Sherron Watson revisits and rediscovered a dish long forgotten. The Ambrosia Salad.
By Sherron Watson
Ambrosia Salad was a childhood favorite. I just never realized it. The salad I grew up with was referred to as fruit salad with whipped cream. Maybe amongst the adults the real title was shared but for those younger than 10 pretty much used the title already stated. 
It varied from year to year. I honestly don’t recall having coconut or marshmallows too often in our fruit salad. I am sure this was because of a personal choice made by my grandmother. In general, we did not each much coconut. I can only assume it was not a family favorite.
I very much remember the Then of my life and relish in the Now every day. My own little family does not love this salad as I did whilst a youngster. It may be the nuts or the whipped cream, who knows. On rare occasions I do make this in a much smaller size and devour it over the course of a few days.
Can you blame me? Nuts, mandarin oranges, pineapples, bananas, coconut, marshmallows and bananas…ooh la la. How could I have forgotten the maraschino cherries (the best part in my opinion).
PrintRetro Recipe – Ambrosia Salad
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Sherron Watson revisits and rediscovered a dish long forgotten. The Ambrosia Salad.
Ingredients
- 1 can of mandarin oranges, drained and diced
- 1 can of pineapple chunks, drained and diced
- 1 jar of maraschino cherries, drained and halved
- 1 banana, sliced
- 1/2 cup of chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup of shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup of mini-marshmallows
- 1/2–1 cup of heavy whipped cream
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine first 7 ingredients.
- In a small bowl combine the last 3 and beat until cream is thick.
- Combine the two bowls. Store salad covered and in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
The size of can’s I used for the mandarin oranges and pineapple were between 10-10.75 ounces. The cherries, I purchase the smallest bottle I could find.
All of the listed amounts can be adjusted or omitted on what your family likes or does not like. I actually enjoyed the marshmallow and coconut after years of not having it made this way.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
