It seems very wrong to call anything containing several cups of marshmallows a salad, but history dictates that's exactly what this is. It's Marshmallow Salad with canned fruit; similar to ambrosia but served with the meal not as a dessert.
I know a salad made out of marshmallow and canned fruit seems like a joke but this mixture of mini marshmallows, shredded coconut, mandarin oranges, crushed pineapple, maraschino cherries and sour cream (not Cool Whip) is serious stuff on the holiday dinner table.
And one of those holidays will be here momentarily.
UNTIL THE 4 DAY EASTER WEEKEND
You'll note the addition of *sour cream* instead of Cool Whip which makes my recipe super classy.
It's kind of how I made Brussels sprouts classy (edible) by tossing them in dijon mustard and honey. After deep frying them.
For as long as I can remember, my family has served Marshmallow Salad at holiday dinners. Sometimes we'd call it Ambrosia, on occasion we'd refer to it it Sour Cream Salad. Truth is, we really never knew what to call it, other than an embarrassment.
We're not the fanciest people on earth, but we're fancy enough to know anything that includes marshmallows should at least be served as a dessert. We serve it as a side dish.
There it sits on the table, right beside the perfectly respectable green beans and mashed potatoes; a big bowl of marshmallows, fruit and coconut winking, "Here I am, in all my tacky glory. Caught ya lookin'!".
Table of Contents
Marshmallow Fruit Salad
If you change it up a bit and call it a fruit salad with marshmallows it sounds almost healthy.
Ingredients
- 10 oz. Can of Mandarin Oranges (drained very well)
- 14 oz. Can of Crushed Pineapple (drained very well)
Speaking of pineapples, I tested out the pulling apart a pineapple hack you can see the results here.
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- ⅓ cup Maraschino Cherries (cut in half)
- ¼ cup Sweetened Coconut
- 3 cups Mini Marshmallows (use the coloured ones for added trash)
If marshmallow salad was a dinner guest, she'd be the sparkly, hooker-with-a heart-of-gold that your Uncle Nick brings to Easter dinner every year. An embarrassing, loud, colourfully dressed dish that you can't help but love.
Plus it's sort of understood you don't talk about either one of them in public.
Steps
- Add all the ingredients to a bowl.
2. Then fold everything together. Cover it up and let set in fridge overnight.
Where did it originate?
Ambrosia (the inspiration for marshmallow salad) was first recorded in a recipe book from 1867 called the Dixie Cookery in the Southern United States. Here's the best part. You can STILL buy the Dixie Cookery cookbook.
I found a copy of the entire Dixie Cookery cookbook online through the Library of Congress. The second recipe in the book starts with "Boil a calf's head".f
I like marshmallow salad. Even though they may not admit it publicly, so does everyone else.
White or Coloured Marshmallows?
If you make marshmallow salad with white mini marshmallows it'll look a bit more like a trifle. It tastes a little different as well because the coloured mini marshmallows are actually fruit flavoured.
But making it white and putting it in a cup classes it up a bit.
Marshmallow Salad (also known as White Trash Salad)
Ingredients
- 1 10 oz can mandarin oranges drained very well
- 1 14 oz can crushed pineapple drained very well
- 1 cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup maraschino cherries cut in half
- ¼ cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 3 cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a bowl and fold together.
- Cover with plastic and let set in the fridge overnight.
Nutrition
If you're looking for another dish to horrify your guests with (until they try them) whip up these bacon wraps made from bacon, condensed milk, dijon, cheese and bread. You would NEVER think those ingredients would make up anything even close to delicious but they're a favourite of everyone who's tried them.
I'm not sure when it happened, but I've taken over the Marshmallow/Sour cream/Ambrosia Salad tradition. It is now my job to smuggle it out of the house under the cover of ageing Tupperware, to all of our holiday dinners. If the neighbours ask, I lie and tell them it's something a little more respectable than marshmallow salad. Like a 3 bean salad. Or a shrunken head.
The good news is, this dish now officially has a name in our house. One year it was dubbed White Trash Salad. The name stuck quickly like Crazy glue to a hard hat. Or sparkles to a stripper.
Here's to strippers, hookers, marshmallows and not caring what other people do or think. Here's to ... white trash salad.
