17 Jell-O Mold Recipes From the 1950s

If the slice in your memory was clear yellow with orange flecks, start here. The U.S. Army Quartermaster’s Golden Glow Salad combines lemon gelatin, grated carrots, and crushed pineapple. The pineapple is finely cut, so carrot and fruit appear together in each forkful.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 15 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package lemon gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ½ cup cold water, ½ cup finely grated carrot, ½ cup drained crushed pineapple.

Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water. Stir in the cold water. Chill for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened. Fold in the carrot and pineapple, then pour into 2 small molds. Chill for about 4 hours, until firm.

For a short pantry, chop canned pineapple pieces finely and drain them. Look at a spoonful before you pour: the carrot should be spread through the gelatin.

Perhaps the green salad on your grandmother’s table was almost opaque. A clear lime mold won’t recreate that look.

Kraft Heinz’s Creamy Fruited-Lime JELL-O Salad includes cream cheese, cottage cheese, pineapple, walnuts, and whipped topping. Its full version fills a 6-cup mold. This is a smaller adaptation for dinner at home.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 20 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package lime gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ¼ cup cold water, 2 ounces softened cream cheese, ¼ cup cottage cheese, ⅓ cup drained crushed pineapple, 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, ¼ cup whipped topping.

Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water, then stir in the cold water. Beat the cream cheese with a spoonful of gelatin until smooth. Stir it back into the bowl, then fold in the cottage cheese, pineapple, walnuts, and whipped topping. Pour into 2 small molds and chill for about 4 hours.

Leave out the walnuts if the cupboard is bare. You’ll still get the pale green slice, with pineapple showing through the cheese.

Look for a red bottom and a pale top in that old family photograph.

The JELL-O with Fruit Mold follows that order: a fruit-filled red layer first, then a layer blended with whipped topping. This small version uses strawberries, but the dividing line between layers is the detail to watch.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 45 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package strawberry gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ½ cup cold water, ⅓ cup drained chopped strawberries, ½ cup whipped topping.

Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water and stir in the cold water. Pour half into a small mold and add the strawberries. Chill for about 45 minutes, until the surface holds a spoonful of liquid.

Whisk the whipped topping into the remaining gelatin. Pour it over the fruit layer. Chill for about 4 hours, until firm.

Use well-drained canned peaches if you’re short on strawberries. Pour the creamy mixture over the back of a spoon if the lower layer looks delicate.

The ring leaves a space in the middle of the platter. Along the cut edge, though, it’s the walnuts that give this green mold away.

This small ring uses the lime, pineapple, walnut, cream cheese, and cottage cheese combination in Kraft Heinz’s Creamy Fruited-Lime JELL-O Salad. Unlike the pineapple cheese salad above, this version leaves out whipped topping.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 20 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package lime gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ¼ cup cold water, 2 ounces softened cream cheese, ¼ cup cottage cheese, ⅓ cup drained crushed pineapple, 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts.

Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water and add the cold water. Beat the cream cheese with a little gelatin until smooth. Stir it into the bowl, then fold in the cottage cheese, pineapple, and walnuts. Pour into a small ring mold and chill for about 4 hours.

Use a small bowl if you don’t own a ring mold. Before pouring, check for lumps of cream cheese. One extra stir keeps the filling even from the first slice to the last.

Nobody at dinner mistook the red aspic beside the roast for dessert. A period Tart Tomato Salad dissolves lemon gelatin in canned tomatoes with celery and pickles.

The pepper here is an addition, borrowed from the sweet red pepper in Knox’s Perfection Salad. This is a small blend of two vegetable-mold ideas, not a transcription of the tomato recipe.

That’s worth noting on your card if you’re comparing it with one handed down in your family.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 20 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package lemon gelatin, 1 cup hot canned crushed tomatoes, ½ cup cold tomato juice, 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery, 2 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickle, 2 tablespoons finely chopped sweet red bell pepper.

Heat the tomatoes until steaming and stir in the gelatin. Add the cold tomato juice and chill for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened. Fold in the celery, pickle, and pepper. Pour into 2 small molds and chill for about 4 hours.

Use ½ cup cold water if you have no tomato juice. Taste the mixture before it sets; the pickle supplies the sharp note beside a rich dinner.

“The green one” isn’t much help until you remember how it tasted. Was it tart and cool, with no pineapple or cheese?

The period Sea Dream Salad mixes lime gelatin with grated cucumber, vinegar, onion juice, and cayenne. Its booklet version serves 6; these smaller molds let you test the memory first.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 20 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package lime gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ½ cup cold water, ½ cup grated cucumber, 1 teaspoon vinegar, ¼ teaspoon onion juice, 1 small pinch cayenne.

Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water, then stir in the cold water and vinegar. Squeeze excess liquid from the cucumber. Chill the gelatin for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in the cucumber, onion juice, and cayenne, then pour into 2 small molds. Chill for about 4 hours.

