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This Ambrosia salad is no ordinary fruit salad. It combines your love for pineapple, sweet mandarin oranges, juicy grapes and luxurious maraschino cherries with sweetened shredded coconut, creamy Cool whip, sour cream, and crunchy pecans!
While this dessert salad speaks for itself the name also gives away just how delicious it is. After all, if it's a term used to describe the food of the Greek and Roman Gods, then you know you're in for a real treat!
In the South, Ambrosia salad has become somewhat of a Christmas dessert tradition yet my love for it means that my family and friends get to enjoy this sweet fruity treat for Easter Dinner and throughout the year.
Pair it with Spiral Glazed Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, Roasted Asparagus, Hot Cross Buns, and Carrot Cake Cheesecake, and you have a holiday dinner that is truly divine!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to assemble: This Ambrosia Salad is incredibly easy to make. It's a no-bake dessert with simple ingredients and minimal steps to follow.
- Inexpensive dessert: The sweet and tangy combination of sour cream, Cool whip, sweetened coconut and assorted fruit makes this treat truly irresistible. You won't have a problem with any leftovers!
- Enjoyed Year Round: While in the South, this Ambrosia salad is a favorite Christmas dessert, it can just as easily be enjoyed throughout the year for a quick and easy sweet treat, for potlucks, or enjoyed with guests and extended family on special occasions.
- Generous serving: This recipe will serve up to 8 but you could even halve or double the ingredients called for depending on what's needed and without affecting the outcome of this dessert salad.
Why This Recipe Works
- Tried and True. Ambrosia Salad is a favorite in my house – tried and tested in my kitchen, and served up to family, friends, and guests with only positive feedback and numerous requests for the recipe!
- Easy To Make. I'm going to walk you through the process of making this scrumptious dessert salad effortlessly with the aid of simple recipe instructions and step-by-step recipe images.
- FAQs. Frequently asked questions and pro recipe tips have been included in this recipe post to ensure that your experience of making Ambrosia salad is easy and enjoyable.
- Adaptations. Recipe variations are listed below should you like to add any personal twists to your dessert salad.
- No Bake!! This is a no-bake dessert recipe which immediately makes it more kid-friendly if you intend to involve the kids in whipping up this creamy and fruity salad.
What You’ll Need To Make This Recipe
Equipment
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Ingredients
Below, I discuss the ingredients and possible substitutions if you don't have a specific ingredient. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of each ingredient, scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.
- Cool whip. This refrigerated whipped topping has the perfect texture and maintains its consistency while refrigerated, and works perfectly in this recipe.
- Sour cream. This provides a delicious tangy flavor to the dessert salad, helping to balance out the sweet ingredients from the fruit and sweetened coconut. Cream cheese, Greek yogurt, or heavy cream are not appropriate alternatives for sour cream.
- Coconut. I've used sweetened and shredded coconut for this recipe. You can use sweetened shredded dried coconut instead if you want less sweetness in this Ambrosia salad. If you like, you could toast your shredded coconut which will provide a nutty flavor to the dessert – totally scrumptious!
- Marshmallows. Mini white or colored marshmallows work best for this dessert salad. If you don't have miniature marshmallows, cut larger marshmallows down to size.
- Pineapple tidbits. These are very similar to pineapple chunks but smaller in size. If you can't find pineapple tidbits then slice pineapple chunks into smaller pieces. Make sure to drain the pineapple well before adding it to the salad.
- Mandarin oranges. these are smaller and typically sweeter than regular oranges which is perfect for this sweet dessert salad. If you can't access mandarin oranges then you can use regular oranges instead.
- Green grapes. these green grapes are less sweet than red grapes which will help to balance the level of sweetness in this dessert salad. You could use red grapes instead or use a combination of green and red.
- Maraschino cherries. I've used the red maraschino cherries for this dessert salad but you could also use green maraschino cherries or a combination.
- Pecans. A classic Ambrosia salad includes pecans but you could use your favorite nuts instead. Walnuts or almonds (whole or flaked) would be great options.
