National Dish USA: Ambrosia Salad (Recipe)
In this article
Ambrosia salad is a sweet dessert from the American South, where it often turns up on the table at family gatherings. Mandarins, pineapple, coconut and little marshmallows sit in a cool, slightly tangy cream. Nothing is cooked, it is simply mixed and chilled. This amount is enough for two small bowls.
About Ambrosia Salad
Ambrosia salad is a fruit salad from the southern United States, named after the food of the Greek gods. At its heart are pineapple, mandarins or oranges and shredded coconut, and in its modern form mini marshmallows as well. It is bound with whipped cream, crème fraîche or soured cream, sometimes with yoghurt. It tastes sweet and fruity, with a slightly nutty note from the coconut, and after a few hours the marshmallows soak up juice and turn soft. Many families serve it on holidays, but also at a potluck, where every guest brings a dish. A dessert for people with a sweet tooth.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 1 small tin of mandarin segments (175 g, about 110 g drained)
- 120 g tinned pineapple chunks, well drained
- 40 g mini marshmallows
- 25 g shredded coconut
- 80 g crème fraîche (or soured cream)
- 60 ml whipping cream
- 1 tsp sugar
- 15 g pecans, roughly chopped (optional)
- 4 maraschino cherries or alcohol-free cocktail cherries (optional)
Shopping for the ingredients
Tinned mandarins and pineapple are the right choice here, as they belong to the classic recipe. Buy fruit in its own juice rather than in syrup, otherwise the salad becomes very sweet. You will find mini marshmallows on the sweets aisle or in Asian and American food shops. Most of them contain pork gelatine. Shredded coconut should smell fresh, as old coconut turns rancid. Pecans sit next to the walnuts on the baking aisle. Cocktail cherries are often preserved without alcohol, but check the label.
Preparing the dish
Leave the mandarins and pineapple to drain in a sieve for at least 15 minutes, then pat them dry with kitchen paper. Wet fruit makes the cream watery. Keep the cream in the fridge until you whip it. If you like, toast the shredded coconut in a dry frying pan for 3 minutes until light brown, then leave it to cool. For a large bowl serving eight, multiply all the quantities by four.
Step-by-step instructions
- Whip the cream with the sugar until stiff.
- Stir the crème fraîche in a bowl until smooth and loosely fold in the whipped cream with a spatula.
- Add the mandarins, pineapple, marshmallows and 20 g of the shredded coconut.
- Fold everything together gently until the fruit is evenly coated in cream, taking care not to crush the mandarins.
- Cover the bowl and chill the salad for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
- Stir once before serving and spoon the salad into two small bowls.
- Scatter the rest of the coconut and the pecans over the top and finish each bowl with two cherries.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
Ambrosia salad is gluten-free as long as the marshmallows contain no wheat flour, which is rare. A glance at the packet is enough. For a lactose-free version, use lactose-free crème fraîche and lactose-free whipping cream, both of which you can find in larger supermarkets. If you want to avoid dairy altogether, turn to the plant-based alternatives in the next section.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
Ordinary marshmallows contain gelatine and are neither vegetarian nor vegan. Gelatine-free mini marshmallows exist, usually made with agar-agar or carrageenan, and are sold in health food shops or online. Instead of crème fraîche and cream, use 80 g coconut yoghurt and 60 ml whippable coconut cream from the chiller cabinet. This suits the coconut in the salad. The flavour stays close to the original.
More tips and tricks
The salad turns watery if the fruit is not dry or if you use fresh pineapple. Fresh pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that attacks milk protein and makes the cream bitter. Use tinned pineapple, or briefly bring fresh pieces to the boil for 2 minutes. Ambrosia keeps for a day in the fridge, after that the marshmallows break down. It does not freeze well.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
If you prefer it less sweet, replace the cream with plain yoghurt and leave out the sugar. Banana slices, seedless grapes or strawberries go well with it, but add them just before serving. Some recipes from the South include cream cheese, which makes the cream firmer. Use green pistachio pudding instead of crème fraîche and you have the related Watergate Salad.
Ingredient substitutions
Mandarins can be replaced with segmented fresh oranges, as found in old recipes. Tinned peaches work instead of pineapple. If you have no marshmallows, use sponge fingers cut into small pieces, as the texture is similarly soft. Swap the shredded coconut for coconut chips and the pecans for walnuts. Replace the crème fraîche with Greek yoghurt with 10 % fat.
Drink pairing ideas
This sweet dessert goes well with an unsweetened iced tea with lemon. In the southern United States it is called iced tea and is often drunk sweetened, as sweet tea. A black coffee offers a bitter contrast. For children, a glass of cold milk or a lemonade made from freshly squeezed lemons works well.
Serving and presentation ideas
Serve the ambrosia salad in small glass bowls, so the orange mandarins show through the white cream. For a buffet, a large glass bowl is ideal. The red cherries belong on top. Alongside a Jello Salad, ambrosia appears on many American holiday tables as the second sweet dish.
A bit of history
The earliest known mention appears in Maria Massey Barringer’s cookbook Dixie Cookery from 1867. Early versions are thought to have been simple, essentially oranges, coconut and sugar. Tinned pineapple, marshmallows and cream were added later, though exactly when cannot be said for certain. Much like Pecan Pie, ambrosia is part of the holidays for many families in the South.
More recipe ideas
Looking for more ideas? Discover more recipes from the USA.
Summary: Ambrosia Salad
Ambrosia salad needs no cooking skills, just dry fruit and time in the fridge. The cream made from crème fraîche and whipped cream keeps the sweetness in check. If you would like to try American holiday desserts, this simple salad is a good place to start.
