Creamy Fruit Salad with Vanilla Pudding
Crowd-pleasing Creamy Fruit Salad with vanilla pudding, fresh fruit, canned peaches, and pineapple is the perfect summer dish!
Backyard BBQs and playdates with all the neighborhood kids are the perfect times to whip this quick and easy Creamy Fruit Salad with Vanilla Pudding! Slice fresh strawberries and bananas, grab a bunch of grapes, a few cans of peaches, and pineapple, and mix everything with vanilla instant pudding for a creamy fruit-tastic snack. Everyone will gobble it up!
Fun and Fruity
Everyone likes a good fruit salad but they especially love Creamy Fruit Salad! It’s irresistible, sweet and light with fresh fruit and a little creaminess that takes this from a fruit dish to something more like dessert! Strawberries, bananas, grapes, peaches, and pineapple are a tasty combination perfect for any occasion. I love tossing this together for potlucks or simple backyard gatherings when I want something simple and crowd-pleasing. Little hands and big hands alike grab more and more of this delicious fruit salad; before you know it, it’s all gone!
Hawaiian Cheesecake Salad is another sweet potluck hit that can be enjoyed as a side or as a dessert but a savory fruit salad, like Watermelon Salad, is the perfect pairing of summer fruit and Greek flavors!
Other Recipes to Serve with Creamy Fruit Salad
- Mix a pitcher of Summer Punch, full of sweet, bubbly fun for the grown-ups, and enjoy the warm days even more!
- The ultimate appetizer for all backyard parties is Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Chips– it’s always the first dish to disappear!
Ingredients
Fresh Fruit: To make this salad, you will need hulled and quartered strawberries, sliced bananas, and grapes.
Canned Fruit: Pick up a few cans of sliced peaches and pineapple chunks for this recipe.
Pudding: Add creaminess to this salad with a package of vanilla instant pudding.
How to Make Fruit Salad with Vanilla Pudding
STEP ONE: Add the sliced peaches and their juice and the pineapple chunks to a large mixing bowl.
STEP TWO: Pour in the vanilla pudding and stir until the pudding is completely dissolved.
STEP THREE: Stir in the bananas, strawberries, and grapes until evenly mixed.
STEP FOUR: Chill the fruit salad in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or until the pudding has thickened. Transfer the fruit salad to a serving bowl, if desired, or portion it into individual cups for serving.
Tips for Success
- If you would like to use another pudding flavor instead of vanilla, feel free to do so. You can also use sugar-free pudding mix in this recipe.
- The pudding may look a little lumpy when mixed, but the lumps will disappear as the salad is mixed.
- Be sure to include the peach, pineapple juice, and fruit to help create the creamy dressing for the fruit.
- If you want to enjoy the fruit salad before the pudding is set, you can. It can be hard to wait to enjoy this sweet dish, but try to give it at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Store the fruit salad in a tightly covered container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Can I use other fruit in this fruit salad?
The wonderful thing about fruit salads is how versatile they are. Mix just about any of your favorite fruits together for a wonderful salad. Vanilla has such a great, lightly sweet flavor that it is also great with any fruit. If you don’t care for one or more of the fruits in this recipe, swap them out for fruit you enjoy. Try orange slices, diced mango, cubed apples, kiwi, blueberries, or blackberries. If you don’t like including bananas in your salad, feel free to leave them out. Combine the fruits that you like to make an amazing creamy fruit salad.
Can I use creamy fruit salad as a topping?
Sweet fruit in a vanilla dressing makes a wonderful topping for a number of dishes! Try a large scoop of fruit salad over Greek yogurt, a stack of pancakes, or a slice of pound cake. You can also top ice cream with this fruit salad or enjoy the salad with whipped cream on top. There’s no shortage of ways to eat this creamy fruit salad, so find your favorite way to enjoy it all summer!
More Fruit Salad Dishes to Love!
- The Best Fruit Salad Recipe
- Grape Salad
- Boozy Tropical Fruit Salad
- Berry Cheesecake Salad
- Watermelon Stars with Fruit Dip
*This post originally posted on 05/16/2016.
Creamy Fruit Salad with Vanilla Pudding
Equipment
Ingredients
- 30 ounces canned sliced peaches in juice
- 20 ounce canned pineapple chunks in juice
- 5.1 ounces instant vanilla pudding mix (1 large box)
- 1 pound strawberries stemmed and quartered
- 2 bananas peeled and sliced
- 1 bunch red grapes stems removed
- Fresh mint for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- To a large mixing bowl, add the peaches with juice, pineapple chunks with juice, and the vanilla pudding mix. Stir until the pudding mix is fully dissolved into the juice.
- Stir in the strawberries, bananas, and grapes until coated.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Transfer the fruit salad to a serving bowl or portion it into individual cups for serving. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint if desired.
How much blueberries do you add to this? I have made one like this without the blueberries, only you cook the pudding with the juices. I like this idea better! I can’t wait to try this version! Thank you!
Joy, I’m not sure what Krissy would tell you but I would start with 1 pint. This fruit salad is very adaptable to one’s own taste. For instance, I use apples instead of the bananas. I like to be able to keep it in the fridge a few days and bananas sometimes begin to turn brown. Some people also use mandarin oranges but if you are thinking about color, you want to be sure to mix in fruits that will be colorful. Raspberries and kiwi are also good choices.