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    Home » Salads

    Marshmallow Fruit Salad - The Dessert Salad

    March 27, 2024 by Karen 267 Comments

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    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. 

    Marshmallow Salad topped with coconut and maraschino cherries in a cut glass bowl.

    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
    • Where did it originate?
    • White or Coloured Marshmallows?
    • Marshmallow Salad (also known as White Trash Salad)

    Marshmallow Fruit Salad

    If you change it up a bit and call it a fruit salad with marshmallows it sounds almost healthy.

    Ingredients

    1. 10 oz. Can of Mandarin Oranges (drained very well)
    2. 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. 1 cup Sour Cream
    2. ⅓ cup Maraschino Cherries (cut in half)
    Sour cream in a measuring cup.
    Maraschino cherries in a measuring cup.
    1. ¼ cup Sweetened Coconut
    2. 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.

    Shredded coconut in a measuring cup.
    Colourful mini marshmallows in a measuring cup.

    Steps

    1. Add all the ingredients to a bowl.

    Would you like to save this stuff?

    We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.

    Maraschino cherries, shredded coconut, mini marshmallows, sour cream, crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges in a bowl ready to fold and become marshmallow salad.

    2. Then fold everything together.  Cover it up and let set in fridge overnight.

    Folding ingredients of marshmallow salad in an ironstone bowl.

    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.

    Original recipe for Ambrosia in 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.

    Marshmallow Salad topped with coconut and maraschino cherries in a cut glass bowl.

    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.

    Marshmallow salad in cocktail glasses.

    But making it white and putting it in a cup classes it up a bit.

    Marshmallow Salad (also known as White Trash Salad)

    This is in no way a salad. Not even close. 
    4.61 from 51 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert, Salad
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Servings: 15 people
    Calories: 97kcal
    Author: Karen

    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

    Calories: 97kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 7mg | Sodium: 24mg | Potassium: 26mg | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 95IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 0.1mg

    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←

    Marshmallow Fruit Salad  - The Dessert Salad

    More Salads

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    • Easy Beet Salad
    • Classic coleslaw in a black bowl on wood table.
      The Classic Coleslaw Recipe.

    Reader Interactions

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    1. JOANNE T LEWIS

      April 17, 2025 at 1:27 pm

      Thank you for this - I have already bought my ingredients! It reminds me of a salad my mom would make but it was with big tapioca and fruit cocktail - all those same flavors. I'm also going to try those bacon appetizers!

      Reply
      • JOANNE T LEWIS

        April 17, 2025 at 1:30 pm

        ...but never with sour cream! Can't wait to taste that.

        Reply
      • Karen

        April 17, 2025 at 5:47 pm

        I predict you will love them both. ~ karen!

        Reply
    2. Rhonda

      April 16, 2025 at 11:22 am

      Hi Karen,
      My sister in law gave me a similar recipe from an ad by Kraft in a “women’s magazine” the recipe was dressed up with a graham cracker crust in the bottom of a spring form pan followed by the marshmallow mixture and topped with the maraschino cherries.
      I’ve taken it to quite a few potlucks and it’s a lovely summer salad/dessert and I think I’ll take it as a salad to the family Easter gathering this weekend.
      Thanks for reminding me of it. Coloured marshmallows for the Easter table this time.

      Reply
      • Karen

        April 16, 2025 at 9:06 pm

        I just bought my mini marshmallows today! ~ karen

        Reply
    3. Babs

      April 16, 2025 at 10:42 am

      My two cents! Cannot stand maraschino cherries. Nasty, Nasty! Unsweetened coconut is much better than sweetened coconut. Takes the sugar down a notch. No mayo! Are you kidding, just sour cream. Marshmallows, delicious! Who doesn't like those? More sugar!!!!!! And how lovely it looks in those curvy shaped glasses. Fools the eye into thinking this is one gem of a salad but really dessert!

      Reply
      • Karen

        April 16, 2025 at 9:06 pm

        If I brought the sugar down even half a notch it would turn our Easter dinner into a live combat event. ~ karen!

        Reply
    4. Teddee Grace

      April 16, 2025 at 10:28 am

      You're right. Both of these are very tasty. All of our family dinners in rural northwest Missouri included salads such as this...there was another one that included red Jello, red hots, the red cinnamon candies, and cream cheese...and the first time I made those bacon roll-ups I almost threw up making them, but, boy, once they came out of the oven they were really good.

      Reply
      • Karen

        April 16, 2025 at 9:02 pm

        Yes, they don't seem appetizing at ALL. This is their charm. I can't say I've ever had jello with cinnamon hearts and any type of cheese let alone cream cheese. So I'm going off to Google that now. ~ karen!

        Reply
    5. Kathryn Vezerian

      April 16, 2025 at 12:33 am

      I have always been aware of this salad, but never have I tried it. On my to do list right now. You only go around once, and it sounds a lot better than boiled calves head.

      Reply
      • Karen

        April 16, 2025 at 1:22 am

        You are a woman of good taste Kathryn. ~ karen!

        Reply
    6. Randy P

      April 16, 2025 at 12:07 am

      Don't know why it comes to mind, but maybe a small amount of mayo with the sour cream?

      Reply
      • Karen

        April 16, 2025 at 1:23 am

        I agree. It can always be grosser. ~ karen!

        Reply
    7. RUTH MURPHY

      March 01, 2025 at 7:23 pm

      I too have made this salad for holidays. My mom called it confetti salad. Its simply delious.

      Reply
    8. Marlene

      March 29, 2024 at 8:38 pm

      I saw it being called “Honeymoon Salad”! I could never eat it. Just nope!! Happy Easter!!

