Ambrosia Salad: Classic Holiday Fruit Salad Recipe

The short answer: classic ambrosia salad is drained mandarin oranges and pineapple, shredded coconut and mini marshmallows folded into 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup whipped topping. Chill it at least 1 hour and serve it within 1 day. Serves 8 as a side, in about 15 minutes of work.

• Key numbers: 2 cans mandarin oranges · 1 can pineapple tidbits · 1 cup coconut · 2 cups mini marshmallows · 1/2 cup cherries
• Top moves: drain the fruit for 10 minutes, pat it dry, fold gently, keep it cold
• Next step: get the free recipe book starter pages (we email it to you), or keep the family version in the Family Recipe Binder ($6.99)

Prep time: 15 minCook time: 0 minTotal time: 1 hr 25 minServings: 8 servingsTotal includes 1 hr 10 min of resting, chilling or rising.

Ambrosia is the white, fruit-first holiday salad: oranges, pineapple and coconut with a tangy, creamy dressing. It is not the green, pudding-based fluff. That one is Watergate salad, made with instant pistachio pudding mix. Older Southern versions of ambrosia were simpler still, layered oranges, sugar and coconut; the marshmallow and sour cream version below is the one most families now bring to the holiday table.

Ambrosia salad ingredients

Serves 8 as a side, about 6 cups.

How to make ambrosia salad

1. Drain the fruit. Pour the mandarin oranges and pineapple into a sieve set over a bowl and let them drain for 10 minutes. Spread the fruit and the halved cherries on paper towels and pat the tops dry. This step decides whether the salad is creamy or runny.
2. Make the dressing. In a large bowl, stir the sour cream and vanilla until smooth, then gently fold in the whipped topping until no streaks remain.
3. Fold in the dry ingredients. Add the coconut, marshmallows and pecans and fold until coated.
4. Add the fruit last. Fold in the pineapple and cherries, then the mandarin oranges, with a few slow turns of the spatula so the orange segments stay whole.
5. Chill. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to 1 day. The marshmallows soften and the coconut absorbs some of the dressing as it sits.
6. Serve cold. Stir once, spoon into a chilled bowl and top with a few extra cherries, coconut or pecans.

Dressing options

The dressing is where family recipes differ most. All of these use about 2 cups total for the fruit amounts above.

Variations and swaps

• Fresh fruit ambrosia: use 3 to 4 peeled, segmented oranges or clementines and 2 cups fresh pineapple chunks. Serve it the same day; fresh pineapple can thin and sour a dairy dressing as it sits.
• Grapes and bananas: add 1 cup halved seedless grapes. Bananas brown quickly, so slice them in just before serving.
• Toasted coconut: toast the coconut in a dry skillet over medium-low for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring, until golden. Cool it before folding it in.
• Fruit-flavored marshmallows: the pastel kind makes a brighter salad for Easter.
• Nut-free: leave out the pecans and double-check that your coconut and marshmallows are made without nuts.
• Less sweet: use plain Greek yogurt for the dressing and skip the cherries.
• Bigger crowd: double everything for about 12 cups, enough for 16 small side servings, and mix it in your largest bowl.

Make ahead and food safety

Ambrosia is one of the few holiday sides you can finish the day before. Mix it up to 24 hours ahead, keep it covered in the refrigerator, and stir it once before serving. Past about a day, the dressing weeps and the coconut softens. Fresh-fruit versions are best made the same day.

Looking for more sides and desserts to go with it? See our Easter dinner ideas and budget menus.

If you use fresh fruit, the FDA's produce safety guidance says to wash all produce under running water before preparing it, wash it even when you will peel it so dirt and bacteria are not carried onto the fruit, and cut away any damaged or bruised spots. Wipe the tops of the cans before you open them.

The dressing is dairy, so treat ambrosia like any perishable dish. The FDA safe food handling guidance says to keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below and to refrigerate perishables within 2 hours, or within 1 hour if it is above 90°F. On a buffet, set the bowl inside a larger bowl of ice, serve a small batch at a time, and put the rest back in the refrigerator. Do not freeze ambrosia; the dressing separates and the fruit turns watery when it thaws.

Troubleshooting ambrosia salad

• Runny or watery: the fruit was not drained long enough, or the salad sat too long. Drain for a full 10 minutes and pat dry; if it has already weeped, lift the salad out with a slotted spoon.
• Too sweet: use all sour cream or Greek yogurt, cut the marshmallows to 1 1/2 cups and drop the cherries.
• Too tart: add more whipped topping or a tablespoon of powdered sugar to the dressing.
• Pink streaks: wet maraschino cherries bleed. Pat them very dry and fold them in last, or scatter them on top just before serving.
• Broken orange segments: fold the oranges in at the end with a gentle hand, and do not stir hard after chilling.
• Hard marshmallows: the salad needs more time; at least 1 hour in the refrigerator softens them.

What to serve with ambrosia salad

Ambrosia sits beside a holiday ham, roast turkey or fried chicken, where its cold sweetness balances salty, rich main dishes. Put it on the same table as cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole. For the rest of the menu, see our Thanksgiving side dishes and Christmas side dishes lists. At a potluck, it travels well in a covered bowl in a cooler with ice packs.

A budget-friendly holiday side

Ambrosia is mostly canned fruit, a bag of marshmallows and a tub or two of dairy, so it is easy to fit into a holiday budget and it feeds a crowd without an oven. To keep the cost down:

• Buy store-brand canned mandarin oranges and pineapple; once the fruit is drained and dressed, the brand is hard to taste.
• Skip the pecans or use half; nuts are usually the most expensive ingredient.
• Use whipped topping alone or sour cream alone instead of buying both.
• Make it the day before, which frees the oven and the stovetop for the main dishes.

For the full meal, see Thanksgiving on a budget, which walks through planning a holiday dinner without overspending.

Plan the holiday menu and save the recipe

Put ambrosia on the make-ahead list for the day before the holiday, so the fridge space is planned too.

• Meal Planner & Grocery List, $3.99. A weekly menu and an aisle-sorted grocery list.
• Family Recipe Binder, $6.99. Write down your family's dressing and whether the cherries go in or on top.

Browse more kitchen printables in the printables shop.

Want the starter pages by email? Get the free recipe book pages (we email them to you).