Easy, 4 ingredient Pistachio Fluff Salad, also known simply as Pistachio Salad! Best served with friends and family, this recipe makes a great potluck dish!
Love easy desserts? Our Ambrosia Salad could easily be a side dish too. Or try our cranberry fluff salad!
Why this Recipe is Best
You are living in a vacuum my friends, if you haven’t yet tried this Pistachio Fluff Salad.
Some people call it simply Pistachio Salad, Pistachio Dump Salad, Pistachio Pudding Salad or Watergate Salad. Or Green Fluff. Or just the Green Goop.
Whatever you call it, it’s a huge hit at all our family holiday parties and potlucks.
Pistachio Fluff Salad is seriously only 4 ingredients (5 if you count the cherries on top)! I know many people add extra nuts to theirs, but not us. Occasionally I’ll swap out the mini white marshmallows and use the fruity, colored mini marshmallows instead.
Any party is a great time to whip up a batch of this pistachio salad. I know I keep calling this a salad when it clearly is more like a dessert. But after all, Mom always said to eat your greens, haha!!
Change things up and try our lemon fluff next!
Ingredient Notes
Easy as 1,2,3. And four if you’re counting ingredients!
- Crushed Pineapple- you’ll need a can of this, with the juices (do not drain).
- Pistachio Pudding Mix- two of the small boxes of instant pudding mix are perfect.
- Cool Whip- you don’t want to use homemade whipped cream here, as it will tend to get too weepy. However, if you don’t want to use Cool Whip, try our stabilized whipped cream instead.
- Marshmallows- these create the perfect texture. Whether you use plain mini marshmallow, or toss in the fruity colored marshmallows, either are delicious.
The hardest part of this Pistachio Fluff Salad recipe is giving everything time to mingle. Allowing it to thicken up. You can make it the night before, or whip it up at least 4 hours in advance, making it perfect for holiday gatherings.
If you don’t want to put the cherries on top, you can toss them into the mix. This also makes a beautiful Christmas side dish or dessert with the red cherries and green pudding mixture!
How To Make Pistachio Salad
With only 4 ingredients, Pistachio Fluff Salad is as easy to make as you’d expect.
In a large bowl, combine your two boxes of instant pistachio pudding mix with your can of crushed pineapple. Do not drain the pineapple. Mix this together with a wooden spoon until the pudding mix is blended with the juice from the pineapple.
Add in the Cool Whip and mini marshmallows.
If you want to add in some chopped walnuts or pecans (like in a Watergate salad), go ahead and do so now.
Cover the Pistachio Fluff Salad and refrigerate 4 hours, or overnight. Serve with maraschino cherries as a garnish. Or, if desired, add the cherries into the fluff right before serving. ENJOY.
So, tell me, have you eaten pistachio salad before? Do you love it as much as I do?
Looking to use pudding mix in more recipes? Adding a box of pudding to cookies creates the most amazing, soft and chewy, Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies.
More Salad and Sides
- Frozen Cranberry Salad
- Taffy Apple Salad
- Shrimp Pasta Salad
- Chicken Salad Recipe
- Cucumber Salad
- Roasted Corn Salad
- Egg Salad
- Potato Salad
- Pretzel Salad
Pistachio Fluff Salad
Easy, 4 ingredient, Pistachio Fluff Salad recipe! Best served with friends and family, makes a great potluck dish!
Ingredients
- 2 boxes (3.4 ounce each) JELL-O Instant Pistachio pudding mix
- 1 can (20 ounce) crushed pineapple
- 16 ounce Cool Whip, thawed
- 1 bag (10 ounce) mini marshmallows
- maraschino cherries, for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine pudding mix with crushed pineapple. Mix with a wooden spoon until pudding mix is blended with pineapple liquids.
- Add in Cool Whip and mini marshmallows. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours, or overnight. Serve with maraschino cherries as a garnish. Or, if desired, add cherries to fluff right before serving. ENJOY.
Notes
- Swap out the cool whip for our homemade stabilized whipped cream instead.
- Store salad in refrigerator for up to 3 days for best results.
- See blog post for more recipe tips and tricks.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 142Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 23mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 0gSugar: 12gProtein: 1g
*Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.
Easy, 4 ingredient Pistachio Fluff Salad, also known simply as Pistachio Salad! Best served with friends and family, this recipe makes a great potluck dish!
I love this just the way it is so festive and pretty for the holiday
Omg… too much fluff, not enough pistachio. I tried making this and it’s almost purely marshmallows. Yes, I followed the recipe. It says “1 bag of mini marshmallows.” Guess what I put in? 1 bag of mini marshmallows!
Must you use marshmallows? What could be a substitute?
I am looking for the simple jello salad that starts w/ crushed pineapple (w/juice?), a box of jello and ends with a container of kool whip. Does it also contain cottage cheese?
Cream cheese
Velma, years ago I got this recipe at Weight Watchers. We didn’t use marshmallows or cherries. Just used cottage cheese (according to your like) and way less Cool Whip. I used the small curd so the kids didn’t see it & never knew it had cottage cheese.
You can also process the cottage cheese in a food processor. It becomes a beautiful creamy texture. It also whips to 3 or 4 times the volume. It’s amazing!
Marshmallows not a must, you may have to drain some liquid from pineapple, though. I always make without marshmallow and add can of fruit cocktail
I use cottage cheese
I added crushed pecans. So GOOD!
Do u make the pistachio pudding before you put in the other ingredients. IM CONFUSED..
Nope, follow directly as written.
What is a serving size
I also have grandchildren with nuts and other allergies . I used Vanilla Pudding and it came out delicious.
Yes. I’ve tried it with Lemon and Banana. Both were just as good as using the original.
I have made this for years but now I have grandchildren with nut allergies. Has anyone tried this with a different flavor pudding?
Just made using instant banana pudding. Husband loved it.
I don’t like pistachios. Pineapples are good. I used coconut pudding.