Creamy 5-Cup Fruit Salad
In this creamy 5-cup fruit salad the sweet flavors of the fruit blend together perfectly with the sour cream to create a creamy, dreamy coating.
Nearly nine years ago when I was at my in-law’s house for the very first time (eeps!), my tremendously sweet (yes, I really mean that, and not just because she might read this) mother-in-law served this fruit salad at dinner one night.
I devoured it. Then went back for seconds and thirds.
Shameless, I know, especially in light of the fact I should have been showing off some manners to my new in-laws. Too bad. They were already stuck with me.
Of course I asked for the recipe and when my mother-in-law announced that the fruit salad was basically three cups of fruit, one cup of sour cream and one cup of coconut, I was surprised. Had I really just thrown self-control and etiquette to the wind over a fruit salad smothered in sour cream? No way.
Way.
Since that marked event so many years ago, I have made this salad often and have adapted it here and there to be just how I like it. Somehow the sweet flavors of the fruit blend together perfectly with the sour cream to create a creamy, dreamy coating that envelops the fruit and keeps me coming back for more.
The coconut is the wild card – you’ll either love it or hate it – so if you already have an aversion to coconut, just leave it out. Personally, I love the snaggy texture it brings to the fruit salad. The main trick is to let the salad sit in the refrigerator a few hours before serving so all the ingredients can marry together.
Thank goodness I married into a family that has such great taste in fruit salads. Amen.
One Year Ago: Asian Chicken Salad with Hoisin Vinaigrette
Two Years Ago: Peanut Butter Crunch Snack Balls
Three Years Ago: Man Pleasin’ Sandwich
Creamy 5-Cup Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 1 (10-ounce) can pineapple chunks (about 1 cup), drained
- 1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges (about 1 cup), drained
- 1 medium apple, cored and chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup grapes, halved
- ½ cup sour cream, light or regular
- ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Combine the fruit in a large bowl, tossing well so the apple (and other fruit that likes to brown) can get coated in the pineapple and orange juice to prevent browning. Stir in the sour cream and coconut, gently tossing to coat.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours prior to serving to allow the flavors to meld together. Serve chilled. You might notice that after a day or so of sitting in the fridge, quite a bit of liquid from the fruit pools at the bottom. If eating the leftovers, I like to gently pour some of this off before eating.
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Recipe Source: adapted from my sweet and wonderful mother-in-law, Diane G.
This looks so yummy and simple to make but we don’t like coconut in my family. Is there something I could substitute?
You can just leave it out!
This recipe has basically become my go-to offering when we are invited to a cook out. I also make it for my family all the time because it’s just so easy and yummy. It’s super flexible so I change out the fruits based on what we have and haven’t had a bad combo yet. We recently used peaches and blueberries. Yum!
I taught my 10 year old how to make it when we had company this week, and he was so proud to tell our friend that he made it. (My friend was impressed, and asked for the recipe, so we passed it along to her.) My husband also made it for a church potluck that all the men did the cooking, and the ladies got the night off. Everyone ate it up quickly, and no one believed he had made it without my help lol!
Love your recipe, I make it all the time.
Every time I make this recipe people love it!
This recipe it’s easy to make and it is delicious!!!
i have also made this with mayonnaise,not sour cream it is good both ways
Oh my goodness I just made this awesome fruit salad! It’s awesome thank you very much!
Making this for the second time this week. It’s a lot like my moms “ holiday apple salad” but I like the sour cream better than the whipped cream she uses! With pomegranate arils it’s beautiful and festive!
oh my goodness was so ready to try this until I put it into my recipes on My Fitness Pal and found out that it is 997 calories per serving!!! I only get 1200 calories a day. I am so bummed I can’t eat this. 🙁
Here is my fix for this situation since I already cut the fruit up last night and refrigerated planning on finishing in the morning and having for breakfast….
Edit Recipe
Recipe name
Number of servings
Serves people
Ingredients Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar
Apples – Raw, with skin, 2 medium (2-3/4″ dia) (approx 3 per lb) 144 38 0 1 3 29 Ico_delete
Oranges – Raw, navels, 2 fruit (2-7/8″ dia) 137 35 0 3 3 24 Ico_delete
Generic – Red Grapes, 0.5 cup 52 14 0 1 2 12 Ico_delete
Dole Crushed Pineapple 100% Pineapple Juice, 20oz Can – Crushed Pineapple, 1 container (2 3/10 cups ea.) 315 81 0 5 0 72 Ico_delete
Fage – Greek Yogurt Non Fat, 1 cup 130 9 0 23 85 9 Ico_delete
Vanilla extract, 1 tbsp 37 2 0 0 1 2 Ico_delete
Bob’s Red Mill – Shredded Unsweetened Coconut, 6 tablespoons (15 g) 200 8 20 2 10 2 Ico_delete
Xylosweet – Xylitol, 24 teaspoon (4g) 230 96 0 0 0 0 Ico_delete
Add Ingredient
Total: 1,245 283 20 35 104 150
Per Serving: 208 47 3 6 17
I didn’t like this but I’m not surprised. I can’t stand coconut and sour cream, I avoid it like the flu. So I left off coconut and I gave it a try thinking if they mixed long enough it would be ok, in the same way I can’t stand cream cheese but I’ll put it in absolutely anything and when cooked with other things it’s my favorite thing in the world. Well they did merge and it wasn’t a straight-sour-cream taste but I still couldn’t eat much. However my whole family loves sour cream and they loved it as a dessert, even putting it up there with the lemon berry trifle. In the south, not sure about there, restaraunts serve fruit with this whipped cream cheese type dip, often flavored and pink, I’m thinking of making a cream cheese/powder sugar/vanilla/milk mix to use instead. Anyway, if you love sour cream you’ll love this, was the consensus. I’ll still make it this Way for get togethers because I’m a people pleaser haha 🙂