Although more known as a jelly dessert, Jello or Jell O is a brand by Kraft Foods. It’s become so popular that other brands of jiggly treats are even mistaken for it.
As I’ve said, Jello is a brand, and besides the jellies, it also produces pudding mixes. Besides making the usual pudding dessert, there are a lot of dishes you can whip up with it, as I will share in this post.
Some recipes may lead to a delicious no-bake dessert. So, if you want a quick and tasty treat for your holiday dinner, you’ll find it here.
1. Pudding Poke Cake
Our first recipe is this pudding poke cake from Kraft Heinz, the owner of Jello. As the name implies, you’ll poke holes on the top of the cake and fill them with a delicious chocolate pudding mix.
By poking and filling holes, the flavor embeds deeper into the dessert. Thus, the cake oozes with chocolate goodness, satisfying your sweet tooth. You even see the trail marks with every slice.
It’s a pretty simple recipe. You only need yellow cake mix, Jello chocolate pudding, powdered sugar, milk, and butter. If there’s no butter, swap it for margarine.
2. Lemon Jello Cake
A lemon jello cake is a fan favorite, especially during holidays like Easter. Its fresh flavors, bright colors, and easy-to-make recipe make it such a hit.
This treat is especially quick and convenient. In just 37 minutes, you get your lemon jello cake fresh from the oven. You can also make it in advance and freeze it with plastic wrap.
This cake has two components, one of which is the cake made with a lemon-flavored mix, eggs, water, vegetable oil, and lemon jello. There’s also a glaze or icing made of juiced lemons and powdered sugar.
3. Triple-Layer Lemon Pie
Before I start, this pie and that cake aren’t the only lemon-flavored recipes you’ll encounter in this post. I’ve included several fresh-flavored treats so you’d have your choice of Vitamin C.
This triple-layer lemon pi is a citrusy creamy delight. It’s made with Jello instant pudding (lemon-flavored), cold milk, fresh lemon juice, graham cracker crust, and cool whip.
What’s more incredible is you can see all three delicious layers with every slice. The bottom is a milk and pudding mix; the middle is a cool whip and pudding mixture; and the remaining whipped topping. Serve with lemon zest or strawberries.
4. Luscious Lemon Pound Cake
Pound cake with jello? It might not be your usual pound cake recipe. But this treat tastes excellent, especially with the luscious lemon curd frosting.
Like other instant pudding mix treats, this pound cake is effortless. Just get yourself a lemon cake mix, jell o instant pudding, water, oil, eggs, lemon curd, and thawed cool whip. Like most cakes, you also need an oven for this one.
The incorporated pudding helps maintain the pound cake’s structural integrity. Besides that, one of the recipe tips is to refrigerate the frosted cake to keep that gorgeous frosting from running.
5. Warm Winter Lemon Cake
Have you ever had a cake that feels like tight hugs? Every bite of this warm winter lemon cake from Kraft wraps you in a citrusy embrace perfect for chilly winter nights.
It’s cozy, homey, and effortless to make with only cake mix, jell o pudding, granulated sugar, cold milk, water, and powdered sugar. Everything, except the powdered sugar, will go into the cake batter and be poured into a baking sheet.
Some cooking tips you should follow are adding lemon zest and juice to the recipe and serving with fresh raspberries. Both elevate and intensify the cake flavors.
6. Peanut Butter Poke Cake Brownies
You would not trade these peanut butter poke cake brownies for anything. I mean, is there anything more decadent than a dessert that brings together our absolute favorites – cake AND brownies?!
So what makes this dessert concept possible is using a brownie mix. Like other poke cakes, the cooked brownie will have holes filled with a peanut butter pudding mixture. It’s fantastic, especially with a peanut butter drizzle.
This recipe needs a vanilla pudding mixture. Making this cake and brownie duo takes time, especially since it needs to chill in the fridge for two hours.
7. No Bake S’mores Pudding Cake
I’m a huge fan of the chocolate and marshmallow combination, such as rocky road ice cream and s’mores. The subtle-flavored but fluffy marshmallows blend well with the richness of chocolate, creating a balanced flavor profile.
If you feel the same way, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this s’mores pudding cake. I mean s’mores but at a larger scale???? Count us in!
To make this cake, you’ll need jello chocolate pudding, milk, graham crackers, cool whip, marshmallows, and chocolate syrup. You’ll make a thickened pudding from the chocolate mix, milk, and cool whip.
Don’t forget the crushed graham crackers as toppings.
