Meme’s Cherry Coke Jello Salad
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No Bond family holiday meal is complete without Grandma Meme’s Cherry Coke Jello Salad! This vintage southern recipe combines cherries, pineapple, coca-cola & cherry jello. It’s the perfect easy side dish to serve at Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter!
This post originally appeared on the blog in March 2013 and was blog post #300. For posts 100, 200 and 300, I published a recipe from my Grandma Meme’s cookbook in her memory. Post 100 featured my Grandma Meme’s Pink Lemonade Pie and post 200 featured her Graham Cracker Cookie Sandwiches.
I was lucky enough to grow up across the street from my wonderful grandparents. And my Grandma Meme taught me so much about the love that goes into cooking!
Today I’m sharing her Cherry Coke Salad, with some updated photos and tips! This classic southern side dish was served at every holiday meal when I was growing up, and we still continue the tradition today.
It contains jello, sugar and coca-cola, so can you really call it a salad? Well there’s also fruit in there, so we’ll just call it a fruit salad! That would totally have been Meme’s logic, so we’re sticking with it!
Ingredients
- Canned Red Tart Cherries (pitted in water) – these are generally found on the baking aisle at most grocery stores. These cherries should not be confused with cherry pie filling, which contains added sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
- Granulated Sugar
- Water
- Boxed Cherry Jello Powder
- Coca-Cola
- Canned Crushed Pineapple
Walnuts can also be added to this jello salad. My Grandma’s original recipe called for 1 cup of chopped walnuts, but my brother and I didn’t like the nuts in the salad, so they’ve been left out of our families recipe for decades now. Feel free to add them if you’d like!
Instructions
- Heat the cherries, sugar and water.
- Add the cherries, sugar and water to a medium pot on the stove over medium high heat and bring to a boil.
- Dissolve the jello powder in the boiling cherry mixture.
- Add the cherry Jello powder to a large glass bowl or serving dish.
- Pour the hot cherry mixture from the pot over the jello powder in the bowl or dish.
- Stir to combine the jello powder with the hot liquid, making sure all of the powder dissolves into the liquid.
- Allow this mixture to cool on the counter for 15-20 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients and refrigerate the jello salad.
- Add the coca-cola and crushed pineapple.
- Note: You do not need to drain the pineapple, just add the entire can to the salad.
- Note 2: If you’d like to add the walnuts that I mentioned above, you’ll add them at this time with the crushed pineapple.
- Stir everything together, then place in the refrigerator to set for 6-8 hours.
- Add the coca-cola and crushed pineapple.
Tips and tricks
- Make sure the powdered jello dissolves COMPLETELY in the hot liquid. The jello salad will not set properly if the jello is not dissolved in the hot liquid before refrigeration.
- Jello with fruit in it will take longer to set than traditional jello by itself. So make sure to allow at least 6 hours for the jello salad to refrigerate before serving.
- Do NOT put the jello salad in the freezer to speed up the setting process. This will ruin the jello and therefore ruin your cherry coke salad.
- Do NOT use fresh pineapple in this recipe. I unfortunately learned this lesson the hard way. Not to get too science-class on you, but basically pineapple has an enzyme in it that will kill the gelatin and prevent it from setting. Canned pineapple is heated during the canning process, therefore breaking apart the enzyme that attacks the jello. In conclusion, fresh or frozen pineapple + jello = bad, canned pineapple + jello = good.
- You can totally make this jello salad in a bundt pan or jello mold to create a ring shape. A classic way of serving this vintage recipe! Just be sure to spray the inside of either pan with cooking spray, so that the jello slides out easily in one ring for a fun presentation.
- Leftover cherry coke jello salad will last in the refrigerator for up to a week. But I highly doubt it will last that long! It’s always the first Thanksgiving leftover to go after the big meal. This family treasure continues to be a favorite year-after-year!
Check out more Bond family recipes!
- Dad’s Famous BBQ Baked Beans
- Mom’s Strawberry Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
- Dad’s Captain Crunch Fried Chicken
- Mom’s Homemade Cherry Pie
- Dad’s Famous Red Sangria
- Meme’s Chocolate Pie
Meme’s Cherry Coke Jello Salad
Ingredients
- 14.5 ounce can red tart cherries, pitted in water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 6 ounce box cherry jello powder
- 1 cup coca-cola
- 20 ounce can crushed pineapple
Instructions
- Add the cherries, sugar and water to a medium pot on the stove over medium high heat and bring to a boil.
