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!
My grandma always made this as a cold side dish with any dinner (holiday or not). It’s also delicious with fruity marshmallows and walnuts too.
This pistachio salad recipe was originally published in May 2015. The recipe notes were updated in February 2015.
Aimee’s Notes
- Taste and Texture– sweet pistachio flavor in a creamy, light pudding fluff.
- Make Ahead– Make this the night before and give it a stir before serving.
- Ingredient Swap– swap out the mini marshmallows for the fruity flavored version.
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.
Pistachio Fluff Salad is 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!!
Featured Review⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“It’s a awesome a dessert. If you like pistachio pudding you’ll love this pistachio dessert. It’s delicious. It’s a great choice for a party.” -Roxy
Pistachio Salad 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). Fresh pineapple is not the same here.
- 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!
More Pudding Based Recipes
- Love easy desserts? My Ambrosia Salad could easily be a side dish too. Or try my cranberry fluff salad for a frozen side dish at any holiday table!
- Change things up and try my lemon fluff next! Perfect for spring!
- 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.
- Be sure to add my Grandma’s fruit salad with Cool Whip to your menu or potluck asap.
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Pistachio Fluff Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 boxes JELL-O Instant Pistachio pudding mix 3.4 ounce each
- 1 can crushed pineapple 20 ounce
- 16 ounce Cool Whip thawed
- 1 bag mini marshmallows 10 ounce
- 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 tips.
Video
Nutrition
More Side Dishes
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!
Fantastic recipe. I made it for a picnic and added chopped maraschino cherries, I even changed some minds about how good Watergate salad can be. Family begged me to make it again so this recipe is definitely a keeper.
Total comfort salad! Wonderful- reminds me of my mom!
Beautiful spring salad add chopped pecans… yummy
Love this my mother in law always had it I was,wondering can you 1/2 the recipe
Brenda,
I use1box of pudding, small 8oz crushed pineapple and a small cool whip. Works for me.
Mary
The first time I had this was at my in laws for Thanksgiving. My mother in law added pecans to all the other ingredients you had. This is so good!😊 I could eat this every day and not get tired of it!
Oh wow, this is the first time I read the recipe. I always make the pudding first and after it’s set then I add the pineapple and whipped cream and marshmallows. Its always been a hit but now I’ll have to try it like this!
This was is so much easier 🙂
I add coconut to mine and it’s really great!
My marshmallows become hard before I use them….any way to soften and still use?
I love this salad!!
I prefer fresh marshmallows.
Been making this for some 30 plus years. I only put in about 2 cups of marshmallows and I drain some of the juices out of the pineapple. I usually add another 8 oz drained pineapple tidbits. Sometimes I add extra nuts with whatever I have on hand. You can easily adjust the ingredients to your liking
Never in a million years would I have thought to combine pistachio pudding and pineapple. I made my first fluff desert about two weeks ago and was scouring the internet for other fluff deserts to try. I’m so glad I landed on this one. I halved the recipe because there is only two of us, but this is most definitely going in my “bring to potlucks” folder on Pinterest.
I have made pistachio salad many times with the same recipe except using only one box of pistachio pudding. Always delicious! Can you explain the difference in using two boxes of pudding? Thank you!
Yes, people couldn’t get the 8oz container of crushed pineapple! So they doubled every thing else. I just measure out 8 oz and use 1 box.
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.
Can u use without pineapple
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!
Yes Velma it is cottage cheese. I usually use lime jello with pineapple, or I’ve also used strawberry jello with drained fruit cocktail and I’ve used orange jello with drained mandarin oranges. And then add your container of cottage cheese and cool whip. It is so good!!!!!
Yes. You delete the marshmallows and add cottage cheese.
I love all things jello! Of late, some people have chosen to look down on jello, but they don’t realize it’s aristocratic legacy in that only the wealthy could afford gelatin when it was first used.
It is wonderful as a palate cleanser during the meal, and a light, fun dessert.
Thank you for the recipe!
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.
Can you use sugar free pudding
Use it all the time!
I love this and most people will – but I must be allergic to the nuts or maybe it’s too acidic. The inside of my mouth burns after a few bites. Wish I could eat the whole bowl though! It’s delicious.
My husband gets reactions like that to any fruit like bananas oranges kiwi grapefruit and pineapple