→Follow me on Instagram where I often make a fool of myself←
Terry
I remember making this and serving it in the middle of a jello mold ring. Just to really class it up
Randy P
Yeppers - sour cream makes it a side dish, Cool Whip would make it dessert. On the White Trash scale I'll give the recipe 3 double-wide trailers and a six pack of PBR.
I salute the kind of bravery of spirit it takes to even publish it for the unknowing masses.
Karen
I'm a risk taker. ;) ~ karen!
Sue
Great comment 😉
Kimberly
Reference to recipe instructing “boil a calf’s head”’reminds me of an article saying when boxed fruit gelatin mix became available, people (folks with 19th century tastes) missed the “faint taste of calf’s foot” in gelatin desserts. Okay…. (Gelatin derived from boiled calf’s foot, “Step One” in making any gelatin-based dish or even fruity gelatin dessert at the time.) I guess the new gelatin, “Jell-O,” was too bland? Just didn’t have that tang. Lol.
Karen
I think it would take a lot of scrubbing to eliminate calf's head stink from a pot. Or kitchen, lol. ~ karen!
Kay
So goat head soup is out of the question?
;)
Heidi
Candy salad is our name for it too.
We decorate it with the cherries cut up and arranged like flowers and maybe a crushed candy cane border.
Yes it is a salad and proud to see it on our table.
I think we must all be related or at least distant cousins. I have never met any one else that has seen this before.
May Vandenberg
Dear, dear Karen, thank you so much for posting this recipe, here is my bittersweet comment. You posted this recipe on April 1, the 2 month anniversary of my daughter's passing. This may all sound kind of weird or bizarre, but it is sadly very true, it's the little things I guess. My daughter, Morganna Thomas, lived in Austin, TX, and passed away suddenly on February 1 this year. I saw your post and couldn't believe it. It brought back so many memories. My daughter loved this "salad". My mother made the version with canned fruit salad, added canned mandarin oranges, coconut flakes, mini marshmallows, and I think the dressing was sour cream and cool whip. We always had it at family picnics and Easter. I carried on the tradition when I married and had kids of my own, however, eventually I stopped making this salad. Even as an adult my daughter, when she was home for holidays, would ask why I no longer made this salad??? I would answer with, do you know what the ingredients are?! Nowadays, we are all so worried about eating only the healthiest foods, maybe there should be exceptions? It may sound silly, but there are lots of regrets I have regarding my daughter now she's gone, but you can add this to the list. As a dear friend of mine says, "it's okay if we end up in heaven with a little Crisco on our hips", well maybe we can add cool whip and marshmallow salad to that list! Thank you again for your post, it brought a smile to my lips and tears to my eyes.
Naaila
Love this comment! May she Rest In Peace ❤️
Sue Mcknight
Am just now reading our favorite gal Karen’s post about this salad, which, of course led me to your reply & comment of 2 years ago. It touched my heart…💞. The odd & bittersweet things that we come across unexpectedly that lead us down a path of remembering. I, too am a mother who’s lost a daughter…it’s just really tough. Sending blessings to you…
May Vandenberg
Dear Sue, how kind and sweet of you to take the time to send me a note. I honestly appreciate it. I am sure we will both never forget all “the little things” that will unexpectedly bring tears to our eyes. We’ve both lost a precious person who made us a “mom”. One of the saddest questions I get asked is “how many kids do you have?”. Well, I still always say 2, it’s just one happens to be in heaven. Kindest regards to you. May
Barb
Well ladies, have I got a West Virgina version for y'all! From a recipe passed down from my Grandma Loretta she called "Gooey", I still make it for myself, only on a smaller scale. Using one bag of large marshmallows, cut each one into 4 pieces into a large bowl (keep your shears wet...it keeps the marshmallows from sticking to the blades). Add 2 small cans (or 1 large...or more, if you want!) of fruit cocktail mix, juice and all. Add about 1/2 to 2/3 of 1 quart half and half and mix well. The mixture is supposed to have a juicy texture to it, just not runny. You'll need to add more of the half and half as it sits, as the marshmallows will soak up a lot of the juice and cream. And that's it! This dessert is so unbelievably yummy and fruity and creamy...and takes me right back into my Grandma's kitchen, mixing up a big bowl of Gooey! ❤
Karen
I like it just based on its name, lol .~ karen!
