Creamy Orange Fruit Salad is a family favorite and is one of those fruit salad recipes that I’ve made over and over again. We eat this pretty frequently and it has become a traditional Easter dinner favorite. I have been making a version of this salad for years but have recently decided to tweak it a little bit and I’m loving the results!
I know, I know, there are SO many delicious fruit salad recipes out there to choose from, but something about the orange flavor in this dressing is absolutely incredible and so refreshing. You actually use orange juice concentrate, vanilla yogurt and vanilla pudding to make the coating for the fruit in this salad and the orange/vanilla flavor combination is absolutely amazing! Not only is this fruit salad delicious, but this is such an easy fruit salad recipe- it only takes a few minutes to make!
Also read: Fruit Salad With Orange Juice
The original version of this fruit salad recipe is very similar but calls for Cool Whip instead of vanilla Greek yogurt. The taste is very similar but the consistency is a little bit different – so if you would prefer to use Cool Whip, you can find the original version of the recipe here.
This salad can easily be made with different flavors as well so if you want to try something different or you just aren’t a huge fan of orange, you can tweak the recipe a little bit. Swap out the orange juice concentrate with any type of frozen juice concentrate flavor- I think it would be amazing with lemonade or even fruit punch. Limeade might work well too, or some type of strawberry fruit juice – the possibilities are endless!
You can also use a different flavor of yogurt – I love the vanilla flavor especially with the orange flavor, but you could use another flavor of yogurt to add a slightly different taste -strawberry, raspberry, lemon, peach – so many flavors to choose from!
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Can I replace the Cool Whip with Whipped Cream?
If you can’t find Cool Whip, which is the brand name of whipped topping where you live or you prefer not to use it in recipes, you can use stabilized whipped cream instead. If you just use regular whipped cream, the consistency will be too light and the cream will not hold up very well when mixed into the jello salad. It’s very simple to make your own stabilized whipped cream and it just takes a few minutes!
Also read: Orange Juice Fresh Fruit Salad – A Joyfully Mad Kitchen
See How to make Stabilized Whipped Cream recipes here.
What types of fruit are in this Creamy Orange Fruit Salad?
This fruit salad recipe calls for canned pineapple and mandarin oranges, along with fresh strawberries and bananas. I love fruit salads that have some canned fruit in them because then you don’t have to worry about finding (and paying for!) fruit that isn’t in season when you want to prepare a fruit salad to go with dinner. You can add other types of fruit also – I’ve added grapes, kiwi, and raspberries and they all taste absolutely delicious with the orange dressing. My kids love it when I add mini marshmallows but then it definitely becomes a little bit more like a dessert at that point than a side dish.
Can you make fruit salad in advance?
This recipe only takes a few minutes to whip up and then it can be dished up immediately, or it can be kept in the fridge for 1-2 days before serving. Just make sure to leave out the bananas if you are making the salad in advance and then just add them right before serving. Another way to prepare this fruit salad recipe in advance is to make the orange glaze 3-4 days in advance and store it separately and then just add all of the fruit right before serving.
Ingredients in Creamy Orange Fruit Salad recipe
- 1 (3.5 oz) pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
- 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained
- 1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
- 1 cup strawberries, sliced
- 2 bananas, sliced
How to make Creamy Orange Fruit Salad
The first step is to combine the pudding mix with the milk and orange juice concentrate. Mix with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes.
Also read: Fruit Salad – with Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice, Zest, and Maple
Next, stir in the yogurt and then add the pineapple, mandarin oranges and strawberries. If serving immediately, add the bananas, but if you will be serving the salad later, store in the refrigerator and add the bananas just before serving. That’s it!
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Is this fruit salad recipe healthy?
Anytime you add a glaze to fruit, you are adding a bit of sugar and some extra calories, but the Greek yogurt in the recipe does add a little bit of protein which is a nice little boost and hard to find in a fruit salad! You can find a low-sugar Greek yogurt (or even plain Greek yogurt) to use in the recipe and you can use skim milk if you are trying to cut calories a little bit.
Another way to make this fruit salad recipe a little bit healthier is to add more fruit, but keep the amount of orange glaze the same. Double the amount of fruit in the salad and the orange glaze will more lightly coat the fruit to give you that amazing creamy orange flavor with less sugar and calories.
If you enjoyed Creamy Orange Fruit Salad, you may also enjoy the following fruit salad recipes!
- Raspberry Vanilla Jello Salad
- Tropical Jello Pretzel Salad
- Fancy Fruit Salad
- Berries and Cream Salad
- Peaches and Cream Fruit Salad Dip
For more information please see the list of Fruit salad with orange juice