Grate a little onion and strain out a few drops if you have no onion juice. Squeeze the cucumber over the sink, not into the bowl; you’ve already measured the liquid.

Where did the shrimp sit? That detail settles a surprising amount. In KQED’s account of a Joys-of-Jell-O-era seafood dish, bay shrimp top a cucumber-and-vinegar lime base. They aren’t hidden throughout the mold.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 20 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package lime gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ½ cup cold water, ½ cup grated and squeezed cucumber, 1 teaspoon vinegar, ¼ teaspoon onion juice, 1 small pinch cayenne, ½ cup cooked chilled bay shrimp.

Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water and stir in the cold water and vinegar. Chill for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened. Fold in the cucumber, onion juice, and cayenne, then pour into 2 small molds. Chill for about 4 hours. Top each serving with the shrimp.

Chop larger cooked shrimp if bay shrimp aren’t in the fridge. Keep the seafood apart from the gelatin until serving. You’ll see the green base underneath, just as you would on the old platter.

Little pale pieces show throughout a green slice, rather than gathering at its bottom. That’s the look to aim for here.

A 1955 Sequin Salad recipe folds finely cut cauliflower and onion into lime gelatin once it has slightly thickened. The pause matters. Pour while the gelatin is thin, and your vegetables head for the bottom.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 25 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package lime gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ½ cup cold water, ½ cup finely chopped raw cauliflower, 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion.

Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water and stir in the cold water. Chill for 30 to 40 minutes, checking for a syrupy texture. Fold in the cauliflower and onion, then pour into 2 small molds. Chill for about 4 hours, until firm.

Use thawed cauliflower, chopped fine and patted dry, if that’s what you have. Lift a spoonful before filling the molds. If the pieces stay scattered, you’ve caught the mixture at the right stage.

Perfection Salad was older than the 1950s, yet it stayed on the table during that decade.

The Knox recipe reprinted by Food Timeline sets shredded cabbage, celery, and sweet red pepper in unflavored gelatin. Vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar make it a sharp salad rather than a sweet fruit mold. If your remembered slice held thin vegetable threads, this is the one to compare.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 25 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 envelope unflavored gelatin, ¼ cup cold water, ¾ cup hot water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon sugar, ½ cup finely shredded cabbage, 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery, 2 tablespoons finely chopped sweet red pepper.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and wait 5 minutes. Stir in the hot water until dissolved, then add the vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar. Chill for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened. Fold in the vegetables, pour into 2 small molds, and chill for about 4 hours.

Use extra celery if there’s no red pepper. Slice the finished salad thinly and look at the cabbage running through each piece.

A cold chicken mold makes sense of a memory that includes supper, not a fruit course. The earlier Knox dish called Chicken Cream combined diced cooked chicken with unflavored gelatin. It was an ancestor of later molded main-dish salads.

This is a modern small-batch adaptation, not a transcription of Chicken Cream. The broth, mayonnaise, and celery make a chicken salad you can prepare with what’s left from another meal.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 25 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 envelope unflavored gelatin, ¼ cup cold water, ½ cup hot chicken broth, ¼ cup mayonnaise, 1 cup finely diced cooked chicken, 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and wait 5 minutes. Stir in the hot broth until dissolved, then cool for 10 minutes. Whisk in the mayonnaise and fold in the chicken and celery. Spoon into 2 small molds and chill for about 4 hours.

Use plain yogurt instead of mayonnaise if that’s in your fridge. Dice the chicken small; a large piece makes a neat slice harder to serve.

Sunset Salad brings you back to lemon gelatin, carrots, and pineapple. Don’t rely on color to tell it apart from Golden Glow. Check the fruit: this version uses visible canned pineapple pieces rather than crushed pineapple, and it adds a pinch of salt.

A period Sunset Salad recipe includes the salt. The Maine State Museum also documents a version in a 1956 community cookbook.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 15 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package lemon gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ½ cup cold water, 1 small pinch salt, ½ cup grated raw carrot, ½ cup drained canned pineapple pieces.

Dissolve the gelatin and salt in boiling water. Stir in the cold water and chill for about 30 minutes. Fold in the carrot and pineapple pieces once the gelatin begins to thicken. Divide between 2 small molds and chill for about 4 hours.

Use drained crushed pineapple if there are no pieces in the cupboard. But if you recall distinct yellow chunks in each slice, buy the pieces. That detail does more to settle the Golden Glow or Sunset question than a faded name on a card.

The dark red ring beside the turkey points toward cranberry sauce. Kraft Heinz’s Festive Cranberry JELL-O Salad uses two 3-ounce boxes of strawberry gelatin with whole-berry cranberry sauce, pears, walnuts, and pineapple.

This one-box version is a small adaptation for two, rather than the full holiday mold.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 25 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package strawberry gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ⅓ cup whole-berry cranberry sauce, ¼ cup cold water, ¼ cup drained chopped canned pear, ¼ cup drained crushed pineapple, 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts.

Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water, then stir in the cranberry sauce and cold water. Chill for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened. Fold in the pear, pineapple, and walnuts. Spoon into 2 small molds and chill for about 4 hours.

Replace the pear with extra drained pineapple if your pantry is short. When you cut a serving, look for whole berries among the fruit. They’re a better clue than the red color alone.

A striped mold asks you to wait between pours. Kraft Heinz’s Rainbow Ribbon Mold alternates clear and creamy gelatin stripes, letting each layer set before the next.

This two-color adaptation is for a small mold. If your grandmother’s version had more stripes, the wait between layers is still the part to practice.

Serves 2. Allow about 5 hours, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package strawberry gelatin, 1 small 3-ounce package lime gelatin, 2 cups boiling water, 1 cup cold water, ½ cup whipped topping.

Dissolve the strawberry gelatin in 1 cup boiling water, then add ½ cup cold water. Pour half into a small mold and chill for about 30 minutes. Whisk ¼ cup whipped topping into the remaining strawberry gelatin, pour it over the set layer, and chill again.

Dissolve the lime gelatin in the remaining boiling and cold water. Pour half over the firm pink layer and chill for about 30 minutes. Whisk the remaining whipped topping into the remaining lime gelatin, add it, and chill for about 4 hours.

Use clear layers throughout if there’s no whipped topping. Touch each surface before pouring; if it lifts, give it more time.

Cut into this dessert and you’ll see colored gelatin cubes inside a pale base. Crown Jewel Dessert belongs to the cookbook tradition that followed 1950s molds.

The Smithsonian Libraries dates *Joys of Jell-O* to 1962, so this is a later favorite, not a confirmed 1950s original.

Serves 2. Allow about 5 hours 30 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package strawberry gelatin, 1 small 3-ounce package lime gelatin, 2 cups boiling water, 1 cup cold water, 1 envelope unflavored gelatin, another ¼ cup cold water, ½ cup hot water, ½ cup whipped topping.

Dissolve each flavored gelatin separately in 1 cup boiling water. Stir ½ cup cold water into each, then chill in separate shallow dishes for about 2 hours. Cut the firm gelatin into cubes.

Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over the remaining cold water and wait 5 minutes. Stir in the hot water, cool for 10 minutes, then whisk in the whipped topping. Fold in the cubes, spoon into a small mold, and chill for about 3 hours.

Use another fruit flavor in place of lime if that’s what you have. The cubes, rather than their particular colors, give this dessert its cut face.

The tuna ring is a different sort of period clue. KQED places Ring-Around-the-Tuna among Joys-of-Jell-O-era showpieces, not securely in the 1950s.

That reference identifies the lime-gelatin entrée, but doesn’t supply a full ingredient list. The small recipe below is a home adaptation, not a copy of the original.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 25 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package lime gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ½ cup cold water, ½ cup drained canned tuna, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery.

Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water and stir in the cold water. Chill for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened. Mix the tuna, mayonnaise, and celery, then fold them into the gelatin. Pour into a small ring mold and chill for about 4 hours.

Use 2 small bowls if you have no ring mold. If an inherited recipe card gives a numbered can, use the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension’s can-size guide before you shop.

The creamy green salad you recall from later family dinners has a different date. Kraft Heinz’s Watergate Salad represents a 1970s turn toward whipped topping.

The recipe below takes that creamy idea and sets it in lime gelatin. It’s a molded adaptation, not the official Watergate Salad or a 1950s recipe. If the salad in your memory was served in spoonfuls, look at the original before choosing this sliced version.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 15 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package lime gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ½ cup cold water, ½ cup whipped topping, ⅓ cup drained crushed pineapple, 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts.

Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water and stir in the cold water. Chill for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened. Fold in the whipped topping, pineapple, and walnuts. Spoon into 2 small molds and chill for about 4 hours.

Leave out the walnuts if you have none. If your family kept making green salads after the old clear fruit rings disappeared, the creamy texture gives you another memory to follow.

A plain mold is worth making before the holiday one. You get a serving for two and a low-stakes chance to practice its release.

Kraft Heinz’s JELL-O Jigglers recipe gives the warm-water dip. Its molded salad directions add the moistened plate and a thin knife when needed.

Serves 2. Allow about 4 hours 10 minutes, mostly chilling.

You need: 1 small 3-ounce package strawberry gelatin, 1 cup boiling water, ½ cup cold water.

Dissolve the gelatin fully in boiling water. Stir in the cold water, pour into 2 small molds, and chill for about 4 hours. Dip each mold’s bottom in warm water for about 15 seconds. Loosen the top edge with a thin knife if it holds, then invert onto a moistened plate and lift.

Use smooth-sided drinking glasses if there are no small molds in your cupboard. Try this once before the cranberry ring is due on the Thanksgiving platter.