Orange Cream Fruit Salad
Quick and Easy Dessert Salad for Any Special Occasion
Quick and easy prize-winning salad that doubles as a dessert. Tote to an office party, family reunion, or church social.
Here's another family favorite recipe that's so-o-o-o easy and so-o-o-o good!
* Quick to prepare - 15 minutes from start to finish; be sure to allow at least 4 hours or overnight for chilling so the pudding-based dressing is smooth and not too thin.
* Easy and convenient - Instant pudding and frozen orange juice concentrate make the dressing a snap; no cooking required. Zip open cans of pineapple, peaches and Mandarin orange slices. Cutting up the fresh fruit is easy because you don't even need to peel the apple.
* Serves a crowd - This recipe serves about 10. For a larger crowd just double or triple the ingredients, and be sure to use a giant bowl!
* Variations - For a change, use canned pears instead of peaches. Some people like to substitute maraschino cherries for the grapes; this does make the salad much sweeter, so if you prefer a tangier taste, you won't like the cherries.
For a different citrus taste, use lemon instant pudding. You might want to use lemonade concentrate with the lemon pudding, but my family prefers a mixture of orange and lemon tastes.
Orange Cream Fruit Salad Recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 small (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1-1/2 cups milk
- 1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 (20-ounce) can pineapple tidbits
- 1 (16-ounce) can peach slices
- 1 (11-ounce) can mandarin orange slices
- 2 medium bananas
- 1 medium apple
- 1 cup seedless grapes
- 3/4 cup pecans or English walnuts
Preparation
- 1. Make the dressing - in a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry pudding mix, milk, and thawed orange juice concentrate. Beat with a rotary beater or an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth and thickened like pudding. Mix in the sour cream. Set the dressing aside.
- 2. Prepare fruits and nuts - Drain the canned fruits thoroughly. This is very important in order to keep the salad from becoming too runny. Chill the drained juices for a refreshing drink later in the day. Peel and slice the bananas. Core and dice apples; you may choose not to peel them to add color to the salad. Halve the grapes. Break the nuts into pieces.
- 3. Mix fruits and nuts - combine fruits and nuts in a large serving bowl. You may choose to use a crystal bowl or something less formal. A large Tupperware bowl with a seal is great for toting to holiday parties.
- 4. Add dressing - gently fold in the orange dressing. Be sure not to stir too much; just lift the fruits gently and fold over to allow the dressing to cover all of the ingredients. If you mix too much, the dressing will be too runny.
- 5. Refrigerate - cover and chill for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
When taking this salad to the office or a friend's house, be sure to keep it chilled before the party.
Be ready for lots of compliments; everyone will be asking for your recipe.
