Ambrosia Salad

Name: Ambrosia Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cans canned mandarin orange segments, drained; 2 cans canned pineapple tidbits, drained; 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and halved; 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes; 2 cups mini marshmallows; 1 cup sour cream; 8 oz whipped topping, thawed

A retro American fruit salad of mandarin oranges, pineapple, maraschino cherries, coconut flakes, and mini marshmallows folded into whipped cream. Nostalgic, sweet, and festive.

15 minEasyServes 8250 cal/serving

AmericanSaladNo-CookVegetarianGluten-FreeNut-FreeEgg-FreeLow-SodiumAlcohol-FreeNightshade-FreeCorn-Free

Cook this free in the appFree. No download, no account. The screen stays awake and each step can run its own timer.

Ingredients

2 cans canned mandarin orange segments, drained
2 cans canned pineapple tidbits, drained
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and halved
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup sour cream
8 oz whipped topping, thawed

Instructions

1

Make sure 2 cans drained canned mandarin orange segments and 2 cans drained canned pineapple tidbits are thoroughly drained.
2

In a large bowl, fold together 1 cup sour cream and 8 oz thawed whipped topping until smooth.
3

Gently fold in the mandarin oranges, pineapple, 1/2 cup drained and halved maraschino cherries, 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes, and 2 cups mini marshmallows.
4

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
5

Stir gently before serving and garnish with extra cherries and coconut if desired.

Cook this free in the appCooking it now? The app keeps the screen awake and times each step. Free, nothing to install.

Keep this recipe

Prints the ingredients and method only.

The American Kitchen 30 recipes from this kitchen in one printable PDF. $5, no account.

Questions

Why fold instead of stir in Ambrosia Salad?

Step 2 reads: "In a large bowl, fold together 1 cup sour cream and 8 oz thawed whipped topping until smooth." Folding keeps the air you just beat in. Stirring at step 2 would knock it out and the result would come out dense.

What can I use instead of sour cream in Ambrosia Salad?

The entry for Ambrosia Salad calls for 1 cup sour cream. In its place: Full-fat plain Greek yogurt, measure for measure. In hot sauces, add it off the heat.

Can I make Ambrosia Salad dairy-free?

Yes. The dairy in Ambrosia Salad is 1 cup sour cream. Swap the sour cream for thick coconut yogurt with a squeeze of lemon. The richness shifts slightly, but the method does not change.

Is Ambrosia Salad vegan?

No, though it is vegetarian. What keeps it from vegan is 1 cup sour cream. For fully plant-based entries, see the vegan salad collection.

Can I start Ambrosia Salad the day before?

Yes. Step 4 is a built-in pause of overnight, or about 8 hours: "Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight." Do everything up to that point ahead of time and pick up at step 5 when you are ready to finish.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is 4,544 plain-text recipes, free to read and free to cook from. No account, no paywall, no ads, no life stories. Open this one in the app and each quantity sits inside the step that uses it, so you read once and cook.

Every recipe is curated or public-domain sourced, written to one template and checked before it publishes. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually; the first 30 days are free.