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This Ambrosia Salad recipe is an old family favorite. Sweet and refreshing, this side dish (or dessert) needs just a handful of ingredients.
What is Ambrosia Salad?
Ambrosia means ‘food of the gods’. This version is our family favorite. While it’s called “salad,” ambrosia salad is more dessert-like and is often served as a side dish for Christmas, Easter dinner, or Thanksgiving. This version has pineapple, coconut, mandarin oranges, and mini marshmallows in a creamy base.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Skill level: So easy, also called 5 cup salad, it needs just five ingredients and 5 minutes of prep.
- Swaps: Swap sour cream for Greek yogurt or change up the fruit to your liking.
- Serving suggestions: It’s potluck perfect since it’s best made ahead of time.
Ingredient Tips for Ambrosia Salad
- Yogurt/Sour Cream – Our family has always used sour cream which is sweetened by the marshmallows. You can replace it with plain or vanilla Greek yogurt or ½ with whipped topping (such as Cool Whip).
- Marshmallows – Use miniature marshmallows (fruit-flavored or plain). They add sweetness to the base, and the texture will soften as they sit.
- Fruit – I use coconut shreds, canned mandarin oranges, and pineapple chunks, as my grandma always made it.
Variations
While this recipe is delicious exactly as written, you can change it up to your liking.
- Chopped maraschino cherries
- Chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans for crunch
- Fresh bananas, grapes, kiwi, or strawberries.
- Swap pineapple for peaches
Tips for Ambrosia Salad
- Drain the canned fruit well so the dish isn’t watery.
- Gently fold in the mandarin oranges last, as they can be fragile and break apart.
- Be sure to make this salad ahead of time to blend the flavors and soften the marshmallows.
More Dessert Salads
Did your family love this Ambrosia Salad? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Easy Ambrosia Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream or plain or vanilla yogurt
- 1 cup miniature marshmallows fruit flavored or white
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
- 1 cup pineapple tidbits well drained
- 1 cup mandarin oranges well drained
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add sour cream, marshmallows, coconut, and pineapple tidbits. Stir until combined.
- Gently fold in mandarin oranges.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Serve chilled.
Video
Notes
- Make ahead to allow the flavors to blend and to soften the marshmallows.
- Be sure to drain all fruit well to prevent the dish from being watery.
- Mandarin oranges are fragile and break easily, so gently fold them in last
- Greek, plain, or vanilla yogurt can serve as the base. I prefer sour cream which is sweetened by the coconut and marshmallows.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Hi Holly, I was happy to see your recipe for Ambrosia Salad is the same way I learned to do it
many years ago. It is absolutely delicious and refreshing. Love your recipes, thank you for
sharing them with us.
I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes Maria!
I just love all the recipes, it inspires me to cook more
This made my day! I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes Mary and am honored it is inspiring you to cook more!
hi there i dont really care for coconut so what should i substitute it with and sour cream? in ambrosa salad any other substitutes besides sour cream?
You can replace it with 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans. Sour cream can be replaced with yogurt.
Thanks for this suggestion for a coconut substitute. I have a family member who refuses to eat it, so I also wondered what to sub. He loves pecans, so I know he will love this. I always check your cooking blog first when searching for recipes! I know I can trust yours!!!!!
I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes Beverly!
Great version of this delicious salad. My mom, in the good days, made it with diced celery, diced apples and grapes. Thanks for the memories ..I’m making your version for dinner, my grandkids will like this one for sure.
I’m heading to a family reunion and want to make this the day before. If I add the marshmallows the day before will they become too mushy or should I wait and add them the next morning?
Hi Cassy, We find it helps the marshmallows soften and sweeten the recipe but they don’t get mushy.
As a child in the 1960s this was a family staple and we called it Heavenly hash. I didn’t know that Ambrosia was the same thing. Thank you for bringing back cherished family memories of my mom, aunties and grandma
I actually use a combination of sour cream and cool whip because it adds a little sweetness to it that I like. Everyone has their way of making it but I think we can agree that Ambrosia is delicious!!! One of my favorite warm weather desserts.
