by Holly
This grape salad recipe is a creamy fresh fruit salad with a crunchy topping. Fresh grapes are tossed in a simple sweetened cream cheese mixture and topped with crushed pecans.
This dish is potluck perfect as it’s best made ahead of time and can be served as a side dish or even as a dessert recipe.
Creamy Grape Salad
- Six ingredients and three steps? Yes, please! Grape salad is ready in one bowl in less than 10 minutes!
- Grown-ups and kids alike love this sweet, crunchy, fruit-based salad!
- Need a sugar-free version? Prepare grape salad with Swerve brown sugar or a sweetener of your choices and sugar-free whipped topping.
- Make grape salad in advance and simply give it a stir before serving. Unlike green leafy salads, this salad won’t wilt!
Ingredients in Grape Salad
GRAPES Choose seedless red grapes or green grapes (I use both if I can find them). We prefer smaller grapes for this recipe, if your grapes are really large they can be cut in half. They should be firm and plump and smell sweet.
DRESSING A package of full fat cream cheese gives the “dressing” a better texture and it doesn’t get watery. Brown sugar is used for sweetness. We stir in some whipped topping to lighten up the texture of the dressing. Whipped cream works well too.
For a less sweet salad, the whipped topping or whipped cream can be replaced with either Greek yogurt or sour cream.
TOPPING Finely chopped pecans (and a sprinkle of brown sugar) add a nutty sweet crunch to grape salad. Swap them out for Walnuts (or any kind of nuts you have) if you’d prefer.
VARIATIONS: If preferred, make this grape salad with marshmallow creme or even vanilla yogurt with a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar mixed in! Swap out the vanilla extra for another flavor of extract (maple or rum are great choices). Add in some chopped candy bars like Snickers if you’d like.
How To Make Grape Salad
This Grape Salad is as easy as can be!
- Mix cream cheese until fluffy. Stir in whipped topping, brown sugar, and vanilla per the recipe below.
- Toss with grapes and refrigerate.
- Sprinkle with the topping before serving.
Tips for Grape Salad
- Ensure the grapes are seedless.
- If the grapes are very large (or if you will be serving kids) I would suggest cutting the grapes in half lengthwise.
- Ensure cream cheese is room temperature so it mixes smooth and fluffy.
- Mix the topping with an electric mixer for best results.
- Toast the pecans in a dry non-stick pan until golden and fragrant. This intensifies their flavor and makes them extra crunchy!
How Long Does Grape Salad Last?
Grape salad tastes best when it’s chilled, so keep it in the fridge until ready to serve. If using whipped topping or yogurt, then it will keep up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
If using real whipped cream, either from a can or homemade, plan to serve it the same day. Whipped cream loses its fluffiness quite quickly after it is mixed with fruit, and if it lingers too long in the refrigerator, it will turn soupy.
More Dessert Salad Recipes
- Ambrosia Salad – perfect side dish for the holidays
- Cherry Fluff Salad – so fresh & flavorful
- Waldorf Salad – a crowd favorite
- Watergate Salad – creamy and delicious
- Easy Fresh Fruit Salad – snack, side dish, or dessert
Did everyone love this Grape Salad? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Creamy Grape Salad Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole seedless grapes green or purple
- ½ cup pecans chopped
Dressing
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon maple extract
- 1 cup whipped topping such as cool whip
Follow Spend with Pennies on Pinterest
Instructions
- Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer on medium until fluffy. Mix in whipped topping.
- Add grapes to the cream cheese mixture and stir to combine.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Top with pecans and additional brown sugar if desired.
Recipe Notes
- Ensure the grapes are seedless.
- If the grapes are very large (or if you will be serving kids) I would suggest cutting the grapes in half lengthwise.
- Ensure cream cheese is room temperature so it mixes smooth and fluffy.
- Mix the topping with an electric mixer for best results.
- Toast the pecans in a dry non-stick pan until golden and fragrant. This intensifies their flavor and makes them extra crunchy!
- This recipe can be doubled.
Nutrition Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
This recipe is just great as is. Have made this a couple of times and was a huge hit. I just forgot to comment. Will be making this forever. Thank you!
Just about all of these recipes sound too good!
Thank you Connie! Happy Cooking!
This is my favorite fruit salad ever. I took it to a potluck class reunion and it was a huge hit. You really must try it with the pitted cherries as it adds additional flavor to the salad. I can’t say enough about how wonderful it is.
I can’t wait to try it with cherries!
nice recipe! looks very delicious
I’m a wine lover. I think I want to try your recipe!
thanks for sharing!
Thank you Glorya!
A tip for cutting the grapes. Take a plastic container lid, place grapes on it in a single layer, top with another plastic container lid. With your hand holding the top lid down gently, use a serated knife to cut the grapes in half. This also works for cutting cherry tomatoes.
Thank you for sharing your tip Heather!
Been making this for years & never cut the grapes. Leave them whole so juices don’t water down the creamy mixture. Lasts longer in the frig, too!
I would think that kids would love this sweet grape salad so I would definitely cut the grapes in half to prevent possibility of choking.
Hi Holly; Here are some variables that would work with your fruit salad.
Fruit Salad
Dressing #1
With electric beaters whip 12 oz. heavy whipping cream too soft peaks with 1 tsp. coconut extract and 2 Tbsp. sugar. Then add a small pkg. (3 1/2 oz.) of cream cheese cubed. About 1/2 or a little more of a 22 oz. container of Real Cream of Coconut, and about 1/2 of a 14 oz. pkg. of shredded Coconut. Continue to mix with beaters until well blended. This should make about 1 quart of dressing. Gently mix to taste into fruit of choice. If you haven’t used Real Cream of Coconut before you will find it next to the wine in the drink mix section.
Dressing #2
Mix a 6 oz. pkg. of COOK & SERVE pudding mix with the juice from a 20 oz. can of Pineapple Tid Bits, cook until thickened. Then gently blend with fruit of choice. You can use any flavor of COOK & SERVE pudding to go with your fruit but if in doubt use Vanilla. I like Butter Scotch.
Now the fruit
You can use just about any fresh or well drained canned fruit cut to bite size. Grapes are always good. Core your apples but don’t peal. Cantaloupe and Honey Dew are exceptionally good and of course all kinds of berries. Bananas are very good but begin to oxidize if held more than two days. Chopped Walnuts or Pecans are also a good choice.
You will need about 1 cup of fruit per serving and the Dressings as listed will dress about 6 to 8 servings (Depending on who you are feeding, Some of us eat more than we should). The salads are best if allowed to rest in fridge for a couple of hours before serving.
Both of these dressings sound delicious for fruit salad Billy! Thanks so much for sharing them and I am going to try your second dressing with butterscotch, that sounds really yummy!