Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad Recipe

Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad is just what you need to please the crowd at late summer potlucks or family gatherings since it is an irresistible mixture of sweet and savory flavors.

It is a traditional fruit salad extremely popular in the Southern United States.

It originated in the 1950s by the home economist Anne Church, as an inexpensive way to feed the family.

Ever since then it’s been a real crowd-pleaser at any party.

So today we’ll share the traditional Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad recipe that will hit the right spot for your guests.

How to Make Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad

Ambrosia Salad is an extremely delicious and versatile fruit salad that you can put together in less than 20 minutes and serve easily.

It combines many different fruits — which could vary to suit your palate — into one tasteful dish.

It is a perfectly healthy, fresh, and low-carbohydrate salad you can serve guilt-free as a refreshing and friendly side dish, appetizer, dessert, or even as a main course.

So, let’s see what we need for a mouth-watering Ambrosia Salad from Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients:

(2 servings)

• 1 ½ cups diced pineapple
• 1 (11-ounce) can of mandarin oranges
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• ½ cup pecans
• 1 (10-ounce) jar of maraschino (without cherry stems)
• 3 cups mini marshmallows
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• ⅓ cup sour cream

Instructions:

One of the main reasons the Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad is so popular is that you can whip it up in minutes and scale up easily if needed.

Since it is layered with canned pineapple, mandarin oranges, coconut, cream, and marshmallows, Ambrosia Salad is very healthy and quite filling.

The process pretty much goes down to mixing the fruits and leaving it to chill for about 2-3 hours — or even better, overnight — before serving.

It gets especially delicious when it’s cold.

You could also use fresh fruits instead of canned to make it healthier, and add ¼ tablespoon of ground ginger to spice things up. Opportunities are limitless.

But let’s stick to the original Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad Recipe before jumping into any experiments.

Step 1:

Bake the pecans. Preheat an oven to 350 °F and position a rack in the center.

Spread the pecans on a small baking sheet and bake them for about 6-8 minutes until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.

Move the pecans to a medium bowl to cool completely.

Step 2:

Make the perfect whipping cream.

Whip the heavy cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks are formed. After that, add sour cream and whisk it until the mixture is well-combined.

Step 3:

Add the pineapple, coconut, and marshmallows and stir to combine.

Then, add the mandarin oranges.

Step 4:

Cover the bowl with the Ambrosia Salad with plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before serving.

Step 5:

When ready to serve, chop the pecans coarsely and add them to the Ambrosia Salad together with the maraschino cherries. Stir to combine.

Place it in a serving bowl and garnish with the fresh mint leaves.

It is finger-lickin’ good!

Ingredient Substitution

Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad is that kind of salad that leaves plenty of room for experimentation.

You can use other nuts you prefer, add more fruits for more color, use low-fat ingredients to make it healthier, or even create more tropical flavors with a little rum.

It will be great for casual or elegant dinners. You can’t spoil it.

So, check out what you can substitute in the Ambrosia Salad to make it even tastier.

Butter + Milk

Butter plus milk is a foolproof substitution for heavy cream that works for all the recipes.

Butter adds extra fat to the milk, which makes it similar to the fat percentage of heavy cream.

This alternative is not dairy-free, but it’s an option if you’re out of heavy cream.

Just use ¾ cup of milk with ⅓ cup of softened butter, and mix it to replace 1 cup of heavy cream.

Note: keep in mind that it might not whip the same way as the heavy cream does.

Greek Yogurt

If you don’t have sour cream on hand, whole-milk Greek yogurt is the best option. It’s thick and tangy, a perfect cream-like texture for this Ambrosia Salad.

Full-fat Greek yogurts work best for this, but you can also try using plain regular yogurt.

Just note that you’ll have to strain some of the liquid before using it.

Yogurt is a 1:1 substitution, meaning you can replace ⅓ cup of sour cream with the ⅓ cup of Greek Yogurt.

What to Serve with Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad

Since Ambrosia Salad is very versatile, it can quickly go for a snack, dessert, or appetizer.

Besides, it’s quite filling, so all you need to do is just intensify the flavors.

You can serve Ambrosia Salad with a variety of dishes, including nut bars, fresh fruit slices, and honey sauce.

Here’s what we suggest to pair Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad with.

Chocolate chip cookies

You know what they say, nothing tastes as good as buttery and deliciously rich chocolate chip cookies.

Now, imagine if you try pairing those with the Ambrosia Salad.

This combination works exquisitely well together since you get to experiment with myriads of flavors depending on the fruits you decide to add to your salad.

Moreover, you can even go as far as topping the fresh cookies with a big scoop of the fruit salad.

Yes, you got it right.

Since you’ll be storing it in the fridge, Ambrosia Salad will have a nice texture.

Berries

You can never go wrong with some more fruits in your Ambrosia Salad.

Adding more uncut berries allows you to extend the flavor palette and add an alternative texture to this creamy, nutty salad.

Rice pudding

Is there any better way to enjoy this nice creamy dish than with some other milky staple on your table?

Rice pudding is an exceptional pairing for the Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad since it is also creamy and milky, but not too sweet.

This pairing will definitely steal the show, with the complex and sweet fruit flavors. Try it once and you’ll bookmark this recipe for later, no doubt!

How to Store Pioneer Woman Ambrosia Salad

Fruit salads are not ideal for meal prep since sitting a day or two can make the fruits turn brown, soggy, or even sour.

Still, if you want Ambrosia salad to stay fresh for longer, there is a way.

How to Store Ambrosia Salad in the Fridge

If you want to make a large batch of the Ambrosia salad beforehand, you can whip it up 2 days in advance.

Once you make the salad, pour it into an airtight container.

Make sure the lid is perfectly tight.

The Ambrosia Salad can be kept in the fridge for about 3-5 days.

But you’ll probably eat it sooner!

How to Store Ambrosia Salad in the Fridge

The thing with these creamy-based meals is that their consistency is lost if you decide to keep them in the freezer.

The same goes for the Ambrosia Salad, so this is the least recommended method to store this salad.

If you still want to freeze Ambrosia Salad, make sure to place it in an airtight container.

You can then serve it while it’s still frozen with the ice cream scoop.

Or, if you want to enjoy the fresh salad, leave it in the fridge to defrost and add mandarin oranges and cherries after defrosting.