How To Make Ambrosia Salad
- In a large bowl, add all the ingredients
- Stir to combine well.
- Refrigerate salad until ready to serve.
- You can reserve a few mandarin oranges and maraschino cherries to decorate the top of the salad.
Pro Recipe Tips
- Usually in many recipes you could get away with substituting another cream-based ingredient for the likes of sour cream or the Cool whip called for in this recipe but I strongly advise that you don't use anything such cream cheese, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, or heavy cream in this dessert salad – it's going to impact on the overall taste and texture.
- While you may think that canned fruit cocktail is an easy and convenient alternative to use in this recipe, I recommend that you stick with fresh fruit prepared by yourself. It's going to taste much better and will also last longer, having a firmer texture to the fruit than a canned fruit cocktail that has been sitting in simple syrup.
Variations
- Unsweetened Coconut. If you'd like to reduce the overall sweetness in this dessert salad, use unsweetened shredded coconut.
- Fruitful. Other fruits can be used in this dessert salad such as bananas. If you don't enjoy grapes, simply omit them. Regular oranges can also be used instead of Mandarin oranges.
- Toasty. Toast the shredded coconut for a deeper nutty flavor in this Ambrosia salad.
- Go Nuts. While I've used pecans, walnuts or almonds can be used instead.
- Serving Bowl. Serve your Ambrosia salad in a large clear bowl or in single shallow glasses for special occasions such as Christmas.
What To Serve With Ambrosia Salad
This Ambrosia salad is perfect as is but you can certainly serve your dessert salad with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I love presenting this Ambrosia salad in a clear glass bowl to show off all of the creamy and fruity ingredients!
- Peach Glazed Spiral Ham
- Apple Walnut Cranberry Salad
- Watergate salad
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Pineapple Casserole
- Carrot Cake or Carrot Cake Cheesecake
FAQs
HOW SHOULD I STORE THIS AMBROSIA SALAD
Leftover Ambrosia salad should be stored in an airtight container or in the serving bowl covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Always keep this sweet salad in the fridge when not in use.
This dessert salad is not appropriate to store in the freezer due to the cream-based ingredients potentially separating upon thawing and the defrosted fruit becoming soggy.
WHERE DOES AMBROSIA SALAD COME FROM?
The name "Ambrosia" is actually a reference to the food of the Gods in Greek mythology and when you taste this creamy sweet and fruit dessert for the first time, you'll agree that it's the perfect name to call it!
While there are many variations of this dessert salad today, no one is too sure of its exact origin except that it's become quite a traditional Southern Christmas dessert in the United States.
Of course, Ambrosia salad is not only reserved for enjoyment around the holidays. It's the ideal no-bake dessert if you love the combination of fresh fruit, shredded coconut, creamy ingredients, and juicy maraschino cherries!
HOW IS AMBROSIA SALAD ANY DIFFERENT TO A REGULAR FRUIT SALAD?
Ambrosia salad can certainly be considered as a variation of the traditional fruit salad although it elevates an ordinary fruit salad to new heights with the addition of shredded coconut, cream-based ingredients and juicy maraschino cherries in addition to the typical use of pineapple, grapes, and mandarin oranges.
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Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (8-ounce container) cool whip
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup sweetened coconut (shredded)
- 3 cups miniature marshmallows (colored is fun)
- 1 1/2 cups pineapple tidbits (well drained)
- 1 (11-ounce can) mandarin oranges (drained)
- 1 cup green grapes (halved)
- 1 cup maraschino cherries (halved)
- 3/4 cup pecans (lightly chopped)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir well.
- Refrigerate salad until ready to serve.
- You can reserve a few mandarin oranges and maraschino cherries to decorate the top of the salad.
Marsha Paulsen Peters says
Thanks! I needed to be reminded of this old treat, anew. I love everything in this creation but love the result much more when I do Not add marshmallows.
( I can hear some of you thinking, ‘Wow, is NOTHing Sacred !?’ ) I don’t believe in adding marshmallows to Sweet potatoes or yams, either. Plenty Sweet, as is.