Yummiest Fruit Salad Ever – creamy, fruity deliciousness of pineapple, mandarin oranges, grapes, marshmallows & coconut all in a creamy pudding dressing. OMG the best EVER!
Yes, my friends. I am making wild assumptions here that you will agree with me that this is the best fruit salad ever. Quite honestly, I think it is. 😉
This fruit salad is to die for. It’s practically a dessert and so naturally, it’s one of my favorite side dishes to make. Ha!
It’s not only delicious, but extremely simple. It’s great to bring to a party or pot luck {everyone will think you’re the best cook ever} or just as a side dish to your Sunday meal. It takes only minutes to make the most deliciously creamy and fruity side dish you’ll ever eat. I hope you’ll try it soon!
Ingredients
- 2 pkgs. vanilla instant pudding
- 1 20-oz can crushed pineapple and juice
- 1 20-oz can pineapple tidbits and juice
- 2 8-oz cans mandarin oranges, drained
- 1/2 c. coconut
- 2 c. red or green seedless grapes halved
- 2 c. miniature marshmallows
- 1 16-oz carton Cool Whip, or two 8-ounce cartons
Instructions
- Pour dry instant pudding in a large mixing bowl. Pour crushed pineapple and pineapple tidbits with juice (do NOT drain!) over the pudding and mix together.
- Stir in remaining ingredients until well blended. (I usually add other fruit I have on hand, like a chopped up apple, banana or even some maraschino cherries. This is a very versatile recipe!)
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes a lot, so it's perfect to bring for a pot luck!
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Looking for more side dishes? Try these:
Easy Quinoa Salad with Grilled Corn & Tomatoes
do you prepare the pudding or just add the contents of the box?
Thank you so much for asking this!! I guess I should clarify that, huh? 🙂 Don’t prepare the pudding but just add the dry powder in with the pineapple. That’s why this is seriously the easiest salad ever!
this looks delicious!!
This salad recipe looks so good! Thanks for being a part of our “Strut Your Stuff Saturday.” Hope to see you again real soon!! -The Sisters
Looks good i will try this soon! your picture looks like there are strawberrys in it. Is there?
Looks yummy!! What size pudding?
Hi Tamara! They’re the smaller size of pudding (whatever that size is, lol!) So two small boxes of vanilla pudding. You can also use coconut cream pudding or pistachio too! Hope you love it!
How many does this amount serve?
It makes a huge bowl, Danielle! So maybe 15 servings, depending on how big the servings are? I’ve never actually measured it out. It’s one of those recipes I make from memory and everyone devours really quickly!
This salad is very similar to a family recipe of ours. We call ours 5 cup salad. Super easy too. It’s just 5 ingredients and each are 1 cup.
Mandarin Organes, crushed pineapple, shredded coconut, sour cream, marshmallows!!! A lot sugar than adding the dry pudding. Prob could substitute Greek vanilla yogurt for the sour cream and get the same flavor
This calls for a 20-oz tub of Cool Whip. The regular containers are 8 oz, and the large ones are 12 oz. What size should I use?
Yes! I’m glad you asked this! This is my mom and sisters recipe from forever ago and I think they used to have 20 oz containers of it but they don’t anymore. I actually just made this today and I use one of the 16 oz containers, they’re the biggest I can find in my grocery store. It works great! You can use two 8 oz ones too. Enjoy it – it’s delicious!
Love this recipe! I’ve made it several times. How long do you think i can keep it, if it’s in an airtight container and in the fridge?
It usually keeps for a few days (like 3 or 4?) in an air-tight container. It might get a little watery, so just give it an extra stir before serving and it will be perfect! I’m so happy you like the recipe!
I have never made this. Is it OK to include other fruit, strawberries raspberries kiwis etc (no melons)
YES! Definitely adapt this to what you like! You can add berries for sure. I’ve never added kiwis, though. I hope you like it as much as we do!
Do you use sweet or unsweetened coconut?
I usually use sweetened coconut for this!
LOVE IT!!!!!
Thanks Teri!! 🙂
It does make a lot! That’s great for a crowd, but it works great halved too. I kept the half cup of coconut though! This is delicious and so easy!
I’m so glad you liked it, Melissa! It’s my favorite!
Does it take 2 small or large pudding packages.
Thank you for the question and I’m glad you brought it up. It’s 2 small pudding packages. I hope that helps and you make it!!