I was told this was so hard to make.I just tried this today.So my 21 yr old son.When he heard a reference to it on a movie.Decided to try to keep his spirits up.His reaction was priceless.He was smiling and saying it was so good.That he could eat it everyday.Thanks a million this will be my permanent recipe for it.It was beyond easy to make.I did add two tablespoons of cool whip.Just to see what would happen.I happened to have it in my freezer.Just a little tweak of my own.
This is the same recipe I’ve been using since 1974 and it’s always delicious. Back then it was called “Five-Cup Salad”. Love it!
The perfect ambrosia salad, right to the point, no fuss and packed with goodness (although I do split the sour cream in 1/2 with 1/2 vanilla yogurt). Super easy recipe, I make it frequently as I’m not paying $2 per gram at the supermarket…now I can eat as much as I want without breaking the bank! Much thanks!
Oooh, great idea on the yogurt Marlene! So happy to hear how much you love this salad!
I needed a quick dessert to bring to Easter Dinner and found this recipe. Ive never made it myself so I made it per the instructions but added some Cool Whip to the mix. I only had about 3 hours to go so I put it in the freezer. It was a huge hit at dinner! Thank you so much!
I do so love this recipe! I added walnuts and it was so delicious!! Thank you for posting it.
Sour cream? No use vanilla yogurt and cool whip. Also, please remind people it takes 24 hours to fully prepare so my family calls it 24 hour salad. Also you do NOT drain the pineapple! Please don’t post incorrect recipe information.
This is correct recipe information and exactly how my family has made it for the past 40 years. We always drain the pineapple.
Dude, there are SO MANY different recipes for every dish. There is no need to be rude and condescending. Their recipe worked just fine for me.
Totally agree with you Sam B! I don’t understand people who criticize recipes because they differ from what they’re used to. My M-I-L makes it exactly as the Spend with Pennies version. Sheesh, people need to remember courtesy and politeness when interacting online! Love to all!
Diane! For the love of all things, if you are making ambrosia with yogurt, you are not making ambrosia! You are making yogurt slop! I’m sure it’s delicious but don’t come on here acting like you invented ambrosia. SOUR. CREAM. It’s the only way.
And duh, like others have said, there’s more than one way to make this, just like every other recipe on the planet.
Also, you’re rude.
Just because it’s not your recipe doesn’t make it wrong. Most old fashioned recipes use sour cream.
There’s more than one way to skin a cat and a million different ways to make ambrosia/fruit salad. We usually add whipped cream, banana and walnuts.
Never, never have I EVER seen this kind of fruit salad NOT draining the pineapple. We could all attack you on that and tell you how disgusting THAT is, a soupy gross mess that is no longer fruit salad….but instead, I will say this: if that’s the way it works for you, fine. Good for you! This is the way it works for most of us, and if it doesn’t, I’m sure everyone has their own variations. NO need to be rude. Happy Holidays!
How very rude you are. This is her recipe and, quite frankly, is delicious! If you think your recipe is better, why don’t you start your your own blog instead of being such a bully!
Diane, how very rude you are. I made this recipe as presented and it was delicious. Get you own Blog and post your recipe and see what happens. I personally would not try it.
hey Diane,
if you don’t like someone’s recipe, then click away. how do you think you can tell someone what to do and what to post? and tell them they are doing it incorrectly. That’s really rude.
Delicious. I added the maraschino cherries. Then used it at Christmas. What a hit ! Now on vacation and again in a couple of months I’ll make it at Christmas.
Can you use cool whip instead of sour cream?
We make the recipe with sour cream. Using cool whip would work, but the taste will be completely different. I’m sure it would be delicious though!
Is coconut in this recipes sweetened or unsweetened?
Thank you
Both will work in this recipe Milka. I usually use sweetened because that’s what I have on hand most often, but have made with both and it’s delicious!
I used sweetened in mine and everyone loved it.
Highest rating ever!!! Delicious
My momma used to make this I loved it so much and could find a recipe for a while thank you so much
Added a bit of the pineapple juice to sweeten it a little bit for my kiddos and it was very enjoyable- also added some apple pieces. Loved the recipe will make again!
SO I can’t get my head around using sour cream in the Ambrosia Salad. Doesn’t it have a sour taste then? Or even the plain yogurt? what about using coconut greek yogurt? Or would that be too over powering sweet?
I know Jackie, it seems so strange! But it is not at all sour. The sour cream becomes sweeter but you can substitute yogurt or Greek yogurt if you prefer.