Strawberry Lush

Strawberry Lush is a luscious, light, and fluffy layered no bake dessert with layers of vanilla wafer cookies, creamy cheesecake, strawberry jello, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream. It's a one pan dessert that everyone is sure to love.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword dessert lasagna, no bake strawberry dessert, strawberry lush

Prep Time 20

Chill Time 6

Total Time 6 20

Servings

Calories 294kcal

Author Jessica - Together as Family

Ingredients

Crust

1 box (11 oz) vanilla wafers
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter melted

Cheesecake Layer

1 bar (8 oz) cream cheese room temperature
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
8 ounces Cool Whip thawed

Strawberry Jello Layer

1 box (3 oz) strawberry Jello
3/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup heavy cream
1½ cups chopped fresh strawberries
8 ounces Cool Whip thawed

Whipped Cream Layer & Garnish

8 ounces Cool Whip
fresh strawberries (sliced or chopped)

Instructions

Make The Crust : Place the vanilla wafers into a food processor and crush until they are in fine crumbs. Add in the melted butter and pulse to combine until the mixture looks like crumbly wet sand. Spread the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish making sure to firmly press down to form an even crust. Set aside.
1 box (11 oz) vanilla wafers, 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
Make The Cheesecake Layer : In a large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer, or use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed (increase speed as needed) until it's smooth and fluffy, and no lumps remain. About 2 minutes.
1 bar (8 oz) cream cheese, 2/3 cup powdered sugar
Add in the sour cream and beat until combined and smooth. Fold in the Cool Whip until thoroughly combined. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the vanilla wafer crust inside the baking pan.
1/4 cup sour cream, 8 ounces Cool Whip
Make The Strawberry Layer : Whisk the strawberry jello powder and boiling water in a medium-sized mixing bowl until the gelatin dissolves. Add in the ice cubes and stir until the ice is completely melted. Let the strawberry jello mixture cool to room temperature before proceeding.
^{* It should be pretty close to room temperature once the ice is melted but check to make sure and let it sit for several minutes if needed.}
1 box (3 oz) strawberry Jello, 3/4 cup boiling water, 1/4 cup ice cubes
Once cooled to room temperature, add the heavy cream and stir to combine. Stir in the strawberries and the Cool Whip and mix until combined. Spread the strawberry layer over top the cheesecake layer in the baking dish. It will be slightly runny and that's ok, it will firm up once in the fridge.
1/2 cup heavy cream, 1½ cups chopped fresh strawberries, 8 ounces Cool Whip
Chill : Cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap or a lid and let it refrigerate for at least 6-8 hours, or overnight is even better.
Serve : When ready to serve, remove the lush from the fridge and top with the final top layer of Cool Whip and fresh sliced strawberries. Serve the easy dessert chilled from the fridge.
8 ounces Cool Whip, fresh strawberries

Notes

Don't Want To Use Cool Whip? : If you'd rather not use Cool Whip then this can easily be substituted. Each 8 ounce tub if Cool Whip has 3 cups whipped cream in it - to make your own (for all 3 tubs of Cool Whip) you will need 4.5 cups of heavy whipping cream + 1 cup powdered sugar. Beat that until stiff peaks form. Use 1/3 of it for each layer that calls for Cool Whip.

Crushing Vanilla Wafers : Make sure the wafers are in very finely crushed crumbs for the best results. I use a food processor but you could also use a blender to crush them OR put them inside a Ziploc bag and use a meat pounder, or another heavy object, to crush them. Combine them with the melted butter inside a mixing bowl.

Chill Time : Don't rush this! Especially because that Jello layer needs the fridge time in order to thicken and set; otherwise, the Jello layer will be soft and runny. This dessert needs at least 6-8 hours of chill time, but overnight is the best!

Softened Cream Cheese : To avoid lumps in the cheesecake mixture make sure you are using room temperature cream cheese. It blends in much smoother when it's softer, otherwise the lumps are really hard to beat out of the cream cheese when it's cold.

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