Ambrosia Salad Recipe (2025)

FAQs

What are the main ingredients in ambrosia salad? ›

Ambrosia is an American version of fruit salad that dates back to the late 19th century and it seems as though everyone's family has their own recipe or spin on it. At its core, however, it traditionally contains pineapple and oranges (either fresh or canned), miniature marshmallows, and coconut.

Most ambrosia recipes contain canned (often sweetened) or fresh pineapple, canned mandarin orange slices or fresh orange sections, miniature marshmallows, and coconut. Other ingredients might include various fruits and nuts: maraschino cherries, bananas, strawberries, peeled grapes, or crushed pecans.

Ambrosia was so named for the food of the Greek and Roman gods. Its region of origin is lost to history. Its ties to the South are strong, though some believe it began in Vermont or elsewhere in New England.

Beat cream cheese and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Mix in whipped topping on high speed until incorporated. Fold in pineapple, fruit cocktail, bananas, apple, coconut, pecans, raisins, and cherries. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover, and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

The once hard-to-find ingredients were considered luxurious and exotic. The salad was a treat reserved for holidays and other special occasions, and named “ambrosia” after the food of the Greek and Roman gods. But it wasn't until the early 20th century that ambrosia as we know it came to be.

Cool Whip Original is made of water, hydrogenated vegetable oil (including coconut and palm kernel oils), high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, skimmed milk, light cream (less than 2%), sodium caseinate, natural and artificial flavor, xanthan and guar gums, polysorbate 60, sorbitan monostearate, sodium polyphosphate, ...

Records show it tasted slightly like honey - although some ancient writers speculate that it is actually eight or nine times sweeter. One, often overlooked, aspect of ambrosia was that once you started to consume it, you couldn't stop.

Its flavor is best described as refreshing with floral notes and a pleasant crisp, fine-grained flesh. It's very sweet with very little acidity. Ambrosia is an apple that naturally doesn't brown quickly after being sliced, making it perfect for snacks or salads. You can cook with it too!

We can't say for sure, but it's possible ambrosia first appeared in the South. The earliest written reference to the dish that I've been able to find is in an 1867 cookbook entitled Dixie Cookery: or How I Managed My Table for Twelve Years, which was written by Maria Massey Barringer of Concord, North Carolina.

Ambrosia Salad Tastes Like Coconut, Watergate Salad Tastes Like Pistachio. One of the first things that sets ambrosia and Watergate salads apart is the flavor profile of each dish. Watergate salad uses a pistachio instant pudding packet and often calls for additional garnishings of pistachio on top.

What ethnicity is ambrosia? ›

Etymology. The concept of an immortality drink is attested in at least two ancient Indo-European languages: Greek and Sanskrit. The Greek ἀμβροσία (ambrosia) is semantically linked to the Sanskrit अमृत (amṛta) as both words denote a drink or food that gods use to achieve immortality.

The word “ambrosia” means delicious or fragrant. Ambrosia was also the magical fruit of the gods in ancient Greek mythology. The gods on Mount Olympus ate ambrosia to maintain immortality and without it, they became weak. In Homer's Iliad, the gods bathed in ambrosia and used it as perfume.

It should not contain EITHER apple or banana (although an apple-only salad would be fine)(I hate bananas). Here's the thing – when you add banana to a fruit salad, everything just ends up tasting like different textures of banana. And apple is way too texturally different to all the other fruits.

Making fruit salads is all about timing. Starting with fruit with firm (but not too firm) texture helps prevent mush. Summer fruit is phenomenal, but it also has a very short shelf life—and an even shorter window of optimal ripeness, usually one day max.

A bit of sugar and lime makes a standout fruit salad: The duo accentuates fruit's flavors and sweetness while creating a syrup to gloss the fruit. Massage lime zest into the sugar so its oils release, then stir mixed fruit with the lime sugar and some lime juice.

The original recipe consisted only of diced red-skinned apples, celery, and mayonnaise. Chopped walnuts were added later to this now American classic.

A traditional Greek salad consists of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, green bell pepper, red onion, olives, and feta cheese. This classic combination is delicious, so I stick to it, just adding a handful of mint leaves for a fresh finishing touch.

Dessert salads are usually sweet and often contain fruits, sweetened gelatin, nuts, cream, and whipped cream. Waldorf salad is a popular dessert salad.