Easy, Old-Fashioned Frozen Fruit Salad is bursting with flavor and chock full of fresh or frozen pineapple and cherries, and roasted pecans. A creamy, dreamy mixture of lemon yogurt, frozen whipped topping, and lemon zest surrounds the fruit and makes it the ultimate, make-ahead fruit salad.
This tasty frozen fruit salad can also be served as a dessert and is perfect for serving at showers, ladies’ luncheons, and holiday brunches. It would also be excellent to serve at a Mother’s Day or Easter brunch or luncheon.
This old-fashioned fruit salad (dessert) was all the rage in the ’50s, and versions started appearing as early as the Great Depression. However, these early recipes mainly featured canned fruit cocktail instead of fresh or frozen fruit, which was in short supply.
If you grew up in the South, you probably also had it at your Grandmother’s house. If not, it’s time to remedy that. This updated, frozen salad classic has stood the test of time and will get rave reviews.
Why you will love this recipe:
- Light and refreshing, this simple frozen fruit salad takes less than ten minutes to prepare.
- You can make it ahead, and it’s gluten-free! It’s also an easy recipe using frozen fruit and a perfect way to get your family to eat more fruit.
- Even though this luscious dish is technically a salad, it’s no stretch to call it a dessert with all of its creamy sweetness. You decide.
Yesterday, I ate some for lunch, then had another serving after dinner for dessert. I might have a bite for breakfast tomorrow morning. After all, it has to be healthy with all that fruit, right? Well, maybe not healthy, but healthy-ish? At least that’s how I rationalize it!
Ingredients – here’s what’s in it:
- Dark sweet cherries (not pie filling) – you can use fresh, canned, or frozen pitted cherries. These sweet cherries add their sweet taste and beautiful pink color to this yummy dish.
- Pineapple chunks or tidbits – again, fresh, canned, or frozen work and add a sweet, fruity, tropical essence.
- Toasted pecans – add a delicious crunch and a rich, sweet buttery flavor.
- Frozen whipped topping – (Cool Whip) adds a creamy deliciousness and forms the base of this salad/dessert. You can substitute homemade whipped cream if you prefer.
- Lemon yogurt – adds a delightful lemon tangy flavor to the creamy base.
- Lemon juice and zest – add even more citrusy essence and, like salt, enhances all of the other flavors and bring them together in one harmonious dish.
- Mayonnaise – you will have to trust me on this; it is a salad, after all.
Directions – here’s how to make it:
- Gather the ingredients and add the drained cherries, pineapple, and toasted pecans to a large bowl.
- Combine the thawed whipped topping, lemon yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and lemon zest in another bowl and stir until well combined.
- Add the whipped topping mixture to the fruit mixture and gently fold everything together.
- Spoon the mixture into an 8×8 dish; cover and freeze for at least four hours, or until firm.
- Take the dish out of the freezer 15-30 minutes before you are ready to serve it to let it thaw just a little. Cut into squares and serve on lettuce leaves if desired.
Frequently asked questions:
This frozen fruit salad recipe is versatile, and the variations are endless. While I used pecans, cherries, and pineapple, you can easily substitute your favorite fresh, frozen, or canned fruits or nuts.
Mandarin oranges, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, halved grapes, or peaches work, but avoid melons. You can use fresh fruit, frozen fruit, or canned. You could also add a handful of coconut and swap out walnuts or almonds for the pecans.
Because this is a frozen dish, as long as it is stored tightly covered in the freezer, leftovers can be stored for three months.
– Be sure to take the frozen salad out of the freezer at least 15-30 minutes before serving to allow it to defrost slightly.
– It is easier to cut if you use a sharp knife and dip it in hot water or under hot running water before slicing it.
– To make it easier to remove individual servings from the frozen fruit salad, either put a dish towel in the microwave and microwave it for a minute on high or soak the towel in hot water and wring it out. Place the hot dish towel under your dish, and the slices will quickly release from the dish.
– I like to serve squares of this frozen fruit salad on salad plates with fancy lettuce leaves and garnish with leftover cherries and pecans. Feel free to add a dollop of whipped cream to each serving.
When I serve this frozen fruit salad as a side dish for a brunch or lunch, I like to pair it with my Eggs Benedict Breakfast Casserole, Sweet Potato Hash, Spinach and Bacon Quiche, or Southern Cheese Grits Casserole. Of course, you could also include Sausage Cheese Bread, Southern Fried Potatoes, Sweet Potato Biscuits, or Sweet Potato Bread to round the menu out.
This frozen salad is also an excellent, light, cold, and refreshing dessert to serve during the spring and summer for casual backyard barbecues. Then, I like to serve it with main dishes such as Grilled Ham Steak, Smoked Spatchcock Chicken, Simple Lemon Grilled Whole Chicken, Grilled Pork Tenderloin, and Grilled Bone-In Pork Chops.
Sharon’s tips:
- To toast the pecans, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 8-10 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Watch them carefully; they can go from perfect to burned in seconds.
- Make sure your cherries are pitted. If you can’t find canned dark sweet cherries in the canned fruit section of your grocery store, try looking where the pie fillings are kept. But don’t use cherry pie filling.
- You can substitute homemade whipped cream for the frozen whipped topping.
- To make individual servings of this dish, add paper liners to a regular-sized muffin pan and then add the mixture—cover and freeze as directed.
- You can use fresh, frozen, or canned fruit in this recipe. If you use canned, allow the fruit to drain completely. Excess moisture will make it icy when frozen.
- You can use crushed pineapple, tidbits, or chunks.
More recipes with fresh fruit or frozen fruit:
Grape Salad, Breakfast Fruit Salad, Watermelon Feta Salad with Basil and Blueberries, Lemon and Blackberry Bread Pudding, Blueberry Delight, and Southern Ambrosia are some of the dishes featuring fruit on my blog. Main dishes with fruit include Grilled Grouper with Mango Salsa and Pork Tenderloin with Blackberry Sauce.
Need even more menu ideas? Check out these roundup posts 40+ Easter Menu Ideas and Recipes, Easter Dinner Side Dish Recipes and Menu Ideas, 50+ Easter Dessert Recipes, and my easy 32 Mother’s Day Breakfast and Brunch Recipes!
You can find all of my Mother’s Day recipes here or my Breakfast and Brunch recipes here.
★★★★★ If you make this dish, please leave a comment and give this recipe a star rating. I would love to know how you liked it!
Thank you so much for visiting Grits and Pinecones!
📋 Recipe:
Easy Old-Fashioned Frozen Fruit Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2½ cups dark sweet cherries pitted, if canned, drained
- 2½ cups pineapple chunks drained, if canned, drained
- ½ cup pecans toasted and chopped*
- 8 ounces frozen whipped topping thawed, I used Cool Whip
- ½ cup lemon yogurt regular or Greek
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
Instructions
- Gather the ingredients, add the drained cherries and pineapple, and toasted pecans in a large bowl.
- Combine the thawed whipped topping, lemon yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and lemon zest in another bowl and stir until well combined.
- Add the whipped topping mixture to the fruit mixture and gently fold everything together.
- Spoon the mixture into an 8×8 dish; cover and freeze at least four hours, or until firm.
- Take the dish out of the freezer for 15-30 minutes to let it thaw just a little before you are ready to serve it. Cut into squares and serve on lettuce leaves if desired.
Do you think the frozen cherries would work?
Hi Lorna, I haven’t ever used frozen cherries but I can’t think of any reason they wouldn’t work.
If you decide to use them, if you have time please leave a comment letting me know how they were.
All my best,
Sharon
I can hardly wait to try this recipe.
Hi Nancy,
I hope you enjoy it!
Sharon