With only 1 WW point per serving, this light and fluffy WW cottage cheese jello salad will become your new favorite dish.

This recipe is the perfect harmony of creamy and fruity flavors. The Cool Whip makes it incredibly light and fluffy while adding sweetness. You get a kick of zestiness from the pineapple, and the mandarin oranges offer a nice, juicy texture and flavor. Meanwhile, the orange Jello has a delicate orangey flavor that is so darn delicious.

This type of recipe was very popular from the 1960s to the 1980s, although jello salad varieties were cherished as early as the 1930s. It was often enjoyed as a side dish to a meal, but also sometimes as a dessert! So, feel free to serve it however you want. And if you’ve never tried this yummy cottage cheese Jello salad with Cool Whip before, now is your chance to try the lightened-up version!

Honestly, it isn’t much different from the original since we simply swap out full-fat Cool Whip and cottage cheese for the fat-free versions. And we’re replacing classic jello with the sugar-free version. This cottage cheese jello salad recipe also calls for canned fruit, but feel free to use fresh fruit if that’s what you prefer.

Serving cottage cheese jello salad
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Why You Should Try This Recipe

  • Light and refreshing. This light and airy orange fluff is so refreshing on a hot day or so comforting when you’re craving something sweet and creamy. It has a delicate flavor and melts in your mouth.
  • It’s a crowd-pleaser. Everyone will adore this jello salad recipe! Double the batch and bring it to a party if you want to impress.
  • No-bake recipe. It’s always nice to find an easy and delicious no-bake treat or side dish for warmer weather! With this recipe, you don’t need to cook on the stovetop or bake in the oven. It’s a chilled recipe with quick prep time.

Recipe Overview

  • Serving Size: 144g
  • Number of Servings: 10
  • Time to Prep: 10 minutes
  • WW Points Per Recipe: 1 WW point per serving, 14 for the entire recipe. (Click here to view the recipe in the WW app. WW login is required)

Ingredients in Weight Watchers Cottage Cheese Jello Salad

  • 1 lb 8 oz fat-free cottage cheese
  • 0.3 oz orange sugar-free, low-calorie jello mix (1 small box or ½ of family-size box)
  • 8 oz container of fat-free whipped topping
  • 15 oz can of no-sugar-added mandarin oranges, well-drained
  • 8 oz can crushed pineapple or pineapple tidbits, well-drained
Ingredients for making jello salad with cottage cheese

Instructions for making Weight Watchers Cottage Cheese Jello Salad

  1. As preparation, drain the canned pineapple and mandarin oranges.
  2. In a large bowl, sprinkle the dry Jello powder on the cottage cheese to dissolve it. Mix it to combine. Next, add the whipped topping and mix to combine.
Cool whip and cottage cheese with orange jello

3. Then, gently fold in the drained fruit.

Mixing orange fluff with cottage cheese and fruit

4. Cover the orange jello fluff and put it in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours before serving. Garnish with additional fruit or mini marshmallows.

Jello salad in a serving cup

Variations and Substitutions

  • Strawberry Cottage Cheese Jello Salad: Use sugar-free strawberry jello instead. You can still include the Mandarin oranges! In fact, you can include the pineapple, too, if you wish. Garnish with fresh strawberries when serving.
  • Lime Cottage Cheese Jello Salad: Use crushed or chopped pineapple pieces and walnuts as the mix-ins. Use sugar-free lime jello as the flavor base!
  • Other Flavors to Consider: You can really use any Jello flavor you like. Some other ideas are raspberry jello or pistachio jello. With these options, you can also alter the mix-ins to make them more complementary and keep the Cool Whip and cottage cheese amounts the same.
  • Cottage Cheese Type: You can also use 1-2% cottage cheese or full fat, but it will affect the WW points.
  • Serving Ideas: Garnish with mini marshmallows, additional fruit, nuts, or whipped cream.
Scooping cottage cheese orange fluff

Tips and Tricks for Making WW Jello Cottage Cheese Salad

  • Make sure to drain the canned fruit very well; otherwise, the excess moisture will make the cottage cheese jello fluff have a liquid layer.
  • How to store cottage cheese jello salad: keep it covered tightly in the refrigerator and enjoy it within one to two days. It will start to become soupy after that because of the whipped topping and the juices from the fruit. So, this isn’t the best recipe to make far in advance.
  • Because of the cottage cheese, I don’t suggest freezing this recipe either!
  • Make sure to fold in the Mandarin oranges last so that they maintain their shape and don’t break too much.
  • You can add more jello powder (if you have extra) for a bolder orange flavor or leave it for a more delicate flavor.

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Orange Cottage Cheese Jello Salad

Servings: 10 people
Prep: 10 minutes
Resting Time: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour 10 minutes
Scooping cottage cheese orange fluff
Light and fluffy cottage cheese jello salad with mandarin oranges and pineapple.

Ingredients 

  • 1 lb 8 oz fat-free cottage cheese
  • 0.3 oz (1 small box or ½ of a family-size box) orange sugar-free jello, (optionally: add more for a bolder flavor and firmer texture)
  • 8 oz tub fat-free whipped topping
  • 15 oz can No-sugar-added mandarin oranges, well-drained
  • 8 oz can crushed pineapple or pineapple tidbits, well-drained

Instructions 

  • As preparation, drain the canned pineapple and mandarin oranges.
  • In a large bowl, sprinkle the dry Jello powder on the cottage cheese to dissolve it. Mix it to combine.
  • Next, add the whipped topping and mix to combine. Then, gently fold in the drained fruit.
  • Cover the orange jello fluff and put it in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours before serving. Garnish with additional fruit or mini marshmallows.

Notes

1 WW point per serving. The nutrition and point info is based on the ingredients listed. If garnished with mini marshmallows, the WW points will slightly increase.

Nutrition

Serving: 144gCalories: 190kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 8.5gCholesterol: 2.7mgSodium: 294mgPotassium: 30mgFiber: 0.5gSugar: 16gCalcium: 78mgIron: 0.1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @drizzlemeskinny or tag #drizzlemeskinny!

About Courtney Yost

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2 Comments

  1. Can you please clarify the cottage cheese amount? It says “1 lb 8 oz cottage cheese”. Does it take a 16 oz (1 lb) container, plus another 8 oz? Sorry, I’m confused!

    1. Thanks for reading Jenny. The package we used was 1lb 8 oz, but yeah if you have a smaller package you will want to use 1lb 8 oz of cottage cheese