Classic Ambrosia Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the ingredients for an ambrosia salad? ›

The best Ambrosia Salad recipe is made with pineapple, mandarin oranges, yogurt, mini marshmallows, coconut and whipped cream. This easy side dish has a delicious tropical sweetness and is always a crowd favorite!

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 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.

Ambrosia began appearing in cookbooks in the late 1800s when citrus fruit became more prevalent in markets across the United States. These early recipes were very simple, usually including only orange slices, coconut, and sugar layered in a glass dish.

“There's so many different ways to do it,” Pelosi said of ambrosia salad. “I make it the way that my family made it, which doesn't have marshmallows because we didn't like them.” Ambrosia was so named for the food of the Greek and Roman gods. Its region of origin is lost to history.

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.

ambrosia • \am-BROH-zhee-uh\ • noun. 1 a : the food of the Greek and Roman gods b : the ointment or perfume of the gods 2 : something extremely pleasing to taste or smell 3 : a dessert made of oranges and shredded coconut.

Ambrosia is an attractive medium-sized apple, with a pink-tinged orange/red flush over a yellow background. As such it is very much in tune with the modern preference for "bi-coloured" apples.

Washington, D.C. The story goes that the salad became popular during and after the Watergate scandal involving President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s. Several food brands have also claimed to have invented the classic fluff salad under various names.

Candle salad is a vintage fruit salad that was popular in America from the 1920s through to the 1960s. The salad is typically composed of lettuce, pineapple, banana, cherry, and either mayonnaise or, according to some recipes, cottage cheese.

Why is it called Watergate cake? ›

Supposedly, it's called the Watergate cake because under its covering of bright, colorful icing, it hides a bunch of nuts. That one must have been a real thigh-slapper in 1974. So if you've ever wondered, "Is there a bright green baked good named after America's greatest presidential scandal?" (and really, who hasn't?)

Ambrosia salad had its heyday in the 1900s, and its many iterations reflected some of the emerging innovations in the food world. Its popularity took off in the 1920s when the Philadelphia-based confectionary Stephen F. Whitman & Son paid food columnists to subtly advertise its newly invented marshmallow whip.

About The Fruit

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!

Fill an 8-oz. glass with ice. Stir in rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, and a splash of grenadine.

Other phytonutrients found in Ambrosia apples include catechin, phloridzin, and chlorogenic acid. Like quercetin, these are all strong antioxidants that help the body deal with free-radicals and aid in disease prevention.

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 co*cktail, bananas, apple, coconut, pecans, raisins, and cherries. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover, and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.