Orange Cream Fruit Salad

Quick and Easy Dessert Salad for Any Special Occasion

Nov 14, 2007 Carla Ruschival

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

The copyright of the article Orange Cream Fruit Salad in Recipes is owned by Carla Ruschival. Permission to republish Orange Cream Fruit Salad in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.