Nothing says Spring like Pina Colada Ambrosia Salad! With tropical flavors of pineapple and coconut, this fluffy salad will have you daydreaming of a sunny, sandy beach and fruity drinks with umbrellas!
This recipe makes an easy side dish or light dessert.
I took the always-popular Ambrosia Salad and made it tropical. It’s quickly become a favorite. Kids and adults like it and it’s simple to make. Literally, it takes about 5 minutes to mix together.
This is a great alternative side dish for Mother’s Day, Easter, brunch, and Spring cookouts.
Pina Colada Ambrosia Salad
There are six ingredients in this recipe, instant pudding, pineapple, coconut, marshmallows, pecans, and Cool Whip.
- If you don’t like coconut, you can leave it out.
- I used crushed pineapple, but you can use pineapple tidbits. However, you’ll want to use the same amount which is 20 ounces.
- You can substitute pecans with walnuts or almonds. However, personally, I would not omit the nuts completely because it adds a nice crunch.
- I used sugar-free vanilla instant pudding. However, you can use regular instant pudding. If instant pudding isn’t available at your local store, I recommend ordering it here. There really isn’t another substitution in this recipe.
- Finally, you can use regular or light Cool Whip.
- You can add a splash of rum if you really want it to taste like Pina Colada, just don’t serve it to kiddos.
An easy make-ahead dish
Another reason why this recipe is so good for entertaining, it needs to be refrigerated at least an hour before serving. You can make it up to a day in advance but I wouldn’t make it over that time frame.
Additionally, I recommend servings this salad chilled so put it out last on the buffet table.
While you’re here, check out these recipes
Pina Colada Ambrosia Salad
Ingredients
- 1.5 ounce sugar free vanilla instant pudding it's the small box, if you're using regular the weight will be different but it's the small box
- 20 ounces pineapple crushed, undrained
- 8 ounces Cool Whip
- 1.5 cups mini marshmallows
- ⅔ cup coconut shredded, sweetened
- ½ cup pecans chopped
Instructions
Nutrition
You can also find great recipes at my recipe index, Meal Plan Monday, or Weekend Potluck
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Loli Fowler says
Love the sound of this. I pinned it to make for later. It reminds me of the Watergate pistachio salad which was my Mom’s favorite. I will definitely try this one soon. On your point #3, I think you meant you would not omit the nuts, right? I love pecans-will use them. Thanks for making it with less sugar.
Paula says
oh yes!! I would not omit them. Thanks for catching that!