Grandma’s easy ambrosia salad is a creamy fruit salad filled with coconut, pineapple, mandarin oranges, marshmallows and more. This family favorite is my go-to easy fruit salad recipes!
If your family loves nostalgic salads that can also be a side dish or dessert, other favorites include watergate salad, cranberry salad and strawberry pretzel salad!
Table of Contents
Grandma’s Ambrosia Salad
Easy ambrosia salad is a classic dessert like pineapple upside down cake that’s perfect for any holiday gathering! It’s a sweet and creamy salad made with pineapple, mandarin oranges, shredded coconut, mini marshmallows, and whipped cream cheese.
This ambrosia salad is a family recipe that’s very dear to me. It came from my Grandma (along with my homemade caramels and divinity candy recipe) and now my kid’s love it too! It’s just as refreshing as my honey lime fruit salad or berry fruit salad.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to make. With only 6 ingredients and 5 minutes prep time, this salad is so simple!
- A holiday classic. It’s a family favorite that has been served for years at Easter, Christmas or Mother’s Day. It’s fresh light texture and pretty pastel color makes it great for spring and summer!
Ingredients
All you need are a few simple ingredients to make this delicious ambrosia salad recipe!
- Cream cheese: This is the base of the fruit salad that adds a creamy texture.
- Mandarin oranges: Drain the mandarin orange slices so they doesn’t water the salad down.
- Pineapple: I like to use a combination of pineapple tidbits and crushed pineapple (drain as much juice as you can).
- Mini marshmallows: Love the sweetness these add. Fruit-flavored marshmallows are fun and festive!
- Coconut: This could be omitted if you don’t love it, but I enjoy the flavor and texture it adds.
Substitutions and Variations
- For a lighter version, try mixing together 8 ounces Cool whip or whipped cream with 6 ounces Greek yogurt. I like to use vanilla yogurt.
- Add in more fruit like strawberries, blueberries, green grapes, peaches or bananas, depending on what’s in season.
- To add a crunch, mix in some nuts like chopped pecans.
- You can substitute cream cheese with sour cream if preferred. Sometimes I’ll do half and half.
- If you love cherries, feel free to fold in as many maraschino cherries as you’d like.
How to Make Ambrosia Salad
- Mix. Whip the cream cheese in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer.
- Add. Then fold in the drained fruit, marshmallows and coconut.
- Chill. Cover and let chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour prior to serving.
- Serve. Serve as a salad, side dish or dessert.
Recipe Tips
- Softened cream cheese. Be sure to soften your cream cheese so it whips easily without any lumps.
- Drain fruit. Drain your canned fruit really well otherwise the salad will be too watery and runny.
- Combine gently. I like to use a spatula to fold in the fruit and marshmallows so they stay intact and don’t break and get mushy.
- Don’t skip chilling the salad. Ambrosia salad is best made ahead so be patient while the flavors meld together for at least an hour or two.
Recipe FAQs
It is typically made with canned pineapple, mandarin oranges, coconut and marshmallows.
This salad originated in the American south and has since made its way across the midwest as a popular holiday or potluck food. You may even hear it called 5-cup salad, 5-cup fruit salad, Southern ambrosia, picnic salad or marshmallow salad to name a few.
The word ‘ambrosia’ is a reference to the food of the gods in Greek mythology and roughly translates to mean ‘nectar of the gods’. With it’s juicy fruits, it is no wonder the salad is called this!
One of the main questions I get about this recipe is if you can make it a day ahead. The answer is yes!
It needs to chill in the refrigerator before serving anyways, so that the salad forms and the flavors marinate together. If making a day ahead, I would just drain some of the liquid the next day and stir very well before serving. We love to make this ahead as a recipe to bring to a BBQ!
As long of you keep leftovers of this classic ambrosia in the fridge covered in an airtight container it should not go bad and will last around three days.
Other fruity recipes we love include salad with mandarin oranges and mandarin orange pretzel parfait! This fruit dip recipe is great to include on a fruit platter.
More Fruit Salad Recipes
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Ambrosia Salad Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese , softened
- 2 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges , drained
- 1 (20-ounce) can pineapple tid bits , drained
- 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple , drained
- 2-3 cups mini marshmallows
- 1 cup shredded coconut
Instructions
- Whip cream cheese. In a large bowl, whip 2 – 8 ounce packages softened cream cheese until light and fluffy with an electric mixer.
- Fold in fruit and coconut. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 2 – 11 ounce drained mandarin oranges, 1- 20 once can drained pineapple, 2-3 cups mini marshmallows, and 1 cup shredded coconut.
- Chill. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving.
Notes
- Can substitute 1 block cream cheese with sour cream if preferred.
- To add a crunch, mix in some chopped nuts.
- When in season add fresh peaches or berries.
- Add in some orange zest for an extra boost of fresh flavor.
- If you love cherries, feel free to fold in some maraschino cherries.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Desserts, Fruit Desserts, Fruit Salad, No-Bake, Salads, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Oh this was delicious! Super easy to make and everyone at the party (that I took it to) raved about it!
Love this fruit salad! So easy to make and tastes amazing.
Wow, even my picky son loved this! I was shocked, he asked for seconds! We grew up eating this all the time.
Wow, even my picky son loved this! I was shocked, he asked for seconds!
This was aa staple in my family even before I was born (1969). My grandma would make this for Thanksgiving (used the white mini marshmallows) and Christmas (used colored mini marshmallows to represent the xmas lights). I still make this today. My grandma would either use cream cheese only but sometimes she used both creamcheese and cool whip (she wasn’t a fan but the kids were!). Everything else is spot on. This waa the recipe. It was the one thing I looked forward to. Even over pie! Lol. Thank you for this one. My gramms’s gone but not her love of cooking and specially this simple but beloved recipe. 💜
This recipe brings lots of memories to me as well. I’m so glad to hear it does for you!
Yummy!! This is my kind of fruit salad! :)
This recipe is a big time favorite of ours, thank you!
I forgot to add my rating. Definitely five stars!
So yummy! I took this to a Christmas party, and was told it was the best out of all of them there. This definitely will be my go-to recipe when I need to make ambrosia salad!
Loved this ambrosia salad
Love this recipe and salad!!!!!
What wouldn’t estimate the serving size to be for the given measurements? Should recipe be doubled for a pot luck setting?
Thanks for sharing.. looking forward to making!
Hi Lorena! It should serve 8-10 people!
Tried this earlier but it didn’t look as good as yours. Anyways, it tastes really great.
I always just throw a few marshmallows and coconut on the top for presentation! I’m glad you tried it! :)
Almost like yogurt, looks delicious!
Loved this with added peaches
Agree!!! We luke ours with chopped mango too.
Mmmm that sounds delicious! I’m going to have to give that a try next time!
My oldest daughter is allergic to pineapple so we have to add different fruit.
Do you drain the cans of fruit? It doesn’t appear as though you do. Thank you!
You can drain all the cans of fruit! Also, if you want to add a little bit of pineapple juice to the cream cheese, it will make it a little more smooth!