Cherry Supreme: The Retro Dessert That Needs to Make a Comeback

I haven’t had many dessert salads in my life, but every time I visit my mother-in-law in Pennsylvania, there’s always a vibrant, Jell-O-based retro salad on the table. After seeing a popular Dinogo post about another family’s famous cherry salad, I decided to try my hand at making my first Jell-O salad in my own kitchen, inspired by her tradition.

Freda’s Cherry Supreme Salad is a beloved five-star dessert, frequently reviewed and shared. Former Dinogo senior editor Carl Hanson passed along the family recipe, recalling, 'This was my grandmother Freda’s 'famous' cherry salad. It was always a hit at family get-togethers.' With ingredients like lemon and strawberry gelatin, whipped topping, and crushed pineapple, it’s easy to see why this classic dessert salad is such a favorite. I gathered my ingredients to give it a try myself.

What Exactly Are Retro Dessert Salads?

Before I started mixing up this fruity salad, I decided to text my mother-in-law. 'We didn’t really eat salad growing up,' I wrote, 'but I know you guys love them. Any idea why that is?'

It turns out, this is just how my mother-in-law grew up. She reminisces about church potlucks where the menu specifically asked for either 'a salad or a dessert,' and the summer afternoons spent with her siblings, helping their mom mix together all the ingredients for this gelatinous treat.

'It was definitely a treat from the '50s and '60s,' she replied. 'I guess you could throw some fruit in there and feel like you were meeting your nutritional goals? Plus, you didn’t need to turn on the oven to make dessert.'

How to Make Freda’s Cherry Supreme Salad

Armed with this useful history of fluff salads, I gathered my ingredients for Cherry Supreme Salad and set to work. This dessert salad is a classic example of the genre, using two types of Jell-O, whipped topping, canned cherries and pineapple, cream cheese, and mayonnaise. It’s a layered salad, which means you create the cherry-red layer first and let it set before adding the yellow pineapple-lemon layer, creating a visually stunning contrast between the two.

Although the salad had several ingredients, it was surprisingly simple to make. First, I prepared the red layer by dissolving strawberry Jell-O in hot water and mixing in a can of cherry pie filling. I poured it into a glass baking dish and let it set in the fridge for about 45 minutes before moving on to the top layer.

The top layer of this nostalgic salad consists of a mixture of lemon Jell-O (dissolved in hot water), lemon juice, cream cheese, mayonnaise, undrained canned crushed pineapple, and miniature marshmallows. Once everything is mixed together, the yellow mixture is poured over the cherry layer and left to set in the refrigerator for an additional two hours.

Tips for Making Cherry Supreme Salad

Making this Cherry Supreme Jell-O Salad was surprisingly simple. The most time-consuming part is waiting for each of the two layers to set, but the results are definitely worth it. Be sure to let the cream cheese soften at room temperature for easier mixing into the top layer, and if your whipped topping was frozen, allow it to thaw beforehand. Hanson mentioned that his mother uses a blender to combine the lemon Jell-O, cream cheese, lemon juice, and mayonnaise, which I might try next time, as it saves a lot of stirring to get everything blended well.

Once the salad has set, it’s topped with chopped walnuts. Since I have a walnut allergy, I substituted crumbled graham crackers mixed with a little melted butter for the perfect crunchy topping, and it worked out great.

Freda’s Cherry Supreme Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (3-ounce) package strawberry gelatin mix
• 1 3/4 cup boiling water, divided
• 1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling
• 1 (3-ounce) package lemon gelatin mix
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1/2 cup whipped cream topping (thawed if frozen)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or other nut)

Directions

1. In a 7x11-inch pan, dissolve the strawberry Jell-O in 1 cup of boiling water. Stir in the cherry pie filling, spread the mixture evenly, and refrigerate until it’s almost set, about 45 minutes.
2. Dissolve the lemon Jell-O in the remaining 3/4 cup of boiling water. Mix in the lemon juice and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, soften the cream cheese by mashing it, then stir in the mayonnaise. Pour the lemon Jell-O mixture into the cream cheese and mix until smooth. Next, fold in the undrained pineapple. Finally, gently stir in the marshmallows and whipped cream topping.
4. Spread the pineapple mixture over the chilled cherry layer and top with chopped walnuts. Refrigerate for another 2 hours until fully set.