These classic Jell-O recipes will take you back to your childhood!

Ah, Jell-O — the wiggly, jiggly, colorful food that’s just plain fun to eat, but what can you really do with it?

As it turns out, there’s plenty you can do with it, and I have 25 Jell-O recipes here to back up that claim. 

Jell-O is more than just a quick and convenient snack for the kiddos. If you want, you can make some fantastic things with a box of Jell-O mix. 

From salads to molds and desserts, there are tons of Jell-O recipes out there for just about any occasion. Keep reading to learn more.  

Jell-O Salad Recipes

1. Strawberry Jell-O Fruit Salad

Strawberry Jell-O fruit salad may look a bit creamier and more dessert-like than original Jell-O, but it’s just as jiggly and delicious. 

With Cool Whip and slices of real strawberries, it’s much more substantial, as well.

Even so, it’s still as simple to make as ever, only taking 10 minutes to whip up. 

Make it early, though, because it still takes about 4 and a half hours to set.

2. Lime Jell-O Salad

If you’re looking for the perfect light and tangy dessert for St. Paddy’s Day, check out this lime Jell-O salad. 

It has cottage cheese, crushed pineapples, and walnuts, and chances are your gramma might have made it a time or two when you were younger. 

If so, don’t worry, it tastes just as good as you remember.

3. Lemon Jell-O Salad

“Jell-O” and “elegant” aren’t words that often find themselves in the same sentence, but I love this lemon Jell-O salad precisely because of how nice and elegant it looks.

It has a wonderful consistency that’s somewhere between ice cream and pudding, and it has a zesty lemon taste that’s hard not to love. 

Top it with whipped cream and raspberries for an extra special delight.

4. Blueberry Jell-O Salad

From the top, blueberry Jell-O salad looks more like a cake than Jell-O, and that makes it much more fun when people cut into it and find that there’s a wiggly Jell-O base beneath the cream cheese icing.

In addition to black cherry Jell-O, you’ll also use blueberry pie filling and crushed pineapples for the base, making the dessert more filling than you might think. 

5. Triple Layer Vintage Christmas Jell-O Salad

This three-tiered dessert is perfect for Christmas. The base is jiggly lime Jell-O, and the top is equally jiggly cherry Jell-O. 

The middle, though, combines plenty of ingredients for a tasty, creamy texture that’s hard to beat. 

With lemon Jell-O, marshmallows, cream cheese, Miracle Whip, and crushed pineapples, that center layer has a lot going on, and every bit of it is pure yumminess.

6. Pina Colada Jell-O Salad

If you’re looking for a light, fluffy, tropical treat, check out pina colada Jell-O salad. 

With pineapple Jell-O, crushed pineapples, pineapple soda, coconut, and rum, this creamy salad is about as Hawaiian island as it gets without getting on a plane. 

7. Pineapple Pretzel Salad

Jell-O isn’t traditionally known for its crunchiness, but when you add a layer of cream cheese and pineapple Jell-O on top of a crunchy pretzel crust, that all changes.

This salad has the best of both worlds – crunchy and creamy, salty and sweet (with a little bit of tang, as well) and is perfect for summer.

8. Lime Jell-O Waldorf Salad

The lime Jell-O Waldorf salad combines lime Jell-O’s tanginess, apples’ sweetness, walnuts’ nuttiness, and celery’s earthiness. 

These ingredients give the whole dish a unique, complex flavor that everyone will enjoy. 

Jell-O Mold Recipes

9. Coca-Cola Jell-O Salad

This may be called Coca-Cola Jell-O salad, but you’ll make it in a Jell-O mold, so I decided to add it to the “Jell-O mold” section instead.

(There are a few others I did the same way.)

It’s a sweet, tropical dessert that will remind you of Cherry Coke.

Like most Jell-O recipes, it takes only a few minutes to prepare, but it needs to set for about 4 hours before serving it.

If you’re a big fan of Cherry Coke or just sweet and tangy desserts, you’ll love this one.

10. Cranberry Jell-O Salad

If you’re looking for a great side dish for Thanksgiving dinner or any fall meal, cranberry Jell-O salad is ideal.

You’ll start with a base of raspberry Jell-O. Mix that with crushed pineapples, whole berry cranberry sauce, and orange zest. 

With or without the optional garnishes of heavy cream, sugar, cranberries, mint sprigs, and orange zest, this lovely, tasty dish is one you won’t want to miss.

11. Strawberry Banana Jell-O Mold

The strawberry and strawberry-banana Jell-O in this Jell-O mold are only the tips of the iceberg when it comes to deliciousness. 

There are also fresh strawberries, bananas, crushed pineapples, and chopped pecans.

Together, these ingredients make a sweet and fruity mold that’ll have you coming back for more.

12. Peach Bavarian

This creamy, refreshing treat takes only 15 minutes to make, has a strong peach flavor, and is low in fat. 

It’s light with just a hint of nuttiness, and best of all, it’s an attractive dessert that will brighten up any table with its peach hue and orange flecks.

