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5 Cup Salad

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5 Cup Salad is the easiest, fluffiest throwback dessert to bring to your next potluck? This delicious side dish is also known as Ambrosia Salad if you’re feeling fancy. This retro classic is sweet, creamy, and packed with fruity goodness, all with just five (or six) simple ingredients.

Whether you’re heading to a holiday dinner, family reunion, or just craving a nostalgic treat, this crowd-pleaser is always a hit (and always the first bowl to be scraped clean).

5 Cup Salad

🔍 WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT

Once you mix it all together – the sour cream gets infused with the fruit juices and is so sweet and delish! The best part of this is if you don’t like one thing – just eliminate it and use something else!

It’s also really fun and colorful – and it has a double bonus – first is it usually gets completely eaten so you don’t come home with leftovers, second bonus – you can hope people don’t finish it so you CAN have leftovers cuz it’s so awesome!!!

5 Cup Salad ingredients

What’s in 5-Cup Fruit Salad

Well here’s the funny part – mine is actually 6 cups! We always made it with six ingredients but called it five cup salad. From my research, the cherries are not an original ingredient – but they’re so good!!! Here’s what you’ll need (and yes – 1 cup of each):

  • Maraschino Cherries – you can use kitchen shears or a paring knife to cut them in half
  • Pineapple – tidbits are great for this recipe because they’re about the same size as the other ingredients but you can also use pineapple chunks
  • Mandarin Oranges – the jarred kind are a little bigger than the canned
  • Mini Marshmallows – for fun, you can use the multi-colored ones!
  • Coconut – you love it or hate it – I’m in the ❤️ column! Be sure to use the sweetened
  • Sour Cream – yup – sounds so weird, right??? But it works! You can also use plain Greek yogurt in a pinch.
  • OPTIONAL: You can customize if you don’t like one of the ingredients – here are some variations:
    • Some folks use Cool Whip or whipped cream instead of sour cream!
    • Add chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts
    • Apples, peaches or green grapes are other fruits you could add
5 Cup Salad
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5 Cup Salad

5 Cup Salad

5 Cup Salad is the easiest, fluffiest throwback dessert to bring to your next potluck? This delicious side dish is also known as Ambrosia Salad if you’re feeling fancy. This retro classic is sweet, creamy, and packed with fruity goodness, all with just five (or six) simple ingredients.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Dessert, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 128 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup maraschino cherries cut up in half with scissors, drained
  • 1 cup pineapple tidbits drained
  • 1 cup mandarin oranges drained
  • 1 cup mini-marshmallows
  • 1 cup coconut
  • 1 cup sour cream

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, add pineapple, orange and cherries and stir
    1 cup maraschino cherries, 1 cup pineapple tidbits, 1 cup mandarin oranges
  • Add in the marshmallows & coconut and stir
    1 cup mini-marshmallows, 1 cup coconut
  • Add in sour cream and stir lightly with a spatula
    1 cup sour cream
  • Refrigerate for a couple hours and serve

Notes

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
 
**We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cupCalories: 128kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 1gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 12mgPotassium: 103mgFiber: 2gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 249IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 40mgIron: 0.3mg
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One Comment

  1. Ha! This recipe reminds me of the only dish I would sneak food from my room mate in Calgary. Except her recipe included coloured marshmallows and cottage cheese instead of sour cream. SOOOO yummy.

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