Frozen fruit salad is a blast from the past. This vintage recipe is a cool and delicious way to eat your fruit. It is at home at all of our holiday meals, but would also be a fun summer side dish!
This vintage fruit salad recipe comes straight from my great-grandma’s recipe box. It is a fun twist on a fluff style salad, but even more refreshing because it is frozen!
It is perfect for holidays or as a refreshing summer side dish. Frozen fruit salad could even be a light dessert.
This recipe is still a staple at my family holidays. My Aunt Jenny usually makes it now and it is part of the menu at every Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I have a handful of recipes from my Great-Grandma, so I was going through them trying to decide which one I should make first.
When I got to this one, I knew I had to make it. I am familiar with a few of the others, but this one is still a tradition!
Though the combination might seem a little odd these days, it really isn’t that much different than fluff salads or creamy fruit salads. It just has the added bonus of being frozen!
I love trying vintage recipes like this, don’t you? It’s like taking a little step back in time, right into the kitchen of a loved one.
I think my great-grandma must have come to age in a time of fruity dishes like this, because another favorite from her recipe box was the green Jello salad that is loaded with pineapple and cream cheese. There is definitely a nostalgia to both recipes.
My great grandma wasn’t only known for her fruity side dishes though. She also made delicious cookies.
I have shared her peanut butter cookies as well as her oatmeal raisin step-on cookies. Both should be on your list of recipes to make soon.
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Great-grandma wasn’t the only good cook, her mom is the one that brought us dutch apple cake. I put a spin on that recipe to make our favorite peach breakfast cake.
When and how do you serve frozen fruit salad?
My family always serves frozen fruit salad as a side dish at holiday dinners. It is a small way to have great grandma there with us and part of the tradition.
Frozen fruit salad would be perfect side dish for a summer BBQ as well. It would be such a refreshing addition to the menu.
Serve it on a lettuce leaf for a little extra vintage flair.
You can also serve frozen fruit salad as a light fruity dessert. It’s a great make ahead and you can grab a piece whenever you want it.
For an extra fun twist on frozen fruit salad, freeze it in a cupcake tin. Then it’s single serve and the perfect way to have a piece whenever you want!
Or you can freeze the mixture in a loaf pan or two. Unmold the salad and cut it into thin slices while it is still frozen solid.
Can I use something besides fruit cocktail?
You can use any mix of fruit you would like, but fruit cocktail adds great flavor. It is a fun way to get the pineapple chunks, grapes, cherries, and more without having to chop fresh fruit. Plus the canned fruit are a little bit softer, which helps give you a great texture when everything is frozen.
Do I have to use mayonnaise?
If you are concerned about the mayonnaise in fruit salad, I understand. It does sound strange.
Believe me though, it works. It helps to give a nice creamy texture when it’s frozen.
If you really want to skip it, try using some Greek yogurt instead.
Frozen Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 6 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3½ cups fruit cocktail well drained
- ½ cup drained Maraschino cherries
- 2½ cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Quarter cherries
- In a large bowl, cream together the softened 6 ounces cream cheese and 1 cup mayonnaise until smooth.
- Add ½ cup drained Maraschino cherries, drained 3½ cups fruit cocktail, and 2½ cups mini marshmallows to the cream cheese mixture. Stir until combined.
- Whip 1 cup heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold whipped cream into the fruit mixture.
- Put into a glass 9×13 pan or similarly sized freezer safe serving dish. Freeze until solid.
- Remove from freezer 10-15 minutes before time to serve.
- Use a sharp knife to cut into squares and enjoy.
Notes
Video
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This is a really good recipe and
it reminds me of my grandmother. Thanks for bringing it back.
Birdie,
I love helping to bring back good food memories. Thank you!
OMG – my aunt would make this and it was a fav. Didn’t have the recipe. Thank you for sharing it. Can’t wait to make it for my family.
I’m glad I could help. I hope they love it!
Grew up on this stuff! Always loved it. I’ve made it once before, and I’m making it again tonight for Easter Brunch tomorrow! I like to scoop mine into silicone muffin pans for easy single servings. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!!!
That is such a good idea!
I just wanted to say thank you for how you write your recipes. How it make say cream butter and eggs together and then it tells how much butter and how many eggs. There has been so many times I have to scroll back up to find the recipe again and how much of this or that I needed. So thank you very much. I have made several of your recipes too and I always enjoy them.
Thank you so much! I am glad you find that handy.
Can you use fresh fruits online of fruit cocktail?
I don’t see why not. I would chop them relatively small and try to stick to fruits that you will be able to eat frozen.
I’ve been looking for this recipe! It sounds exactly like the frozen fruit salad (+ extra cherries) served at our ladies’ luncheons at the gorgeous Swan House in Atlanta. This salad was always my favorite and so pretty. The size was a large round, like a big tuna can size (ha!) and served on a pretty plate with lettuce. I moved away about 10 years ago! I miss all the wonderful restaurants. I miss Atlanta, but I miss my good friends more than anything! I moved back to Atlanta 5 times and wish I could go back again. Thanks for the recipe and the memories it brought to mind.
That sounds like so much fun. I had to look up the Swan House, it is gorgeous. I can see why you want to go back!
My grandmother made this all the time… especially for showers in the family. She would now be almost 130❤️. I do not recall her putting mayo in hers. What about sour cream? Curious if you have tried. Thanks for the memory.
How fun! I haven’t tried sour cream, but I am sure that would work too. I think the mayo plays two roles, it helps to temper the sweet and helps it to set not quite as firm so you can get a fork through it while it is still frozen. Sour cream should do both jobs relatively well.
We used to make this salad year’s ago. I was thinking about it earlier today, but lost our old recipe. Thanks so much for posting. I’m going to make this again!
I am so glad I could help you make it again.
Hi Carlee –
I made this salad for Easter dinner and we loved it! I had to add some sugar to sweeten the whipping cream up a bit for my guys but that’s what I love about cooking – you can always make adjustments as needed! I think this salad will be nice to keep in the freezer this summer when I need a nice, cold treat, too.
Thank you,
Alli
That’s my favorite part about cooking too, it is fun to take an idea and make it something you’d love.
Is this a salad you can eat without freezing? Its been years but my Grandma used to make a fruit salad that looks like this but with mandarin oranges instead of adding cherries “cause the fruit cocktail comes with them already” she used to say. But she called it Freezable Marshmallow Salad and it was never served frozen. It’s been so long since I had it I am not sure if this is the one…
I don’t see why you couldn’t eat it not frozen. It would be kind of like a fluff salad, but not quite as sweet as most of them. I love her reasoning for not putting in more cherries. We love mandarin oranges, so adding them sounds good!