This Orange Jello Salad is a retro throwback dessert that tastes like creamsicles in Jello form with a sweet, creamy topping and a sweet-tart layer of orange gelatin, mandarin oranges, and orange juice concentrate! Orange Jello Salad is one of our favorite summer treats (even though we eat it year round!) and everybody loves when you show up at a potluck or picnic or reunion carrying it!
Looking for more old-fashioned summer potluck favorites? Be sure to also check out our Frog Eye Salad, Apricot Jello Salad, and the light and fluffy Cottage Cheese Jello Salad!
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It’s no secret that I love a good Jello. I mean, how can you resist these delicious, kitschy, vintage desserts! I’ve already posted about Lemon Pineapple Jello with Pineapple Whipped Cream Topping and my Triple Layer Christmas Jello Salad.
But today I’m coming at you with another fantastic Jello concoction that has been one of my favorite treats since I was a kid. It’s this perfectly delightful Orange Jello Salad with Pudding Whipped Cream that is reminiscent of the creamsicles that were always in my grandparent’s freezer, and summertime and potlucks!
Calling it a salad serves no other purpose that I’m aware of other than to justify serving this sweet, citrusy stuff at the same time as the rest of dinner. It’s basically the only time I remember being allowed to eat dessert first if I wanted to as a kid.
Annnnnd as an adult. Just sayin’. The tart & tangy orange layer on the bottom is made with orange gelatin, orange juice concentrate, mandarin oranges, and some of the juice from the cans of mandarin oranges in place of some of the water called for on the package of Jello.
The top layer is a fluffy, dreamy pudding and whipped cream concoction that is sweet and light and pairs perfectly with the tart and tangy bottom layer. You can use vanilla or french vanilla pudding, but just make sure that it is the instant kind, not the cook and serve variety.
The whole thing is cool and refreshing and just the perfect treat year round, but especially in the summertime. And anyway, there’s always room for Jello!
More Summer Potluck Recipes You’ll Love
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Orange Jello Salad with Pudding Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 1 (6 ounce) package orange Jell-O (or 2 small packages)
- 2 1/2 cups boiling hot water
- 1 (6-ounce) container frozen orange juice concentrate (or ½ a larger 12 ounce container)
- 3 (11-ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained with juice reserved from 1 can
- 1 (3.4-ounce) box instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 cup cold milk
- 1 cup Cool Whip or sweetened whipped cream
Instructions
- Dissolve the Jell-O in the hot water by stirring until crystals are no longer visible.
- Add the frozen orange juice concentrate and stir until completely melted. Add the juice from one of the cans of mandarin oranges, then stir in the oranges from all three cans.
- Pour into a large glass dish and transfer to the refrigerator to chill until completely set, about 4 hours.
- Combine the instant vanilla pudding mix and cold milk in a bowl and whisk well until it starts to set up, about 1-2 minutes. Note that this recipe does not use the same amount of milk as directed on the package of pudding. Fold in the Cool Whip or whipped cream, then spread over the top of the set Jell-O.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
I used to love creamsicles so anything that reminds me of them just has to be good. I haven’t made a jello salad in a while, I used to make one with lime and cream cheese, but this one just might make me find my old molds and make another one. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
Hi Amy! You’ve got some great tips! I’d never thought of adding pudding to the whipped cream before. Spreading straight-up Cool-Whip on top of the jello works too, but I’ll definitely have to give your version a try!
Thanks for the recipe!
~ Erin @ LittleYellowHouseAdventures.com
This is adorable and I bet sooo good! Love that orange color and the two textures play well together in a delicious mouthful.
Love the addition of the pieces of mandarin oranges inside this dessert. It’s so vibrant!
You could probably leave the oranges out, though, right?
Absolutely, if you don’t like the texture of them.
This yummy Jello salad was a huge hit at our family get together this past weekend! Everyone wanted the recipe. It reminded us of the orange jello salad my grandmother used to make. It was a definite conversation starter that led to laughter, smiles and beautiful walk down memory lane.
This reminds me of my childhood! I love jello salad!
So simple and so, so good! I love the added oranges in the bottom and the cool whip top is so yummy! A perfect easy dessert for any occasion!
What size dish did you use ? 13×9. Or 9 inch
As written this is for a 9×13-inch rectangular pan.
I was wondering the same.
Sorry! I need to update the photos since when I made and photographed this I divided it between two smaller square pans!
Thank you for the update because I looked at the picture, which shows one pan (that looks like an 8×8” pan) not realizing you made 2 pans from this ONE recipe. 🥴
Thanks from clearing up the confusion because size really does matter! 😉
IT LOOKS LIKE IT READS A “16” OZ OF FROZEN ORANGE JUICE CONCENTRATE. THEN IT SAYS YOU CAN USE 1/2 OF A 12 OZ CONTAINER INSTEAD. IT DOES NOT MAKE ANY SINCE BECAUSE 1/2 OF A 12 OZ CAN WOULD BE 6 OZ. THEN MY SISTER AND I FIGURED IT OUT THAT YOU MEANT I ( 6) OZ CAN OF CONCENTRATE. I THINK IT MAY BE CLEARER IF YOU JUST PUT THE NUMBERS IN QUOTATIONS SO THAT PEOPLE WOULD NOT BE CONFUSED. I CANNOT WAIT TO TRY YOUR YUMMY RECIPE!
THANK YOU!
Thank you for letting me know! You’re absolutely right and I just made those changes to make it more clear!
I have made this several times now. It is such a hit, my kids bring ingredients over with them. Never a bite left over. It hasn’t made it to a table unscathed yet! Love this so much. Thanks
Sooo smooth and creamy! Had people asking for the recipe.
Family loves this refreshing dessert. I make this often. Never a bite left. Easy and satisfying.
I’m using 3.4 ounce of instant pudding and one cup of cold milk and one cup of whip cream. It is so thick. What am I doing wrong The taste is great.
Did you whip the cream separately until light and fluffy before adding it to the combined pudding mix and milk? It shouldn’t be super thick. I’m glad you like the taste though!
It seems like there is too much liquid in this recipe. I cut back on the liquid and it still didn’t set up as well as I thought it should.
Hello, I am currently living in Kosovo and there are no mandarin oranges here. Do you think this would work using frozen berries?
Yes, you could make this with frozen berries. It would obviously taste very different, but frozen berries are great in jello!
This is an outstanding Jello salad! Our family wasn’t feeling good and I was trying to get Vit C into them and this salad is perfect. Loved the mandarins and the topping is out of this world! I want to do a version using same basic recipe but make it Cherry-Lime using cherry Jello and limeade and maybe canned sweet cherries. Thank you so much for the recipe…I will def make it many more times!