Cool Whip Fruit Salad Recipe
Creamy Fruit Salad with Cool Whip is a side dish delight. Fresh and canned fruit, pudding, and Cool Whip (or whipped cream) combine to create Grandma's favorite fruit salad recipe.
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 can 15 ounce, mandarin oranges, do not drain
- 3 ounce package Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
- 2 bananas, sliced
- 1 cup sliced (or diced) fresh strawberries
- 2 cans (15 ounce each) fruit cocktail, drained
- 8 ounce Cool Whip, thawed
Instructions
- In a small bowl, drain mandarin oranges, saving the juice. Add the package of vanilla pudding mix to the mandarin orange juice and whisk together. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- In a bowl, combine the mandarin oranges, sliced bananas, diced (or sliced) strawberries, and two cans of drained fruit cocktail.
- Add the cold pudding mixture to the fruit, and fold gently until combined. Finally, fold in the Cool Whip.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- Be sure to drain all the fruit well, extra juices make a difference.
- Puree 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and fold it into the fruit salad for protein and texture.
- Want a crunch? Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or slivered almonds.
- Swap the fruit- make this your own with your favorite fruits. Today's version is my grandma's favorite, but using fresh pineapple, kiwi, berries, and mango instead of the canned fruit.
- Make ahead- you can prep the ingredients separately the night before, but this dessert salad is best served fresh.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The Cool Whip may get a little weepy, but it will still taste wonderful.