Ambrosia salad is creamy, fluffy, and loaded with sweet-tart fruit for the easiest holiday “salad.” With just five minutes of prep and the fridge doing the rest, it’s a no-fuss, make-ahead side that’s perfect for celebrations.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- What is Ambrosia Salad: A classic marshmallow fruit salad with pineapple, mandarins, coconut, and a creamy, chilled base.
- Flavor: Sweet and creamy with a lightly tangy base that balances the fruit and coconut.
- Skill Level: Also called 5 cup salad, this recipe is so easy to prepare. It needs just five ingredients and 5 minutes of prep.
- Serving Suggestions: Like frog eye salad and watergate salad, I love serving this as either a side dish or dessert for the holidays.
What Is in Ambrosia Salad?
- Sour Cream/Yogurt: Use sour cream for a classic flavor, or replace it with plain or vanilla Greek yogurt for a sweeter flavor.
- Marshmallows: Mini marshmallows add sweetness and fluff. For some extra color, use fruit-flavored marshmallows!
- Fruit: The classic mix is sweetened coconut, canned mandarin oranges, and pineapple. Drain fruit very well so the salad stays thick, not watery. For a fresh twist, add halved seedless grapes. For a festive look, stir in well-drained maraschino cherries.
- Optional Add-Ins: Chopped pecans or walnuts add crunch. For a lighter option, fold in 1 to 2 cups of whipped topping.
How to Make Ambrosia Salad
- Combine all ingredients (full recipe below), folding in the mandarins last.
- Chill for 4 hours or overnight before serving.
Chill Scoop Repeat
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freezing isn’t recommended. For best results, make it at least 4 hours ahead. Stir before serving, and if it loosens, fold in a spoonful of yogurt or sour cream to thicken.
Cozy Holiday Classics
Did your family love this Ambrosia Salad? Leave a comment and rating below!
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.
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Do not freeze.
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
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I love going through your recipes. this ambrosia is perfect and I always have the ingredients in my pantry. Going to make it again for family coming for a few days. your recipes will be on the menu. thank you for helping me round out my menu!
This made my day Karen! I am so grateful you are choosing my recipes for your special family meal.
I love to make this at Easter. It goes pairs so well with salty ham. The only substitution I make is fruit cocktail for pineapple.
I always add chopped pecans to mine. SUPER GOOD. You can adjust how many you use or the type of nut you use.
Tastes just like my grandma used to make back in the homeland. Hardest part of the recipe is finding Halal marshmallows.
I am so glad you enjoyed it.
absolutely delicious and a favorite of my family.
True ambrosia does not have whipped cream yogurt, Cool Whip none of that no marshmallows it is citrus preferably orange without any membrane fresh grated coconut, maraschino cherries, totally for aesthetics. It is only with the getting refrigerators and processed milk that people began adding whipped cream. It’s a grapefruit salad, but it’s not ambrosia.
I am sharing my family’s version of Ambrosia salad.
love it.
This is my grandchildren’s absolute favorite….so easy and they gobble it up! I have used your recipe many times!
A delightfully easy and mouth watering side or desert for any occasion.
If you can open a can, strain, mix ingredients and rfrigerate a few hours or overnight:
Add this to your repertoire of “Go-to’s”!
Loved this recipe, it sis not come out watery. Best one ever!!
yummy
My family loves this salad! It’s always on the table for Easter. The coloured marshmallows make it festive!
Hello how much cream cheese do you use for the salad?
Hi Jo Ann, this recipe uses sour cream for the creamy base, not cream cheese.
My family’s Ambrosia salad is very similar, but instead of sour cream or Greek yogurt we use full-fat Cool Whip. Makes it very fluffy. The base mixture ratio is: 1 part cottage cheese; 2 parts Cool Whip and 2 parts white marshmallows. I personally add a teaspoon or two of cherry-flavored powdered gelatin (Jello), to give it even more delicious flavor and a beautiful pink color. It dissolves well in the base. We use canned crushed pineapple really, really well drained, basically pressing all the excess liquid through a wire strainer, so it doesn’t add liquid to the salad, and of course the Mandarine oranges.
Fantastic! I did sour cream with frozen Cool Whip. I also added marachino cherries which turned everything pink.
Can’t wait to try this!
This is the same Ambrosia I grew up eating and have made many times myself. Just a heads up – always use the pastel colored marshmallows if you can. The flavor is just not quite the same with the plain white. Good without the coconut if you have non-coconut fans. Also, fantastic with sliced bananas added right before serving, although less nice if you have leftovers since the bananas don’t hold up well. I’ve never understood the cool whip versions – this is more than sweet enough with sour cream and a very different flavor. Really not a fan of cool whip though, so there’s that. I made this while living in Germany to a neighborhood potluck, and it confused my German neighbors because they emphatically thought it was a dessert, not a salad. So really, don’t be afraid of the sour cream!
I made this and added maraschino cherries( just before serving) and I also added 1/2 cup Cool Whip topping. It was delicious , this was our Easter dessert! In addition I also made your crock pot ham, and made the glaze in the recipe, can you say second helpings! Also your scalloped potatoes were a big hit with all the family , everyone went back for more. Thank you Holly for making easy to follow recipes that also taste delicious!!!
Thank you for the kind words Carol, I am so happy to hear all of the Easter recipes were a hit!
Interesting with the yogurt or sour cream.
Our Family always used “Cool Whip” BUT we also always added dry instant pudding (pistachio was always the favorite) to the mix and let that sit in fridge over night. I think also a cousin used to added dry jell-o to the mix for flavor and color.
The pistachio pudding and cool whip is how we make our Watergate salad! Also delicious; there are so many variations!
I love this! I was randomly craving this out of nowhere and I made it using half of the amount of ingredients since it was just for me. I couldn’t remember how my Nana made it (she passed away a couple months ago) so I used half sour cream and half homemade whipped cream since I had some heavy whipping cream left in the fridge. I probably added more coconut than most people would like but that’s my favorite part! Drained both cans of fruit and it was the perfect consistency. Took a “chef bite” before putting it in the fridge and it was already amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe, gave me some nostalgia and I’m sure my Nana would be proud!
Thank you so much for sharing Carrie! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe and am so happy to hear you felt it honored your Nana.
Thank you so much for replying back! I’m sure my Nana was smiling down from Heaven! I patiently waited and let it sit overnight in the fridge and maaaann, oh man was it delicious!! My coconut hating boyfriend sure missed out! I love your recipes and I have tried several so far since I stumbled across this site! Keep up the great work!