Produce-Inspired Jello Recipe!

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Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, because it is all about family, giving thanks, and eating a lot of food! Since Thanksgiving is upon us, I would like to share my Grandma’s Thanksgiving Jell-O dessert that she makes each year. It is a unique Thanksgiving dessert that will definitely be memorable! As grandma knows best, you know there is sure to be some produce involved, along with a bunch of other ingredients! I guarantee you are not going to find this recipe anywhere else!

Besides giving a large dose of love and time to this project, the rest is as follows.

Ingredients

  • Canned pineapple (crushed)
  • Banana
  • Pecans
  • Marshmallow
  • Sour cream
  • Orange Jell-O
  • Strawberry Banana Jell-O

Using an 11″ x 14″ x 2″ baking pan, you will need 2 cans of crushed pineapple, 6 regular sized bananas, 1 4 ounce bag of pecans, 1 10 ounce bag of regular sized marshmallows, 10 ounces of sour cream, and 6 ounces of both Orange and Strawberry Banana Jell-O.

Instructions

Do not be deceived, this unique Thanksgiving dessert will take you some time to create!

  1. Use a separate bowl to make the Strawberry Banana Jell-O. Use all 6 ounces, but decrease the recommended amount of water by 1/2 a cup so you are only applying 1 1/2 cups of boiling water and 1 1/2 cups of cold water. Let this sit out, while you perform the following steps.
  2. Drain 2 cans of crushed pineapple and spoon the pineapple into a thin layer at the bottom of your dish. (It is difficult to get all of the juice out when draining, so spooning will help limit the amount of juice transferred to the dish.)
  3. Chop all 6 bananas into small, raisin sized pieces and place them on top of the crushed pineapple layer.
  4. For the pecan layer, you will either need to chop the pecans into fine slices, use a food processor, or buy them that way. This should only be a thin layer that is applied on top of the banana layer.
  5. Take the Strawberry Banana Jell-O created in step 1 and apply it to the dish using a spoon. You only want to put on a thin layer, so thin that the pecans do not float.
  6. Put the dish in the fridge until the Jell-O hardens (~2 hours).
  7. Remove the dish from the fridge and apply another layer of the Strawberry Banana Jell-O, approximately 1 cm thick, and then put the dish back in the fridge for the Jell-O to harden.
  8. Once you put the dish back in the fridge, make the 6 ounces of Orange Jell-O. Use all 6 ounces, but decrease the recommended amount of water by 1/2 a cup so you are only applying 1 1/2 cups of boiling water and 1 1/2 cups of cold water. Let this sit out until you use it in Step 11.
  9. Remove the dish from the fridge and put a thin layer of sour cream on top of the Jell-O layer. (I know! I know this sounds crazy, but Grandma always knows best!)
  10. Place a layer of marshmallows on top of the sour cream layer.
  11. Spoon the Orange Jell-O on top of the marshmallow layer, using a spoon in the same manner to only put a little bit so that the marshmallows do not float.
  12. Put the dish in the fridge for the Jell-O to harden.
  13. Remove the dish from the fridge and apply another layer of the Orange Jell-O, approximately 1 cm thick, and then put the dish back in the fridge for the Jell-O to harden.

This dish should be stored in the fridge until eaten.

Of course there are pies and other traditional desserts, but this one will always be the most special!

Grandma's Thanksgiving Jello
Grandma's Thanksgiving Jello

If you would like to make this dish a little bit healthier, you can substitute as you wish. Some suggestions include:

  • Fresh pineapple vs. canned
  • Another fruit layer vs. marshmallow and/or sour cream layer

However you celebrate, I wish you a lovely holiday! Please feel free to share your produce related recipes as well, in the comments below!

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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Julia

    What a neat recipe! Fresh pineapple is wonderful, but it should be heated first to deactivate the enzymes. 🍍 Otherwise the gelatin won’t set.

    1. Megan

      Thank you for your comment, Julia! In this case, we use canned crushed pineapple so it is already heat treated.

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