This fruit cocktail salad is a dessert salad that takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and the pastel mini marshmallows make this the perfect salad for Easter. Only 3 Ingredients are required!
Do you like other salad dessert recipes like this? Check out my recipe for Oreo Fluff or Fudge Stiped Cookie Fruit Salad.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
Midwesterners like to serve these types of dessert salads during Holiday gatherings and this type of salad is probably something you'd see at a church potluck.
It’s not your typical healthy salad with lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes that is for sure. 😉
It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and you can make it the day ahead. Just keep it wrapped up tightly in a fridge with saran wrap.
Ingredients Needed
Fruit cocktail packed in water - A mixture of sweet and tart fruits like cherries, peaches, and pears. This comes in cans or small cups.
Cool Whip - I like to use this for a shortcut but you can always make your own whipped topping using heavy whipping cream
Pastel mini marshmallows or regular white colored marshmallows, I love the colors of these. You find these all year long in the grocery store.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make Fruit Cocktail Salad
Step 1: Drain the juice out of the canned fruit cocktail. Reserve ½ of the fruit cocktail for the top.
Step 2: Add fruit cocktail, mini marshmallows, and cool whip to a medium to large sized bowl.
Step 3: Stir or fold the cool whip together with the fruit and marshmallows until well combined.
Step 4: Serve the salad in a clear glass bowl and flatten the top out with a spatula. Add some extra marshmallows and the reserved fruit cocktail to the top of the salad. This lets people know what is in the salad.
Makes a total of 10 servings and I used a ½ cup for each serving.
Variations to Try
Usually, these type of dessert salads contain Cool Whip or Whipped Topping, canned fruit, and instant pudding mix. The ingredients are very interchangeable.
My favorite is Fudge Striped Cookie fruit salad because of the fudge striped cookies on top.
This cocktail salad is easy to make just like my Oreo Fluff recipe.
In the Fall you can make Pumpkin Fluff or Cranberry Fluff Salad.
Around Christmas time try Peppermint Oreo Fluff.
Recipe FAQs
You do not need to use a container of Cool Whip for this. When I worked at the hotel we would always make our own whipped cream for these dessert salads in a huge stand mixer.
Try adding some toasted coconut flakes, a can of pineapple, or mandarin oranges if you like.
Yes, just mix the salad a day ahead and store it in an airtight container or place saran wrap tightly over the bowl. It will last up to 3-5 days.
Sometimes there will be water on the bottom of the salad. This is from the juice from the fruit cocktail. Just stir it back up again with the other ingredients.
Other Dessert Salad Recipes
If you tried this Fruit Cocktail Salad Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Follow along on Tiktok @jennarecipediaries
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Fruit Cocktail Salad
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 10min
- Yield: 10 1x
Description
Fruit cocktail salad takes less than 5 minutes to prep and only has 3 ingredients!
Ingredients
- 2 15 oz cans of canned fruit cocktail packed in water
- 1 8 oz container of Cool Whip lite
- 1 cup of pastel mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Drain the juice out of the canned fruit cocktail. Reserve ¼ of the fruit cocktail for the top.
- Add fruit cocktail, mini marshmallows, and cool whip to a medium to large sized bowl.
- Stir or fold the cool whip together with the fruit and marshmallows until well combined.
- Serve the salad in a clear glass bowl and flatten the top out with a spatula. Add some extra marshmallows and the reserved fruit cocktail to the top of the salad. This lets people know what is in the salad.
- Makes a total of 10 servings and I used a ½ cup for each serving.
Notes
Instead of using Cool Whip make your own whipped topping with heavy whipping cream.Â
If there's any liquid at the bottom of the bowl just fold it in again with the other ingredients.Â
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stir
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 95
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 7mg
- Fat: 3g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 0g
Keywords: fruit cocktail salad
Jenna says
Thanks Linda!
Linda says
Very good, I have made this for many years.
★★★★★
Jenna says
yes just make sure to keep it covered
terri says
can I make this the day before serving it.
Sandy says
We make this in Florida using a pint of sour cream rather than the chemically phoney Cool Whip. The marshmallows sweeten up the sour cream and we add canned peaches, pears, canned pineapple and maraschino cherries.
★★★★★
Miranda says
Thank you for this it really helped me
★★★★
Jenna says
Thanks Jerri!
Jerri jones says
Easiest to make and was great the first time I made it
★★★★★
Jenna says
That's cause I didn't use it.