Something about Easter dinner and springtime makes me love and look forward to cold spring salads with fruit and that fluffy texture. Maybe it’s having folks from East Texas or loving a Sunday potluck, but I’m the lady who still likes a cold salad. Well, most of them.
Today, I’m sharing some favorites from my mama’s cookbook. These are recipes my grandmother passed on to her and are probably in every church cookbook they shared. I’m not one for a ton of fruit and anything congealed. So, rest assured these aren’t those scary molded salads from the 60s and 70s. We are talking good every time grandma makes them green, pink, and yellow salads that should probably be on the dessert table instead.
Mustache Salad
Ingredients
- 1 box pistachio pudding
- 1 can crushed pineapple don’t drain
- 8 oz tub cool whip
Instructions
- Stir together pudding mix and crushed pineapple.
- Fold in pineapple.
- Chill for 4 hours or overnight to set.
Notes
Note: This is similar to watergate salad, but I don’t like the texture of marshmallows or nuts in fluffy things, so mama leaves them out. We always called it mustache salad because it gets caught in the mustache of the church deacons when they eat it! We usually double the recipe and I’ve only ever seen it stored in a giant cool whip tub.
Green Salad (aka Lime Pear Salad)
Ingredients
- 1 can pear halves don’t drain
- 8 oz bar cream cheese
- 1 box Lime jello orange works too!
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Put a can of pears in the fridge to chill.
- Boil 1 cup water in a saucepan.
- Add jello and stir to dissolve.
- Pour through a strainer into the blender.
- Add cream cheese and chilled pears to the blender.
- Puree in blender until smooth.
- Pour into a bowl or shallow container.
- Chill 4 hours or overnight, until set.
Frozen Fruit Delight
Ingredients
- Âľ C sugar
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- Small can crushed pineapple
- 1 box frozen sliced strawberries
- 3 mashed bananas
- ½ C nuts
- 8 oz. whipped topping
Instructions
- In a stand mixer, stir together sugar and cream cheese.
- Mix in pineapple, thawed strawberries, bananas and nuts.
- Using a spatula, hand fold in whipped toping.
- Lightly spray 9×13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.
- Pour mixed ingredients into a 9×13 dish.
- Freeze overnight.
- Serve from freezer.
Strawberry Surprise
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 can Eagle Brand milk
- Frozen sliced strawberries
- Whipped topping
Instructions
- In a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat together cream cheese and Eagle Brand.
- Stir in thawed strawberries.
- Fold in whipped topping.
- Chill 4 hours or overnight.
- Serve chilled.
Pink Delight
Ingredients
- 1 med. container whipped topping
- 1 can Eagle Brand
- 1 sm. can crushed pineapple
- 1 can cherry pie filling
- ½ cup pecans chopped
Instructions
- Chop pecans.
- Stir together Eagle Brand, pineapple, pie filling, and pecans.
- Fold in whipped topping.
- Chill 4 hours or overnight.
- Serve chilled.
These ALL look so good…and I have had several of these in the past. Thank you for bringing them back to the spotlight again, for two of these will be at my Easter dinner. I love how easy, but how wonderful these southern salads are and the memories they bring with them. Blessings for your Easter!
Keisha… I real like the Frozen Fruit Delight. Yes ago, when I was going through Chemo, a friend brought this to me. It was so good when nothing else treated good. Just so refreshing.
But thy Strawberry Surprise?… I’ve got to try that!
I did not know that was the origin of the Frozen Fruit Salad. My favorite is that the recipe card says “feeds one Pittman family”.