5 Cup Fruit Salad

5 Cup Fruit Salad is cool, creamy, and not too sweet. Loaded with delicious tropical fruit, it makes up fast and easy when you are in a hurry.

If you are a fan of Ambrosia Salad, you will love this 5 Cup Fruit Salad, which is even easier to make. The name actually helps you remember how to make it because this recipe contains one cup of each of the five ingredients.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions & Variations
• Make-Ahead & Storage
• My Top Tips
• More Delicious Fruit Salad Recipes
• 📖 Recipe

What I like most about this fruit salad is that it is not too sweet. The creamy texture comes from sour cream which offsets the sweet fruit, marshmallows, and coconut.

Ingredients

• Sour Cream - Sour cream makes this fruit salad creamy and keeps it from being too sweet.
• Mandarin Orange Segments - Canned in its own juice or in light syrup are the best choices. If you use canned in a heavy syrup, rinse the mandarin orange segments in cool water. This keeps the salad from being too sweet.
• Pineapple Tidbits - The tidbit size is just right and not too large for a bite.
• Mini Marshmallows - These bring fun to this fruit salad! I prefer to use plain, white, vanilla-flavored marshmallows.
• Shredded Sweetened Coconut - Look for brands that look moist and have long shreds for the best flavor and eye appeal.

Please see the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Mix the sour cream, mandarin oranges, pineapple tidbits, mini marshmallows, and shredded coconut, together in a large bowl.

Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight to allow the flavors to marry.

Substitutions & Variations

Substitute Greek Yogurt. Plain Greek yogurt is an excellent substitution for sour cream and also adds protein.

Substitute Cherries. You can substitute whole canned, frozen and thawed, or fresh pitted cherries for the mandarin oranges.

Omit the Coconut. I know some people are not a fan of coconut and you can omit it from the recipe.

Make-Ahead & Storage

This fruit salad is always best if made ahead. Make it in the morning to serve in the afternoon or make it the day before serving. Store the salad in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

My Top Tips

Drain all of the fruit well. I actually like to drain the fruit and then spread it onto paper towels to remove the excess liquid. This keeps the salad from being soggy and it stays fresher longer.

More Delicious Fruit Salad Recipes

• Mandarin Orange Fluff
• Ambrosia Salad
• Creamy Grape Salad
• Watermelon and Berry Salad

📖 Recipe