8. Jello Cookies and Cream Pudding Pie
Oreos turned into a pie – not one of the most bizarre food concepts, but certainly one of the best. With a simple pudding mix (plus other ingredients), you can make your cookies and cream pudding pie that’s reminiscent of your favorite creamy cookie.
This dessert features a pie crust made of chocolate cookie crumbs, but you can swap it for a ready-made graham cracker crust. You can incorporate big Oreo cookie crumbs into the pie filling for texture and flavor.
As it’s a no-bake dessert, you’ll need to refrigerate the pie for four hours so that it’s solid.
9. Banana Cream Pie
Every bite of a banana cream pie is like shoving a cloud into your mouth. It’s creamy, rich, and packed with unique, fruity flavors.
While making a banana cream pie from scratch takes several ingredients, this recipe needs only five! As long as you have a pie crust, banana pudding, whole milk, bananas, and whipped topping, you can assemble this no-bake treat.
You can also make ingredient substitutions, like 2% milk instead of whole. You can use Nilla wafer crust, so the dish is reminiscent of banana pudding. There’s even a chocolate version of this pie!
10. Strawberry Cheesecake Pudding Cups
I adore desserts in a cup – they’re so dainty and delicious. Plus, they make the best dessert displays. For instance, these adorable strawberry cheesecake pudding cups are a must-have on your dessert table.
Don’t worry; they’re easy to make. You’d need a couple of ingredients, but most are in your pantry already, like cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, strawberries, and more.
This dessert has three elements: the graham crust, cool whip and pudding mixture, and the toppings. Assemble by starting with the crust, then the pudding, and top with strawberries and some crushed graham crackers.
11. Raspberry Vanilla Jello Fruit Salad
Jello salad is a delicious treat you can easily make. This recipe for raspberry vanilla jello fruit salad is the best for the summer, with its cool and fruity flavors.
There are only four essential ingredients: instant vanilla pudding, vanilla yogurt, Cool whip, and raspberries (fresh or frozen). The recipe expressly indicated frozen, so as it thaws, the juices get mixed into the salad. However, they also said fresh works fine.
You can combine all those ingredients in a bowl without needing an electric mixer or blender. Once done, you can eat it as it is.
12. Fluffy Lemon Jello Salad
If you’re not a fan of raspberries, here’s another option for you – lemon! Bright and citrusy lemon flavors are one of the most refreshing and, thus, perfect for your summer outings.
This four-ingredient treat is pretty versatile. You can serve it in cups, sliced into squares, scooped into a bowl, and served with various toppings. It has a texture almost like mousse – smooth, velvety, and fluffy.
To make this jello salad, you’ll need lemon jello, lemon pudding, water, and whipped topping. Any classic pudding brand, like jello, works well, but you can also use a sugar-free type.
13. Strawberry Jello Poke Cake
So far, I’ve included two poke cakes featuring chocolate and peanut butter flavors. Those can be pretty rich, so I’ve included another one with refreshing and fruity flavors. It’s this strawberry jello poke cake!
Like most recipes, this poke cake is simple, needing only six core ingredients. These are white cake mix, sugar-free strawberry jello, instant vanilla pudding (sugar-free), cool whip, water, and milk.
Use a strawberry cake mix instead of white cake for more intense strawberry flavors. When poking holes, ensure they aren’t too close together to avoid making the cake soggy, affecting texture.
14. Angel Lush With Pineapple
This angel lush cake caught my eye among the original Kraft jello pudding recipes. It’s a gorgeous ensemble of cake, fruits, and frosting, creating a mouthwatering dessert.
Although it looks complex and luxurious, you only need five ingredients to make this cake. These are instant vanilla pudding, crushed pineapples, cool whip, angel food cake, and fresh berries.
This recipe is an easy way to transform a dull store-bought angel food cake into a show-stopper. But if you plan to make your cake, that’s even better! The flavors would be more authentic and in harmony in doing so.
14 Creative Jello Pudding Recipes
You can use instant Jello pudding mixes to make the most amazing desserts!
Ingredients
Pudding Poke Cake
Lemon Jello Cake
Triple-Layer Lemon Pie
Luscious Lemon Pound Cake
Warm Winter Lemon Cake
Peanut Butter Poke Cake Brownies
No Bake S’mores Pudding Cake
Jello Cookies and Cream Pudding Pie
Banana Cream Pie
Strawberry Cheesecake Pudding Cups
Raspberry Vanilla Jello Fruit Salad
Fluffy Lemon Jello Salad
Strawberry Jello Poke Cake
Angel Lush With Pineapple
Directions
- Select your favorite recipe.
- Organize all the required ingredients.
- Prep a jello pudding in 30 minutes or less!