Sigrid Olsen
ok--this is commonly called ambrosia. However, I have served it OFTEN, and always get raves---as it is a nostalgia set piece that people secretly love. There is only one way to do this---you must toast that coconut rather toasty---even brown. Only add it in at the end (I put this together super fast because I chill everything before hand. I use white marshmallows. I use pinapple tidbits instead of chunks. Last year I gave a huge baby shower with the theme vintage 50s. Guess what: I served this, chicken salad---YOUR RECIPE!!!!---and 15 Bundt cakes. Let me say that it was a huge hit! Now that you posted this, I can finally thank you for the chicken salad recipe. I had abundant food and people were woofing everything down. The best part is that several "old ladies" requested I put up a plate for them to take home---I was tickled to do this.
beks
check out "strawberry pretzel salad " recipes. My grandmother served it as a side dish with what she dubbed as "hostess chicken" (white bread and chicken casserole?) they both taste like love.
Scout
This is a great side dish. Like candied yams, or carrots. Sweet and sour pork and glazed ham are main events. If you're not goin' to a party tho........use caution. Remember the gallon of yogurt not long ago? Remember the gallon of yogurt not long ago.
Elizabeth OConnor
My 19 year old daughter decided to host a BBQ for her friends and this was my contribution to the party 🤣. Must pass in the tradition to the next generation!
Ian
Yum. My grandma would make it with Orzo pasta and also the coolwhip version. And she peeled. Every. Single. Green. Grape. That was in it.
Carole
In my circle, we make something very similar and call it 5 Cup Salad or Angel Food, because it's so white. (Angel Food is kind of a play on ambrosia, which in Greek mythology was the food of the gods.) The "salad" contains one cup each of mandarin oranges, coconut, crushed pineapple, miniature marshmallows (white only) and sour cream. I try to push it as far towards healthy as I can and cut back a little on the sour cream (though the marshmallows soak it up like crazy), use fresh pineapple cut in tidbit-sized chunks and add sliced toasted almonds. It is actually a pretty amazing combo.
Jenna
We call it "6 cup salad". Always a big hit at potlucks, especially with the southern people who grew up on it. YUMMY stuff! If you live in Texas, you also add chopped pecans!
Mary W
My Mom always made this salad on holidays as a side and I'm 74 yo so it's been a real hit for many, many years. I guess we have all 'come out of the closet.' Her dessert was store bought angel food cake sliced into layers and spread with a mixture of Dream Whip, canned/drained Mandarin oranges and shredded, sweetened coconut. It looked beautiful and tasted sweet so it was perfect for a dessert on special occasions.
Eileen
I am intrigued.....what do you eat it with?
Kay
Spoon?
Sara Kelly
YAAZZZ! QUEEN! Thank you for reminding me about this one. Love it SO much! Totally gonna make this. It's not a midwestern potluck without it. In this case, I will just be sneaking bites of it every half hour while I work from home. You're the best!!!
Karen
LOL, glad you're so excited for it!! ~ karen!
Melissa
OMG! I seriously thought we were the only family that made that salad and also serve it as a side dish not a dessert. My grandma made it for every holiday and has passed it onto us grandchildren. Holiday meals would not be the same without it! And like your family, it's called something different every year but mostly it's called the Fruit Salad with Marshmallows. Thanks for sharing this story as it's made my day!
Bertie George
sweet stuff with meat stuff ... chutney salad! A runaway looked-forward-to hit at every shameless, gluttonous family feast around here.
Deborah
OMG I grew up with Marshmallow Salad at all family feasts on my mom's side! It was served in a crystal bowl. It is absolutely disgusting. And yet, somehow goes so well with turkey.... The sour cream is key to (attempt) to balance out the sickly sweet marshmallows. I think it must originate from some 1970s calendar recipe - how to make a 'salad' exclusively from your lazy susan. For many years, our family feasts also included an orange jello mould with grated carrots and celery - possibly originating from the same 1970s calendar....
Karen
Ah yes, the jello and carrot salad. We never had that, I mean, we had to maintain a certain amount of klass. ~ karen!
Gerry McAuley
I have been making this salad for years. I serve it at every family bar-b-q.
I'm looking forward to trying your version, I've never used maraschino cherries or sweetened coconut; only dessicated. I also use pineapple pieces not crushed.
Thanks for the recipe.
Karen
Good luck! ~ karen