      Reply
    9. Kimberly Ann Wendell

      March 28, 2024 at 4:02 pm

      I grew up having this at every Thanksgiving meal, though we called it "Heavenly Hash" (rhymes with trash)!
      My son brought it to a 3rd grade pre-Thanksgiving meal for students to share dishes from their heritage (very diverse student body). Marshmallow and 3rd graders - big hit! Go figure! ;)

      Reply
    10. MareMo

      March 28, 2024 at 2:51 pm

      My family has always called it "fruit salad" so, in our white trash get-togethers, we actually have something that sounds healthy. We use Miracle Whip instead of sour cream and serve the "classy" version with white mallows on Thanksgiving and the colored ones for Easter cuz they're so purdy.

      Reply
    11. Amber

      March 28, 2024 at 1:45 pm

      And since you’ve cleaned out your kitchen drawers you have room to get that syllabub-churn on Etsy! Something you can whip out at parties and play Guess What This Is For
      Or maybe hide it in Betty’s kitchen drawer…

      Reply
      • Mona

        April 10, 2025 at 2:57 pm

        We use to get this as a kid we would simply just call this a fruit cocktail salad grew up eating it haven't had any and over 40 + years

        Reply
    12. L. Watts

      March 28, 2024 at 1:40 pm

      This style of recipe, with the sour cream is the best! Our family does not use coconut but we do use all sorts of (sweetened) canned fruit: peaches, fruit cocktail, apricots, pears, pineapple chunks, sometimes tropical fruit cocktail, well drained, very well drained. We've never used the colored marshmallows, just the plain white.
      BUT the sour cream is the kicker here. So much better than the ones with whipped cream.
      It is really dessert, like you mention.

      Reply
    13. Hettie

      March 28, 2024 at 12:38 pm

      A childhood favourite! Not so keen now. A little too sweet. But it was fun to recall how I enjoyed it long ago. Thanks, Karen. Happy Easter. P.S. Did I miss something or are Snacks and Co. no longer in residence?

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 28, 2024 at 1:37 pm

        Hi Hettie. I have an owl post coming up tomorrow! :) ~ karen!

        Reply
    14. Barb

      March 28, 2024 at 12:08 pm

      I love white trash salad, but we always called it marshmallow salad. My mom always made it at Christmas, but always with white marshmallows.

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 28, 2024 at 1:38 pm

        White marshmallows make it classy. ~ karen!

        Reply
      • Penny

        April 16, 2025 at 8:50 am

        It looks and sounds delicious, but don't try to tell me that it's salad! I would happily eat the whole bowlful as a dessert, though. The Dixie Cookbook made me think of one of my favourite old books, Everybody's Pudding Book. It has an embossed cover in a shade of green that is nearly as repulsive as the Pantone shade used for tobacco products in the UK and an introduction written in 1862. Many of the recipes require boiling for more than an hour, or contain ingredients that sound strange today; codlins, medlars, afterings, isinglass and tansy juice spring to mind. Some of the instructions are similarly confusing - I gave up on one recipe that required me to use a 'gay' oven! I'm guessing that it means 'pretty hot' but degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit would have helped!

        Reply
        • Karen

          April 16, 2025 at 8:59 pm

          If the temperature is described as gay, the bar for specificity seems pretty low. Anything from heating it over a candle to cooking it in the middle of a fire probably would have worked. ~ karen!

    15. Deb E.

      March 28, 2024 at 10:38 am

      This dish is a major tradition at our house. Since childhood, we've called it Candy Salad, since it looks like candy with the coloured marshmallows.

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 28, 2024 at 1:39 pm

        It does look like a candy salad. Tastes like it too. ~ karen!

        Reply
    16. Deb from Maryland

      March 28, 2024 at 9:27 am

      I know I'm in the minority - but I can't get a spoonful of ambrosia past the back of my throat. Just can not swallow it. I love all the players separately, just can't do the whole team at once. lol

      Reply
    17. Jenny W

      March 28, 2024 at 9:22 am

      I bind my fruit together with sour cream, cream cheese & whipping cream which makes it super classy! Actually made it a few weeks ago and ate it for breakfast, lunch and supper - so truly, it's a very versatile dish.

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 28, 2024 at 1:40 pm

        But can you snack on it?? I believe yes you can, so you're right. An incredibly versatile dish that knows no boundaries. ~ karen!

        Reply
    18. kat

      March 28, 2024 at 8:20 am

      Marshmallow salad was a staple at every single wedding and baby shower in my family. Classic 70's party fare. At every holiday get together, it was served. I love it but only have it once every 5 years or so now. Just seeing the picture of it makes me feel nostalgic. Happy Easter, Karen!

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 28, 2024 at 1:40 pm

        Thanks Kat! Just got back from buying the ingredients so I can whip it up on Saturday night. ~ karen!

        Reply
    19. Lisa

      March 28, 2024 at 2:52 am

      I love it!! The first Thanksgiving after I met my birth mother (I was 42 at the time) was the first time I ever had "the pink stuff"....that's what they called it (probably because someone in the crew thought it a good idea to add red jello to the mix of random ingredients and that turned the whole mess kind of Pepto-pink!). 25 years later, I still have "the pink stuff" whenever I am with the fam in the piney woods of deep East Texas and love it as much as that first Thanksgiving with my mom....funny how some foods can bring back all the feels, and marshmallow salad does it for me!

      Reply
    20. Jo-Ann Pieber

      March 28, 2024 at 12:14 am

      Honestly? Nothing better in the queue? I could have given you and the gang this recipe any time over the past 40 yrs. It Died for a reason.
      Honestly? I would have preferred a salad recipe with Beets. I've grown to love them.

      Reply
      • jani connelly

        April 16, 2025 at 5:15 pm

        Jo-Ann, Have you ever eaten them raw?? I had never till a couple weeks ago. A-Mazing!! So delish. Try them.

        Reply
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