13. Raspberry Jell-O Mold

You can whip up this four-ingredient raspberry Jell-O mold in 15 minutes or less with only some crushed pineapples, raspberry gelatin, buttermilk, and Cool Whip. 

It’s a tasty treat that’s pretty in pink. 

14. Orange Creamsicle Jell-O Mold

Close your eyes and imagine enjoying an orange sherbert Push-Up.

You know, the kind you maybe used to buy after chasing down the ice cream truck in your neighborhood.

Remember how smooth and creamy it was? Remember how wonderfully orange-flavored it was? 

That’s what you’ll get with this orange creamsicle Jell-O mold.

If you lived through the 90s like me, it’ll transport you right back to them in the best way.

15. Sangria Jello Salad

The only thing better than Jell-O with plenty of fruit and fruit juice in it is Jell-O with plenty of fruit, fruit juice, and red wine! 

This is one Jell-O treat that’s exclusively meant for the grown-up table, no matter how fun, jiggly, and fruit-filled it is. 

Jell-O Dessert Recipes 

16. Whipped Jello Mandarin Orange Mousse

Whipped Jell-O mandarin orange mousse is similar to the orange creamsicle Jell-O mold, but it’s smoother and creamier.

Thanks to the sugar-free Jell-O, it’s not that unhealthy for you either. Each serving has only a little over 100 calories. 

These are great for an after-dinner treat or even for a mid-day pick-me-up. 

17. Strawberry Jell-O Parfait Cups

These pretty parfaits are a nice, charming way to enjoy strawberry Jell-O.

They have a gorgeous diagonal split right down the middle, dividing the fruit and Jell-O layer from the Jell-O mousse layer.

The bottom half is fruity, tart, and wiggly. The top layer is sweet, creamy, and velvety smooth.

The Cool Whip, strawberries, and mint leaf toppings add a touch of elegance to each cup.

18. 7-Layer Jell-O

If you’re looking for something colorful and fun, 7-layer Jell-O is the recipe for you.

You can use whatever flavors you like, but I tend to stick pretty closely to the given recipe. 

Not only do those particular colors look nice together, but the flavors also complement each other very well.

Once it’s ready, top it with Cool Whip and crushed pecans for a bit of crunch.

19. Pastel Marshmallows

A lot of people don’t realize that marshmallows are made from gelatin.

If you’re one of those people, don’t feel bad. I didn’t know it for the longest time either.

But now that you do know about it, that means you can easily make your own homemade marshmallows using any color/flavor of Jell-O that you like! 

If you have fun cookie cutters, you can make them into unique shapes, as well.

20. Homemade Jell-O

The only bad thing about Jell-O is that the company doesn’t always make the flavors you want, or sometimes they make them, but your local grocery store doesn’t carry them.

Luckily, making homemade Jell-O is one of the easiest things in the world!

All you’ll need is boiled water, gelatin, and whatever fruit juice you want to flavor it. 

So, the next time you’re craving something a little “outside the box” — like sparkling grapefruit Jell-O or (heaven forbid) beet Jell-O – you can whip it up in practically no time.

21. Jell-O Pie

You can pull together this five-ingredient Jell-O pie in only 15 minutes. 

It has a crunchy and crumbly graham cracker crust and a smooth, creamy Jell-O and Cool Whip filling. 

Best of all, it doesn’t matter what you’re craving – sweet, tangy, tart, or something else – since you can make it with any flavor of Jell-O you like.

22. Raspberry Jell-O Lasagna

Raspberry Jell-O lasagna perfectly walks that line between sweet and tart, crunchy and creamy.

It has a zesty lemon crust topped with an equally tangy lemon cream cheese layer.

But that’s not all. There’s another sweetly tart layer of raspberry Jell-O and whole frozen raspberries. 

Top the whole thing off with Cool Whip and sliced almonds, and you’ll have a dessert that the entire family will love. 

23. Peaches and Cream Layered Jell-O

This triple-layer dessert is so shiny and bright that it almost doesn’t look real.

All you’ll need to make it is peach Jell-O, unflavored gelatin, water, condensed milk, and sliced peaches.

You’ll make your top and bottom layers from peach Jell-O, and the middle layer combines sweet cream and sliced peaches. 

Together, the three layers make a tart and tangy treat with just a hint of sweetness.

24. Blue Raspberry Lemonade Jell-O Slush

The name of this slushie confection pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this half-drink/half-dessert.

All you’ll need to make it is water, lemon-lime soda, fresh lemon juice, and Berry Blue Jell-O.

If you want to jazz it up, you can add fresh raspberries and lemons as garnishes around the rim.

It takes only 5 minutes to make (and another 4 hours to freeze) and is the perfect cool, refreshing drink for those hot summer days. 

25. Broken Glass Jell-O

While broken glass Jell-O actually tastes very good, most people love it for its unique appearance rather than its flavor, which is mostly tart, thanks to all the different Jell-O varieties.

It looks like a broken mosaic or maybe a really expensive bar of designer soap.

Either way, it brightens up any table and makes a lovely centerpiece for a shared meal.