There’s nothing quite like a red white blue cheesecake salad to bring a pop of patriotic color and creamy sweetness to your summer gathering! This festive no-bake dessert is made with layers of fresh berries, a tangy cheesecake filling, and just the right touch of sweetness. It’s the perfect chilled treat to serve at a BBQ, picnic, or family get-together. Bring this along to your 4th of July party and watch it disappear—it’s that good!
This easy red white and blue salad is one of our favorite patriotic desserts because it’s so simple to make and always a crowd-pleaser. You can prep it in about 10 minutes, and there’s no baking involved—just mix, layer, and chill.
Whether you’re making it for the 4th of July, Memorial Day, or any summer potluck, this red white and blue cheesecake salad is guaranteed to impress. This salad is not just a fruit salad, but rather a creamy, indulgent treat that resembles a blend of berry cheesecake salad and trifle. We love how versatile it is, and you can always customize the fruit based on what’s in season or what your family loves most!
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Why We Love This Red White and Blue Salad
- It isn’t overly sweet.
Most of the sugar is in the pudding mix and yogurt, but even that isn’t too much. The pops of juicy, fruity sweetness from the berries are just perfect. - A time saver!
This red white blue cheesecake salad can be made ahead of time and enjoyed later on. Make it the morning of the party or a few days before when you have some free time. - It’s completely customizable.
The fruit and yogurt flavors can be switched around depending on what’s available. - No baking is required.
For summer desserts, nothing is better than a no-bake recipe. Make this fruit dessert and you’ll keep your kitchen nice and cool.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Instant Cheesecake Pudding Mix: If you’re unable to find cheesecake flavored pudding, instant vanilla pudding mix also does the trick. The regular varieties of instant pudding mix are sold in a 5.1 ounce box.
Or, to remove some of the sugar, you can use sugar-free instant pudding mix. If so, you’ll need two 1-ounce boxes.
🎯 TFN Pro Tip
This cheesecake salad recipe will not work with cooked and served pudding. Be sure to use an instant variety.
- Strawberries: Make sure the berries are rinsed and “hulled,” which simply means removing the green stem and core from the heart of the fruit. Hulling leaves more of the juicy berry flesh behind than when the whole top is cut off.
For a really professional-looking dessert, be sure to slice the strawberries thinly and evenly. Not only will this help you layer them properly, they’ll look incredible once the whole salad is layered!
Another great recipe to make use of strawberries is strawberry blueberry marshmallow salad and apple strawberry crisp.
- Milk: If you have a dairy intolerance, non-dairy milk works just as well. And thankfully, it doesn’t affect the taste or texture of the 4th of July salad.
🎯 TFN Pro Tip
To create even, clean slices, chill the strawberries before slicing them. It’s far easier to cut into the fruit when it’s hard than when it is mushy and at room temperature.
Recipe Variations
- Add pound cake or angel food cake cubes for a heartier, layered dessert.
- Stir in mini chocolate chips or crushed cookies for extra texture and flavor.
- Use different berries like blackberries or raspberries to switch it up. Or add fruits like cherries and grapes.
- Add a layer of granola or crushed graham crackers for crunch and cheesecake flair.
- Mix in extra cream cheese with vanilla extract or use Greek yogurt for a tangier but creamy fruit salad.
- Top with Cool Whip and sprinkles or festive star-shaped fruit for extra Fourth of July pizzazz.
- Swap out fruit for peaches or mangoes to enjoy this salad all summer long.
Equipment Used in this Recipe
- 1 glass serving bowl
- 1 offset spatula
- Large bowl
- Whisk
- Flat spatula
- Plastic wrap
How to Make Red White and Blue Cheesecake Salad
- Showcase your dessert red white and blue salad with a pretty bowl.
Let your patriotic colors shine! Use a big glass bowl or individual parfait glasses to serve the cheesecake salad. Otherwise, you won’t be able to see all of the beautiful red white and blue layers of fruit, pudding, and marshmallows.
Also, be sure to use one that isn’t too wide or too narrow, or you may have trouble scooping out servings. A trifle bowl or serving dish that’s about 8 inches in diameter, and has a capacity somewhere around 84 ounces should be perfect.
Looking for other simple potluck recipes?
You’ll be the hit of the party if you take this pesto pea pasta salad. It can be served as a cold pasta salad, or a warm main dish!
Another perfect picnic-worthy 4th of July dessert is mixed berry cobbler.
- Adjust the consistency of the filling.
If the cheesecake mixture is too thick to spread easily, add small amounts of milk until it’s thin enough. Don’t use too much though, or you might end up with a soup rather than a pudding.
