Ambrosia Fruit Salad

A retro classic made with pineapple, mandarin oranges, cherries, grapes, pecans, coconut, marshmallows and sour cream for a sweet and creamy dessert salad recipe.

JUMP TO RECIPE

What makes it special:

• Canned fruit makes it super easy to prepare
• An old-school classic everyone loves
• Easy to switch up the ingredients
• Kids LOVE it
• Travels well and can be made ahead of time

Do you have one of those go-to recipes you always make when you need to bring something to dinner? This fruit salad is it for me!

Growing up this was one of those “special occasion” recipes Mama always made for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter dinner or when we needed to bring something to a potluck or family dinner.

INGREDIENTS FOR AMBROSIA FRUIT SALAD

The full recipe is below in the printable recipe card, but at a glance, here's all you will need:

• 1 20-oz. can pineapple chunks
• 1 16-oz. jar maraschino cherries
• 2 cups green grapes
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 15-oz. can mandarin oranges

There are several variations of this recipe out there but this is how my family has always made it (except the grapes, those are my own little addition because I like the color and texture).

You can definitely make it your own by adding other fruit so long as you keep the canned pineapple, mandarin oranges and cherries because those three are original to the recipe.

Recipe for Ambrosia Fruit Salad

Ambrosia Fruit Salad

Yield: 15 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 15 MinTotal time: 15 Min

This retro fruit salad recipe is simple and perfect with pineapple, mandarin oranges, cherries, green grapes, pecans, coconut and sour cream.

Ingredients

• 1 20-oz. can pineapple chunks, drained well
• 1 16-oz. jar maraschino cherries, drained well
• 2 cups green grapes
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 15-oz. can mandarin oranges, drained well

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients except mandarin oranges in a large bowl then gently stir until well combined
2. Fold in mandarin oranges (we do this last because they are more fragile than the other ingredients).
3. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Notes

• As Mama told me the first time I made this, use as much or as little of each ingredient as you like (especially with the sour cream, pecans and coconut). There's no right or wrong way to make this.
• You can absolutely add other types of fruit. If you use bananas or apples, toss them with a little lemon juice first to keep them from browning.
• It is plenty sweet! Don’t let the sour cream scare you off.
• I’ve had this made with yogurt instead of sour cream but I like the sour cream version best!

https://www.southyourmouth.com/2016/11/ambrosia-fruit-salad.html

Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2016

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