No traditional Southern meal would be complete without at least one gelatin-based dish on the menu. At potlucks and church dinners, you’re likely to find several dozen of these delightful creations on offer.
Now in the part of the south where I grew up, we’d be more likely to serve these as a side dish or salad rather than a dessert. It mostly depends on whether there are any vegetables in the mix.
If your recipe includes onions, celery or carrots, it’s a salad. If not, it’s probably a dessert. Although that’s not a hard and fast rule mind you.
And another thing. Where I grew up, we always call these recipes “congealed salad.” Whether served as a side dish or dessert, it’s still congealed salad.
I started out using that term but had so many people “correct” me or either outright state that the word “congealed” was disgusting (though I have yet to quite understand why), that I started using the apparently more popular “jello mold” or “jello salad.” Call it whatever you like.
Over the past few years, I’ve posted several gelatin-based recipes on the blog. There’s the classic Sunshine Salad, the old standard Lime Congealed Salad, our family’s favorite Polly’s Pink Stuff, and the popular Strawberry Banana Jello Mold. I’ve even posted a Tomato Aspic which is, essentially, a congealed salad :-)
This Blueberry Jello Salad falls squarely in the dessert category. Not a carrot or celery in sight.
This one uses black cherry jello chock full of blueberries and pineapple and is topped with a sweetened but tangy cream cheese and sour cream combination. Yum!
You probably noticed that even though it’s quite sweet and contains no veggies, I still called it “salad.” I know…we Southerners and our idiosyncrasies :-)
How to Make Blueberry Jello Salad:
In a 2-quart heat-proof serving dish or casserole, add the jello and boiling water. Stir until the jello is completely dissolved.
Add the pineapple with its juice and the blueberries. Stir until evenly combined. Cover and refrigerate until firmly set.
Add the cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar to a medium bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Stir in the walnuts.
Spread evenly over the set jello layer.
Enjoy!
Blueberry Jello Salad
Ingredients
- 2 3-oz. pkgs. black cherry jello
- 2 cups boiling water
- 8.25 oz. can crushed pineapple
- 12 oz. frozen blueberries, thawed and lightly drained
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- In a 2-quart heat-proof serving dish or casserole, add the jello and boiling water. Stir until the jello is completely dissolved.
- Add the pineapple with its juice and the blueberries. Stir until evenly combined.
- Cover and refrigerate until firmly set.
- Add the cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar to a medium bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Stir in the walnuts.
- Spread evenly over the set jello layer.
Notes
Additional time is required for the gelatin to set. Plan on 4-6 hours.
All text and photographs on Never Enough Thyme are copyright protected. Please do not use any material from this site without obtaining prior permission. If you'd like to post this recipe on your site, please create your own original photographs and either re-write the recipe in your own words or link to this post.
Other jello salads you might enjoy from around the internet:
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad as Dessert from Creative Culinary
- Grandma’s Pineapple Cucumber Lime Jello Salad from Simply Recipes
- 5 Minute Jello Salad from Six Sisters’ Stuff
- Watergate Salad from Kraft Foods
- Cranberry Congealed Salad from Southern Living
All of the layers going on here look incredible! This sounds super easy too!
Thanks, Nancy! And you’re right, it is very easy.
This looks awesome and I love that it can be a dessert or side dish!
This blueberry jello salad is all sorts of wonderful. In fact I can’t believe the timing I made more simple jello blueberry sauce to top a cheesecake recently. Great minds.
Blueberries and cheesecake are just a fabulous combination, aren’t they?
Oh my! This looks tasty! I’m a sucker for jello anything #1, #2 anything with cream cheese! So, this looks perfect for me! Will definitely be making this at my next cook out to share with the family!
Hope you all enjoy it, Amanda!
Can’t wait to try this recipe–sounds delish!
That actually looks really good! :) I’m one of those people who doesn’t like the word congealed, mainly because I tend to think of certain bodily…things…when I hear it, but I would definitely love this congealed salad! :P
Love the color!! Almost too pretty to eat ;)
I have three boxes of gelatin in my pantry. Yep. Southern girl here.
I can’t imagine being without a box or two :-)
I’m not ussually a huge fan of jello, but yes to this!
As a life-long Northerner, I’m not so well versed in the ways of jello salads. However, anything containing this much fruit and cream cheese has got to be a winner.
Perfect for this time of year!
Miss P
Lana, another one of our most loved “salads” but eaten as a tasty dessert.
I use grape or blackberry jello. In years past, I even used blueberry pie
filling. That was before our area had access to fresh or frozen blueberries.
Talk about sweet but very delicious! We love it.
My mom makes a similar salad but with pineapple I bet blueberry has to be fantastic.
I have lived in the South for almost 4 years now but have never come across this lovely dish!! Thanks for introducing me to Blueberry Jello Salad – I’d love to give this one a try :)
Hooray for summer and hooray for blueberries!
I always enjoy learning a bit of history to peoples’ comfort foods. This is great and I’d say, stick to the term of what you grew up with. That’s how you keep family traditions still alive. ;-)
Looks yummy and making today for a Potluck Lunch tomorrow.
When you say 2 quart casserole dish is that 9X13 or 9X9 or 8X8?
Your picture looks like it is prepared in and 8X8.
Please let me know
Thank you
Kathy – the dish I used for the post was 8×8.
How lucky I was to find this recipe and know who posted it. Yay! I’ve been craving Bell Buckle Cafe’s blueberry salad recipe and you had it. While I can’t drive quickly to TN for a serving, I can make it at home. Yipeeeeeeee! (Jeanie from Kathleen’s periscope crew)
Hope you enjoy it, Jeanie!
Can I add banana
I suppose so.
My husband’s family’s Thanksgiving Jell-O salad is so close to the same…just switch out the Sour Cream for Cool Whip. They also change up the gelatin flavor according to the preference for the year. I’ve been hooked for 16 years! I’m glad to hear others enjoy the same great flavor. Thank you for sharing this great substitution and the addition of walnuts. Maybe I can try that change for a Summer salad and still keep the tradition for Thanksgiving.