- Add the jello powder to a large bowl or serving dish.
- Pour the boiling cherry mixture over the jello powder in the bowl or dish, stir to combine until all of the jello powder is dissolved.
- Allow to cool on the counter for 15-20 minutes.
- Add the coca-cola and pineapple and stir until everything is combined.
- Place in the refrigerator to set for 6-8 hours.
Notes
- The most important step of this recipe is making sure the jello is dissolved in the hot liquid. If the jello does not dissolve in the liquid, your jello salad will not set.
- Do NOT use fresh or frozen pineapple in this recipe. An enzyme in the pineapple will cause the jello not to set. Canned pineapple is fine, as the enzyme is broken down in the heating and canning process.
- You can make this recipe ahead of time, as it will stay good in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Nutrition Facts
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27 Comments on “Meme’s Cherry Coke Jello Salad”
Hi! For a more Thanksgiving touch, how do you think fresh cranberries would work – in sub for the cherries?? Thanks!
Hi Cassandra, you could try the fresh cranberries, but the canned cherries contain water and I’m not sure of the ratio of cherries to water in the can, so I wouldn’t know the exact amount of water that you would need to add, but I would say around 1/2 cup, if you want to give it a try.
I saw that no comment has been posted regarding the use of diet coke. I have diabetes and cannot even taste this recipe due to the enormous amount of carbs! I can change most of the other highly carb ingredients but still need to address the coke ingredient. I’d hate to try and not have it work out, especially with the high cost of canned fruit nowadays. Did you ever get an answer or try it yourself? It looks so gooood! Thanks, Mertie
Hi Mertie, I’m sorry, unfortunately I have not tried it myself. I do not see why it wouldn’t work, but I totally understand your hesitation to be the first one to try it.
Do you use the water that cherries are in from the can? Also, can this recipe be doubled?
Hi Fran, yes you use the entire can of cherries, including the water, and you can absolutely double the recipe! Enjoy!
My whole family liked the recipe and gave it a big approval for the holiday dinner. I would have liked it firmer but perhaps it was the effect of today’s hot temp or my not giving it the time to chill.
Can I use frozen sour cherries in place of the canned sour cherries? If so, should I add some water to them or just use the frozen cherries as is?
Hi Luanne, I use the liquid from the can of cherries and I’ve never measured just the liquid, so unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to tell you how much to add. You could try it with frozen cherries and 1/2 cup water, but I just couldn’t guarantee the results would be the same.
Mine hasn’t set up yet and I made it yesterday around 5
Hi Becky, did you happen to make it with fresh pineapple? That’s the only time that I’ve had a problem with mine setting up properly.
When I make this recipe the cherries and pineapple tend to float to the top. It still taste wonderful and is loved, just wondering if this is normal.
Hi Mary, yes that does happen sometimes. I try to stir everything together well so that the fruit will settle, but that’s also why I like to use a large casserole dish to make the recipe so that even if the fruit floats to the top, you can still get everything in one scoop of the salad!
I find you need to refrigerate the jello til it thickens a little befor stirring in the fruit etc. Then put it in what youd like and let it set. It blends together much better.
Hi, This sounds good! 2 questions- can you use pepsi? and if you hear of successful results with diet, pass it on!
Hi Kathy, you can use Pepsi. I still don’t know about diet, but I’ll test it out soon and let you know the results!
Your recipes are great. I like the updated flavor and use of fresh ingredients. Gerre Lynne Turner Tyrone🎄
Hi
Do you need to drain the pineapple?
Hi Linda, no, you don’t need to drain the pineapple. Add the entire can to the recipe.
My mother’s maiden name is Bond. Would love to know if we share blood. I know we share the love of food.
Hi Teresa, my family is from Oklahoma, but we’re a very small family, so I doubt there’s any relation. Do you have family in Oklahoma?
wondering if you can substitute diet drink for the coke and a sugar substitute
Hi Ann, unfortunately I haven’t tested the recipe with a diet soda or sugar substitute, so I couldn’t guarantee that the results would be the same. Let me know if you try it and how it works for you!
Should the can of cherries be drained ?
Hi Vonna, great question, no you do not need to drain the can of cherries!
This is the exact recipe that my grandmother used, but she added chopped pecans and cream cheese. So good!
Love it! Such a fun, nostalgic recipe!