Vintage 5 cup salad is a perfectly easy fruit salad that will tick all of the boxes. Mandarin oranges, pineapple, and coconut are featured in this easy side dish or dessert.
There is something extra special about a dressed fruit salad. It’s so much more fun than just putting cut fruit in a bowl.
This old-fashioned five cup salad recipe was actually mentioned by a reader in the comments of another post. So I figured I had to make it.
It is named 5 cup salad because it is made out of 1 cup each of 5 ingredients. Pretty simple, huh?
A Few Notes About 5 Cup Salad
It may seem strange using sour cream as a dressing for fruit salad. Somehow, it works, though.
The little bit of tang balances nicely with the sweet ingredients. And as it chills some of the sugar from the marshmallows and coconut soak into the sour cream, making it slightly sweet.
Just be sure to give it at least an hour in the refrigerator to let the flavors come together. If you don’t want to use sour cream, you could use Greek yogurt instead.
We love the classic mix of pineapple, mandarin oranges, and coconut, but you can easily change out the fruit. Fresh mandarin oranges work instead of canned if you prefer.
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You could also use grapes or chopped apples. You can either replace the original fruit or add more.
Adding maraschino cherries adds vintage flare, color, and flavor. So you can toss a few in whole or add chop some up and stir them in.
The pastel fruity marshmallows are a fun addition instead of the plain ones. They add both flavor and more color.
There are so many great ways to make this 5 cup salad your own, but we like it just the way it is written. Sometimes, the classics are perfect without adjustments.
Storage
Put extra five cup salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will stay good for up to 4 days. Freezing is not recommended.
More Fun Fruity Salads
Frog eye salad is another vintage treat. The fruit based custard is mixed with fruit, pasta, and more. It has a really retro feel but still tastes yummy.
Sunshine fruit salad is another simple treat. It features the sunny looks and flavors of pineapple, oranges, and bananas.
If condensed milk isn’t your jam, try layered fruit salad. It is topped with a sour cream and vanilla pudding mixture that is lightly sweet and really delicious.
Fruit salad with pudding is another super simple option. It is really delicious and another easy one to put together.
Check out my full collection of fruit salad recipes for more inspiration.
Five Cup Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup pineapple tidbits
- 1 cup mandarin oranges
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- 1 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Drain the liquid from the cans of fruit. Save 1 Tablespoon of the pineapple juice.1 cup pineapple tidbits, 1 cup mandarin oranges
- Stir the pineapple juice into the sour cream. Add the fruit, coconut, and marshmallows. Mix until everything is evenly coated.1 cup shredded coconut, 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup mini marshmallows
- Chill for at least one hour before serving.
Notes
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How fun is this! And it’s guilt free because it’s a salad, right? =)
of course! Salads are good for you!
You know you’re old when “old-fashioned” things remind you of the stuff your mom made when you were a kid! This salad sounds so nostalgic!
That’s not a bad thing! I love making these classic recipes for my son now too, so it doesn’t have to mean anything about your age. 😉
My mom and I have been making this for years, we call it orange fluff and ours has orange Jell-O in. It is so much easier without it, lol! Yum Yum Yum!
That sounds delicious!