This Red White and Blue Berry Cheesecake Salad is one of the best sweet chilled side salads of summer. Bring this unique side dish to your next gathering. With a creamy whipped cheesecake flavor mixed with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and banana everyone will go back for seconds.
Why This Recipe Works
This deliciously decadent dessert side salad is a firework of cheesecake flavor. It’s the perfect picnic or potluck dessert salad to bring to any summer gathering.
Whether you’re celebrating Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, or even Labor Day its sweet flavor can be served with the main course or as a dessert. It’s also not limited to lunch or dinner! This no-bake cheesecake salad makes a great recipe for brunch.
As a side dish, it’s a light addition to any backyard barbecue. Its fluffy texture and sweet flavor balance the heavy main dishes like burgers or pork sandwiches.
Chilled salads always make a perfect addition for hot summer gatherings and this is the best tasting side salad I’ve ever had. With fresh sliced strawberries, blueberries, and bananas swirling inside of a fluffy cheesecake mixture it’s irresistible.
Whether it’s a salad or a dessert is entirely up to you! It does make the perfect festive patriotic side dish. If you’re planning a festive gathering, this strawberry jello fluff salad, also works for the holidays.
What Goes Into This Recipe
- Strawberries and blueberries: use fresh berries for this recipe, frozen berries will become soggy and leak into the cheesecake mixture.
- Cream Cheese: any type of cream cheese will work, but I recommend using a full-fat version because it will have a richer flavor.
- Bananas: ripe bananas are best because they’ll hold shape better when mixed in.
Ingredient Swaps
There are so few ingredients in this recipe there’s not much you can swap, but there are a few changes you can make to create a new flavor or add some sweetness.
- Fruit: some other fruit options are raspberries, blackberries, cherries, and even pineapple.
- Sugar: instead of using powdered sugar you can also use granulated sugar.
- Add some marshmallows. You can swap the bananas for marshmallows or you can add them to the mix.
Step-by-Step Instructions
This simple and decadent side dish comes together in under 30 minutes and can be made in the bowl you plan on serving it in.
- Using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and salt together until smooth and no lumps remain.
- Set the mixer to the lowest setting and slowly beat the powdered sugar in until a creamy texture is reached.
- Gently fold the Cool Whip into the cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated.
- Fold the sliced strawberries and blueberries into the mixture.
- Lastly, very carefully fold the bananas into the salad.
Equipment Needed
This recipe is a minimalist’s dream because you don’t need much to prepare it and it can also be made in the bowl you plan on serving it in.
- Handheld Mixer: I love to match my appliances and kitchen utensils, which is why I love this mixer. It also happens to be a great mixer.
- Large Mixing Bowl: This beautiful mixing bowl also makes a great serving bowl. Perfect for saving time and dishes.
- Rubber Spatula: any rubber spatula will work, this is just one I like.
Recipe Tips and Expert Tricks
- If you’d like to make the salad ahead of time leave the bananas out. Slice them and then stir them in just before you plan on serving.
- A handheld mixer works best for beating the cream cheese base together, plus you won’t have to move it from the electric mixer bowl to another one.
- To avoid any lumps in the cheesecake mixture allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature before beating it.
- Thaw the Cool Whip in the fridge before folding it into the recipe.
- Save time, this recipe comes together in under 30 minutes and can be prepared directly in the bowl you plan on serving it in. Use a damp paper towel to clean the edges of the bowl if any of the salad escapes.
Storing
This tried and true recipe is one of my favorites because it’s delicious, but also because of how transportable it is.
To store this salad keep it in an air-tight container in the fridge. The fruit juices may start to seep to the bottom of the dish, but you can use a rubber spatula to stir it back into the cheesecake mixture. It will last for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
Cheesecake Salad Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but not completely. To make it ahead prepare the cheesecake base, but leave out the fruit. When you’re ready to serve it mix the fruit in.
If you plan on making this at a time when strawberries and blueberries are not in season, or if you’re in a pinch and can only find frozen, it will work, however, it won’t look as pretty. Frozen fruit, once thawed, will also leak juice into the mixture. Use a spatula to stir it back in if it begins to pool at the bottom.
The filling of this salad is thick, which helps it hold all the fruit together, however, if you’d like something a little less thick then you can add heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
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If you made this recipe I want to hear all about it! Share a photo and tag me on Instagram using @AimeeMarsLiving and #AimeeMars so I can see your beautiful work. Enjoy!
Red White and Blue Berry Cheesecake Salad
Equipment
- Handheld Mixer
- Rubber Spatula
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Sharp Kitchen Knife
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 16 ounces Cool Whip thawed
- 2 lbs Strawberries quartered
- 1 pint Blueberries
- 2 Bananas sliced
Instructions
- Place the cream cheese, vanilla, and salt into a large mixing bowl and beat using a handheld mixture until smooth.
- Set the mixer to the lowest setting and add the powdered sugar to the bowl. Continue to mix until all the sugar is incorporated and the texture is creamy.
- Using a rubber spatula fold the Cool Whip into the cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated.
- If serving right away fold the strawberries and blueberries into the mixture then carefully add the bananas and continue to fold them in.
Notes
- If you’d like to make the salad ahead of time leave the bananas out. Slice them and then stir them in just before you plan on serving.
- A handheld mixer works best for beating the cream cheese base together, plus you won’t have to move it from the electric mixer bowl to another one.
- To avoid any lumps in the cheesecake mixture allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature before beating it.
- Thaw the Cool Whip in the fridge before folding it into the recipe.
- Save time, this recipe comes together in under 30 minutes and can be prepared directly in the bowl you plan on serving it in. Use a damp paper towel to clean the edges of the bowl if any of the salad escapes.
- Since this recipe contains bananas, I recommend adding the fruit just before you’re ready to serve it.
Ingredient Swaps
- Fruit: some other fruit options are raspberries, blackberries, cherries, and even pineapple. For some coconut flavor add some shredded coconut flakes.
- Sugar: instead of using powdered sugar you can also use granulated sugar.
- Add some marshmallows. You can swap the bananas for marshmallows or you can add them to the mix.
- Add some vanilla. Adding vanilla extract will always bring a subtle but balanced flavor. If you’d like you can add 1 to 2 teaspoons.
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