Alternatively, if it’s too thin, you can add a bit of cornstarch or more pudding mix. However, before you do that, wait a bit longer! Instant pudding can take a while to thicken if the temperature in the room is especially warm.
This is also why it’s best to let the dessert sit in the fridge for an hour before serving.
- Use a spatula to create the layers.
We recommend using a flat, offset spatula for smoothing out the cheesecake layer. That is much easier than trying to smooth it out with the back of a spoon.
Additionally, we recommend scooping the filling right into the center. From there, spread the cheesecake filling out toward the edges to even it out.
Serving Suggestions
This red white and blue cheesecake salad makes the perfect centerpiece for your dessert table at any summer celebration. Serve it chilled in a large trifle bowl, individual dessert cups, or layered in mason jars for grab-and-go servings. It pairs beautifully with grilled foods, BBQ chicken, or as a sweet end to a picnic spread. Add it to your lineup of patriotic desserts alongside cupcakes, cookies, or a festive cake. With its layers of fresh fruit, fluffy marshmallows, and creamy filling, this dessert doubles as both a salad and a showstopper!
Recipe FAQs
Think of this no-bake dessert like a deconstructed cheesecake without the crust! It has a thick, tangy, smooth filling made with instant pudding mix. Depending on the recipe, it sometimes includes sweet syrups, chocolate, caramel, and/or fruit mixed into it.
Some are a hodgepodge delight of ingredients, while others are arranged in layers, similar to a trifle, as this 4th of July salad is. We think this makes for the best presentation!
Unfortunately, no. As frozen fruit thaws, it adds water to the dessert, making the consistency goopy, runny, and all-around less appetizing.
Be sure to refrigerate the dessert salad in a covered bowl so it doesn’t pick up any odors from nearby foods! Left at room temperature, the berries will become mushy, and the overall texture will become unpleasant. For the same reason, we do not recommend freezing the 4th of July salad.
For quicker assembly, you can slice the berries and make the filling ahead of time.
The entire cheesecake salad can be made up to 48 hours in advance if you’d like extra time for it to chill. Similarly, any leftovers will kept for up to 48 hours in the fridge.
More Refreshing Salads To Love…
If you tried this red white and blue cheesecake salad recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Red White Blue Cheesecake Salad
Equipment
- 1 glass serving bowl
- 1 offset spatula
- large bowl
- whisk
- flat spatula
- plastic wrap or bee's wrap
Ingredients
- 6.8 ounces unprepared instant cheesecake pudding mix (two 3.4 ounce boxes); substitute sugar free instant pudding or instant vanilla pudding mix
- 10 ounces vanilla yogurt
- 2 cups milk or non-dairy milk
- 2 pounds strawberries hulled and thinly sliced *See Notes
- 1 pound fresh blueberries
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- 1 cup fresh raspberries or 2 cups blackberries
Optional Topping
- whipped cream or non-dairy whipped topping
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add pudding mix, yogurt, and milk; whisk well to combine. Let the mixture sit and thicken for 5 minutes.
- In a large glass serving bowl or trifle bowl, arrange half of the strawberries in an even layer. *Place larger diameter strawberries on the outer edges.
- Use a flat spatula to smooth half of the pudding mixture over the strawberries.
- Arrange 1/3 of the blueberries on top of the pudding.
- Repeat the layers with the all the remaining strawberries, all the remaining pudding, and half of blueberries.
- Top the cheesecake salad with mini marshmallows, remaining blueberries, and raspberries (or blackberries).
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
- If desired, top with whipped cream before serving.
Notes
- Add pound cake or angel food cake cubes for a heartier, layered dessert.
- Stir in mini chocolate chips or crushed cookies for extra texture and flavor.
- Use different berries like blackberries or raspberries to switch it up.
- Add a layer of granola or crushed graham crackers for crunch and cheesecake flair.
- Mix in extra cream cheese or use Greek yogurt for a tangier filling.
- Top with sprinkles or festive star-shaped fruit for extra patriotic pizzazz.
- Swap out fruit for peaches or mangoes to enjoy this salad all summer long.
- Be sure to refrigerate the dessert salad in a covered bowl, so it doesn’t pick up any odors from nearby foods! Left at room temperature, the berries will become mushy, and the overall texture will become unpleasant.
- For the same reason, we do not recommend freezing the 4th of July salad.
- This salad is a time saver, It can be made ahead of time and enjoyed later on. Make it the morning of the party or a few days before when you have some free time. Cheesecake salad can be made up to 48 hours in advance.
Nutrition
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Mahy says
Fantastic cake! Just what I have been looking for today. Thanks!
Anjali says
This is such a fun and festive dessert! I’m definitely going to be making this for my 4th of July bbq coming up!
Charla says
What a beautifully presented patriot salad, I bet it tastes as good as it looks