Ambrosia Salad Recipe

This ambrosia salad is a cold, creamy fruit salad of pineapple chunks, mandarin orange segments, maraschino cherries, mini marshmallows and coconut folded into sour cream and whipped topping. It takes 15 minutes to put together plus 1 hour in the fridge, and it makes 8 to 10 servings of a generous ½ cup each.

What decides whether it turns out thick or soupy is the draining. Let the canned fruit drip in a sieve and pat the cherries dry, and the dressing stays creamy and white instead of pink and runny.

What Is Ambrosia Salad?

Ambrosia is an old Southern fruit salad, the kind that turns up at Thanksgiving, Christmas and church potlucks. The oldest versions were little more than oranges, sugar and coconut. Marshmallows, canned pineapple, cherries and a creamy base came later, and that is the version most of us grew up with.

Is it a side dish or a dessert? Both. At a holiday dinner it often sits on the table with the turkey, and it works just as well in a small bowl after the meal.

Ambrosia Salad Ingredients and What Each One Adds

• Pineapple chunks, 1 cup: the tart, juicy base. Canned or fresh, drained if canned.
• Mandarin orange segments, 1 cup: soft, sweet citrus. Canned or fresh, drained if canned.
• Maraschino cherries, ½ cup, halved: the color, and a candy-like sweetness.
• Mini marshmallows, 1 cup: they soften in the fridge into soft, chewy pillows.
• Shredded sweetened coconut, ½ cup: optional, but it gives the salad its chew.
• Sour cream, ½ cup: a little tang so it does not taste like straight candy.
• Whipped topping or whipped cream, 1 cup: the light, airy coat.
• Chopped pecans or walnuts, ½ cup: optional, for crunch.

Canned or Fresh Fruit?

Both work. Canned pineapple and mandarins are the usual choice because they are soft, sweet and the same every time. Pick fruit packed in juice rather than heavy syrup if you can, and drain it well.

Fresh pineapple tastes brighter, but it has to be ripe, and it contains an enzyme called bromelain that slowly breaks down dairy. A fresh pineapple version is best eaten the same day. Fresh mandarins or clementines are fine too if you pull off the white pith; canned segments are just more tender.

Whipped Topping or Whipped Cream?

You can use 1 cup of either. Whipped topping, like Cool Whip, is stabilized, so it keeps its body for the full 2 days in the fridge and gives the salad that familiar soft, mousse-like coat. Real whipped cream tastes fresher and less sweet, but it starts to loosen after about a day. If you use it, whip it to firm peaks and make the salad the day you serve it.

The sour cream stays either way. Plain Greek yogurt can stand in for it, same amount, for a thicker, slightly sharper dressing. For more coconut flavor, swap the whipped topping for coconut whipped cream.

Folding It Together So It Stays Thick

Drain the Fruit Longer Than You Think

Tip the pineapple and mandarins into a sieve and let them drip for about 5 minutes, shaking once or twice. Halve the cherries and lay them cut side down on paper towels. Cherry juice is what streaks the salad pink, and wet fruit is the main reason a bowl of ambrosia turns soupy by the next day.

In a large bowl, fold the sour cream and whipped topping together with a spatula. Cut down through the middle, sweep along the bottom, turn the bowl, and stop when no white streaks of sour cream remain. Keep both cold. Whipped topping that sits on the counter goes soft and loses its air, so thaw it in the fridge.

Add the pineapple, mandarins, cherries and coconut, and fold just until everything is coated. Mandarin segments tear easily, so go gently. Then fold in the marshmallows and nuts.

Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. In that hour the marshmallows take up a little moisture and turn soft and plump, and the fruit flavors the cream. Spoon it into a serving bowl and add a few extra cherries on top.

How Far Ahead to Make It for Thanksgiving

Ambrosia is at its best the day it is mixed, after that first hour in the fridge. For a holiday, this is the timing I would use:

• The day before: drain the fruit, halve and dry the cherries, chop the nuts. Keep the fruit covered in the fridge and the nuts in a jar.
• The morning of: fold the base, fruit, coconut, marshmallows and nuts together, cover and chill.
• Want crunchy nuts? Hold them back and scatter them on top just before serving. Mixed in hours ahead, they soften.

On a buffet, keep the bowl cold. Set it inside a larger bowl of ice, or spoon the salad into small cups and keep them in the fridge until people sit down.

It is a cool, fresh counterpoint to the heavier things on a fall table, like pecan pie, caramel apples or a warm pear cream cheese crisp. If you like these old-fashioned fruit salads, cranberry salad and pear salad belong in the same family.

Leftovers, and Fixing a Watery Bowl

Leftovers keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days. The marshmallows keep softening and slowly melt into the dressing, and the fruit gives off juice, so day two is looser and sweeter. Do not freeze it. The fruit turns mushy and the dressing separates as it thaws.

If the bowl has gone watery, spoon off the liquid pooled at the bottom and fold in a few spoonfuls of fresh whipped topping. It firms right back up.

Ambrosia Questions From the Holiday Table

Can I make ambrosia salad the night before?

Yes, with whipped topping rather than whipped cream. The marshmallows will be softer and the salad a little looser, so drain the fruit very well.

Can I leave out the coconut?

Yes. The coconut is optional in this recipe. The salad is a little less chewy without it, and nothing else needs to change.

Pin it to your Thanksgiving or potluck board so the timing plan is there when you need it. If you make your own twist, tell me in the comments.