Creamy Fruit Salad
This Creamy Fruit Salad is my perfect summer in a bowl! Juicy mandarin oranges covered in sweet cream and coconut combine for a great party side dish or family night dessert.
Creamy Fruit Salad
Grace your summer dinner tables with this delightful and sweet Creamy Fruit Salad. It’s called a salad, but, really, it tastes more like a dessert. It’s super rich, so luscious, and very easy to make!
This recipe barely needs a recipe: Dump all the ingredients into a bowl and stir. That’s it! It’s a great dish to bring with you to a BBQ or potluck. Warning: It’s not the healthiest salad, but it sure is yummy!
Looking for more fruit salads? You might also like this Cherry Salad, another creamy fruit salad packed with cherries and Cool Whip, or this delightfully green Fruit Cocktail Dessert with Pistachio pudding and pineapple bits.
Ingredients
- Cool Whip – Make your own homemade Cool Whip if you can’t get it in stores.
- Sour cream
- Shredded coconut — I prefer sweetened
- A can of mandarin oranges
- Red grapes
- Mini marshmallows
What I used for my Creamy Fruit Salad
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- Colander: This colander is great for straining and washing! The handles make it easy to use and the holes are big enough to drain your liquids off while keeping the food in the colander!
- Measuring spoons and cups: Everyone needs a good set of measuring cups and spoons, and these are excellent! The handles make the measuring tools easy to attach and stay together, so no more losing that tiny teaspoon in your drawer!
- Mixing bowls: These glass mixing bowls are beautiful and practical. I love being able to see all my ingredients through the bowl and they nest inside each other for space saving!
How to make Creamy Fruit Salad
This fruit salad recipe only has one ingredient — mix it together and you’re done!
- Add all your ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. I like to add everything but the marshmallows and mix that before gently folding the marshmallows in to keep them from deflating.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
What to serve with Creamy Fruit Salad
This salad is perfect for parties and potlucks! The sweet, creamy, fruity dish is a great compliment for grilled dishes like this Maple Dijon Grilled Chicken or my Grilled Sesame Shrimp and Veggies foil packs for easy cleanup!
Need more party sides? This Italian Pasta Salad is flavorful and light — perfect for big crowds or little gatherings since it can be easily doubled or even tripled!
Looking for a little more presentation? Serve your Creamy Fruit Salad over a slice of angel food cake with an extra dollop of Cool Whip and toasted coconut on top for the ultimate fluffy, flavorful summer dessert!
Creamy Fruit Salad Substitutions
If you aren’t a fan of grapes or oranges, substitute other fruit in their place, like a can of fruit cocktail. Don’t like coconut? Ditch it! Whatever you have on hand will work!
Want to make it a little healthier? Swap the sour cream for Greek yogurt for the same creamy texture with a little added acidity and less calories! While it varies by brand, 2 tablespoons of regular sour cream contain about 60 calories compared to the same amount of plain Greek yogurt for about 18 calories on average.
How long does Creamy Fruit Salad last?
This dessert salad, like most creamy salads, will last about five days in the refrigerator, making this a perfect make ahead dish! The longer the flavors sit together, the more they meld together, so feel free to make this the day before your next pool party or barbecue for an even better flavor the next day!
While this looks beautiful in a glass bowl, I like to add a little extra decoration on top with a few fanned mandarin oranges, mini marshmallows, and a sprinkling of toasted coconut. I prefer to decorate my salad within about half an hour of serving to keep the mandarin oranges from drying out in the air or to keep from losing the coconut topping to the mixture.
More Amazing Summer Dessert Recipes
You’ll also like this Banana Pudding Fluff, Strawberry Cheesecake Fluff, Berry Cheesecake Fluff, Lemon Blueberry Fluff, Tropical Fluff Salad, Rocky Road Fluff, Strawberry Pretzel Salad, Strawberry Fluff Salad, Grape Salad, Sunshine Salad or Snickers Salad.
Do you have any recipes for dessert-like salads? I’m always looking for more recipes to try! Follow me on Instagram @simplystacieblog, on Facebook at Simply Stacie, and on Pinterest @SimplyStacie and let me know how you liked this and my other recipes!
Creamy Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups Cool Whip thawed
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1 can mandarin oranges 11oz/284ml can, drained
- 1 cup red grapes
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Add all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Video
Equipment
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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This looks super yummy. I don’t normally make fruit salads but it would be a nice change.
Do you use regular pistachio pudding o is the a instant one?
Do you mean for the Fruit Cocktail Dessert? https://www.simplystacie.net/2017/08/fruit-cocktail-dessert/ I use instant pudding in it.
My kids always loved fruit salad
I made it with instant vanilla pudding and drained the juice from a can of fruit cocktail and mixed the fruit in the pudding then chilled it. They had to shared the juice!