Easy 5 Cup Salad Recipe

This 5 Cup Salad is a creamy, sweet delicious dish that everyone will love! Also called an Ambrosia Salad, it only has 5 ingredients and a couple minutes of prep! A perfect side dish or dessert for a cookout, picnic, potluck or BBQ!

Why You Will Love 5 Cups Salad

• SIMPLE AND EASY – Only 5 ingredients and so easy to throw together. It’s a great last minute addition to any gathering!
• KID FRIENDLY – Perfect for even picky eaters! This fun dish will make everyone happy!
• CLASSIC RECIPE – There’s just something about old fashioned recipes, just like your grandma used to make!

What Is a 5 Cup Salad?

What do you get when you combine mini marshmallows, sweetened shredded coconut, pineapple chunks, mandarin oranges and sour cream? You get a dish that is creamy, smooth and has just the right amount of sweetness to work as a dessert or a side! This 5 Cup Fruit Salad is wonderful for just about any occasion, from Easter to a warm summer picnic.

It is “dessert salad”, usually meaning that it is served as a side dish to a main course, rather than an actual dessert. The slight sweetness of this dish goes great with saltier mains, like ham. This is why it’s often served around the holiday as a companion to other dishes on the Thanksgiving table.

How Do You Make a 5 Cup Salad?

It simply couldn’t be easier. You just mix the 5 ingredients into one bowl, cover and refrigerate for a couple hours. For step-by-step instructions, check out the reciep below. But really, you just need to stir and serve! Here is what you’ll need to get started:

• MINI MARSHMALLOWS – Use regular ones or the colorful fruit flavored ones for some extra fun!
• SHREDDED COCONUT 
• PINEAPPLE CHUNKS
• MANDARIN ORANGES – Drained
• SOUR CREAM – If you’d like to lighten up this recipe, you can use low fat sour cream. 

Why Put Sour Cream in a Fruit Salad?

At first glance, it seems like sour cream is a bit of a weird ingredient to put into this recipe. But it actually works. It balances the sweetness of all the other ingredients nicely. So, the result is a dish that isn’t overbearing, but light, fresh and creamy.

If you absolutely refuse to use sour cream, feel free to use Cool Whip or even yogurt. Vanilla yogurt would taste great in this recipe. You could also do a mixture of these ingredients to find the right combination for you.

If you want to make this a little healthier, you could use low fat sour cream or even Greek yogurt!

Other Variations For The 5 Cup Fruit Salad

You can also mix some walnuts or pecans into the recipe for an added crunch. We can’t do this because my son is allergic to tree nuts. But we may try this with some additional fruit, such as bananas or grapes that have been halved. You can also add maraschino cherries to make it more like a traditional ambrosia salad.

Storage, Leftovers and Freezing

5 Cup Fruit Salad should be kept chilled. And don’t leave it out in room temperature for more than an hour when serving. Keep leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator. 

I would not freeze 5 Cup Fruit Salad. As it thaws, the ingredients will separate. 

Notes, Variations and FAQs

• CAN YOU DOUBLE THIS RECIPE? – This recipe makes 4 cups but is easy to expand according to the number of people that you need to feed.
• DO YOU NEED TO CHILL IT BEFORE SERVING? – You will certainly want to refrigerate this for at least a couple hours before serving, this way, the sour cream gets infused with all of the yummy fruit. But, while you can refrigerate this overnight, I’d make it in the evening so that it doesn’t sit for too long and the marshmallows get soggy.

We hope you enjoy this 5 Cup Salad Recipe. We’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment section!

LOOKING FOR MORE DESSERT SALAD RECIPES? CHECK OUT:

• STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD
• PINEAPPLE PRETZEL SALAD
• PEACH PRETZEL SALAD

ALSO, CHECK OUT:

• 19 FUN AND EASY BBQ DESSERTS

Rate this Recipe

5 Cup Fruit Salad

Course Salad

Servings 4 cups

What do you get when you combine mini marshmallows, sweetened shredded coconut, pineapple chunks, mandarin oranges and sour cream? You get a dish that is creamy, smooth and has just the right amount of sweetness to work as a dessert or a side!

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 mins

Total Time 3 hrs 5 mins

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 can 8 oz, pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 can 11 oz, mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 cup sour cream

Instructions

• You just mix the 5 ingredients into one bowl, cover and refrigerate for a couple hours. Stir and serve!

Notes

This recipe makes 4 cups but is easy to expand according to the number of people that you need to feed. You will certainly want to refrigerate this for at least a couple hours before serving, this way, the sour cream gets infused with all of the yummy fruit. But, while you can refrigerate this overnight, I’d make it in the evening so that it doesn’t sit for too long and the marshmallows get soggy.

Nutrition

Calories: 386kcal

Love this recipe?Follow @bubbapie for even more delicious recipes!!