What even defines a salad now, anyways? There are traditional, healthy salads made with leafy greens, but also pasta salads, chicken salads, and fruit salads. Who’s to say we can’t have dessert salad?
These 10 recipes are a testament to the fact that if you mix up a bunch of ingredients in a bowl, you can call it a salad. Made with whipped cream, canned fruit, marshmallows, and, yes, even candy bars, these dessert salads are sure to be a hit at your next dinner party or potluck.
1. Ambrosia Salad
The O.G. of fruit-forward dessert salads, ambrosia salad is a creamy concoction that most commonly includes pineapple, mandarin oranges, cherries, coconut, and mini marshmallows. Some versions may also include sour cream, whipped cream, nuts, and additional fruit. “Ambrosia” refers to “fruit of the Gods” in Greek mythology, and for those who love this dish, it’s a fitting name for the sweet salad.
Recipe: My Baking Addiction
Related: Jell-O Salad and Other Retro Summer Recipes We Secretly Love
2. Watergate Salad
A popular ’70s dish, this dessert salad is comprised of five ingredients: pistachio Jell-O instant pudding mix, crushed pineapple, miniature marshmallows, chopped nuts, and Cool Whip. The pistachio pudding mix gives the salad its distinct green hue, but that’s the only evidence of greens you’ll find here. No veggies allowed.
Recipe: Moms on Timeout
3. Hawaiian Cheesecake Fluff Dessert Salad
If you thought “cheesecake” and “salad” couldn’t coexist in a dish name, think again. This tropical concoction is a medley of cream cheese, condensed milk, various forms of pineapple, marshmallows, shredded coconut, and more sweet ingredients. It definitely belongs on the dessert table.
Recipe: The Kitchen Magpie
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4. Coca-Cola Jello Salad
I don’t even know what to make of this monstrosity. Do you have a Jell-O mold? Great, here’s what you’re going to do: Boil cherry pie filling, water, and sugar together in a saucepan, stir in a couple packets of gelatin powder, then cool the mixture for 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge. Before it’s set, add Coca-Cola and crushed pineapple, pour into a Jell-O mold, and chill for four hours. Tell me what it tastes like.
Recipe: House of Nash Eats
Related: Are Snack Pack Juicy Gels Better Than Jell-O? I Tried 8 Flavors and Found Out
5. Snickers Salad
Whoever said you can’t put candy bars in salads has never met this dish. Here you’ll find vanilla pudding, whole milk, whipped cream, Granny Smith apples, and Snickers bars mixed together and drizzled with caramel sauce. If that’s not a complete meal, I don’t know what is.
Recipe: Balancing Motherhood
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6. Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Real talk: This recipe more closely resembles a dessert bar than it does a salad. Regardless, it’ll satisfy any sweet tooth with its combination of a salty pretzel crust, cream cheese mixture, and a layer of strawberry Jell-O.
Recipe: Spicy Southern Kitchen
Related: Old-Fashioned Desserts We Secretly Still Love
7. 7-Layer Gelatin Salad
Forget seven-layer bean dip. This dessert salad features seven layers of various Jell-O flavors and colors, a veritable rainbow of jiggly gelatin, evaporated milk, whipped cream, and sliced fruit. Just make sure you serve it in a glass dish so that everyone can get a glimpse of those colorful layers.
Recipe: Taste of Home
8. Orange Fluff Salad
Bright, citrusy, and — you guessed it — stuffed full of marshmallows, the orange fluff salad is an easy way to use up those cans of mandarin oranges sitting in the back of the pantry. You could use fresh mandarin oranges, too, but let’s not kid ourselves — you probably won’t taste the difference once they’re buried under all that Jell-O and whipped cream.
Recipe: Crayons & Cravings
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9. Oreo Fluff Dessert Salad
Oreo lovers won’t want to miss out on this recipe, which uses a whopping 30 Oreo cookies. Vanilla pudding, Cool Whip, milk, and marshmallows round out the rest of the ingredients, resulting in a black and white treat that is sure to stand out at the dessert table.
Related: The Recipe Critic
Related: 26 Must-Try Recipes for Oreo Lovers
10. Frog Eye Salad
Not only does this dessert have a bizarre name, but it also has a curious ingredient: pasta. Specifically, acini di pepe pasta, a tiny pasta that resembles couscous. Once you’ve prepared the pasta, mix it with a pineapple-infused custard, chill, and add canned fruit and whipped topping. After another stint in the fridge, it’ll be ready to go.
Recipe: Chelsea’s Messy Apron
Related: 16 Easy Pasta Salad Recipes for a Quick and Tasty Meal
