8-10 servings

Notes:  I used tiny twist pretzels.  See picture below on crushing them.  When spreading the cream cheese layer over the pretzel layer, do so very gingerly.  You are going to probably get a few pretzels in your cream cheese, but don't worry.  The layer of gelatin will cover it.  I put several big dollops of the cream cheese mixture on the pretzels and then spread it with a big spatula very carefully to cover evenly.  I was in a bit of a rush and was worried that my gelatin layer would not set, and I had to travel with my salad.  As soon as I put the strawberries in, I put it in the freezer.  It was set in about 20 minutes. 

Place pretzels in a gallon plastic bag and take out all of your frustrations on them with a big meat hammer :)

Pretzel layer after baking

I used my mixer to blend the cream cheese, sugar, and cool whip.  You cold also use a hand mixer.

Big dollops of cream cheese mixture on the pretzels






Strawberry gelatin dissolved in boiling water



Sliced strawberries - The recipe calls for two 10 oz. bags.  The only ones that I could find were 16 oz.  I used one and one half bags.

Frozen strawberries added to gelatin

Ta Da!  It's done, and very pretty!

Unfortunately, much of this salad met its end on the floor of my van due to an unexpected abrupt stop at a red light and an inattentive nine year old boy who was supposed to be watching it!  We were able to salvage most of it, though.  Moral of the story:  If you need to take this someplace, be sure to make it in a dish that you can cover with a lid!  Lesson learned!