Strawberry Fluff Salad with Pretzels
This Strawberry Fluff Salad with pretzels is a sweet, creamy dessert salad that combines fresh strawberries, whipped topping, and a caramelized pretzel crunch. It’s a fun twist on the classic strawberry pretzel dessert but in fluff salad form that’s easier to scoop and serve at parties, holidays, or BBQs.
Servings: 6 cups
Calories: 313kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups crushed pretzels pieces about ½ inch
- ½ cup butter melted
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 oz Cool Whip whipped topping thawed
- 16 oz fresh strawberries washed, hulled, and chopped into bite sized pieces but not too small
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the pretzels and pecan pieces with the melted butter and brown sugar, spread them out evenly, and bake for about 6-7 minutes until golden. The brown sugar will heat up pretty quick and get dark brown but do not let it burn. I find 7 is the max. Let them cool completely before breaking into small clusters. Set aside about 2 tablespoons for garnish and keep the rest ready to mix in. If you’re preparing ahead of time, you can bake and store this pretzel mixture up to two days in advance in an airtight container.
- In a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese with the granulated white sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. I find that a spatula works great in mixing all of these together.
- Fold in the Cool Whip whipped topping until you have a light, fluffy base. Stir in the chopped strawberries gently so they don’t break down too much and water out. If you cut your strawberries too small or add extra ones, they tend to hold a lot of moisture and can make your salad watery.
- Right before serving, fold in the pretzel clusters so they stay crisp and don’t soften in the mixture. Spoon the salad into a serving bowl and sprinkle the top with the reserved pretzel pieces.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: A lot of fluff salads have mini marshmallows mixed in which give it the fluffy weight. This salad would go great with 2 cups of mini marshmallows (give or take depending on your desires).
Notes
Moisture note - Anytime you work with chopped strawberries, there will be some moisture content. If you chop your strawberries too small or add too many extra ones, you will water down the salad. It will still taste great but be more like a dip than a salad. If that happens, just add in a few cups of mini marshmallows to make it more dense.
Leftovers: cover and refrigerate salad for up to 2 days, but be aware that the pretzels will soften. Keep some extra pretzel crunch aside and adding it fresh before serving helps bring back that crunchy texture.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cups | Calories: 313kcal