Tang Fruit Salad

If you are looking for a fun fruit salad with big fruity flavor, this vintage Tang fruit salad is just the thing. The creamy orange pudding dressing is the perfect way to take your favorite fruits to the next level of goodness.

My mom’s cousin recently sent her some of my great-grandma’s cookbooks. Of course, you know that instantly piqued my interest.

There were a couple of books that had submitted recipes like the church cookbooks we are used to, but they were thick and hard bound. Somehow that makes them feel more official than the spiral bound community books I am used to.

As I paged through, I saw my great-grandma’s handwritten notes on several recipes. Some were just a note that she planned to make it.

Others had notes to changes of ingredients or methods that indicate she had made the recipe and put her own spin on it. It was fun to see what she thought of different recipes and how she changed them.

It reminded me a lot of how I cook. I suppose it comes naturally.

Either way, I noticed that were not one, but two, recipes for Tang fruit salad in the fruit salad section. So, I knew I had to make one.

Tang got popular when the astronauts drank it. So, I could see the people of the 1960’s and 70’s loving to come up with ways to use it.

Tang wasn’t really a part of my childhood, but my husband loves it. He still drinks it as hot tang when he doesn’t feel good or when he wants a warm drink that isn’t coffee.

We have already made and enjoyed a Tang pie. So, making a Tang fruit salad wasn’t much of a stretch.

This recipe has a nice bright flavor thanks to the orange flavored tang, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and bananas. It feels a bit tropical.

I added an extra can of pineapple tidbits because it seemed like there was plenty of dressing to handle more fruit. It was January, so fresh berries weren’t at their peak, otherwise I would have been tempted to toss in some strawberries.

I think they would have been delicious and added a bit more visual appeal with some red in the mix. So, if you happen to have some berries, toss them in!

I also think it would be fun to toss in some mini marshmallows if you like them in fruit salad. It would give more fluff salad vibes and I think that would be good.

The original recipe called for chopped nuts. I always leave them out because my guys won’t eat them.

You can add them if you like nuts. That is the beauty of salads like this, there are almost no rules. You can add or subtract ingredients to make it your own and they are generally quite forgiving to those changes.