Cranberry Salad

Cranberry fluff salad filled with fresh cranberries, pineapple, marshmallows, apples and whipped cream. Perfectly sweet and tangy with a creamy consistency.

Easy Cranberry Fluff Salad

This easy cranberry fluff is similar to my ambrosia salad, but made with cranberries instead of mandarin oranges. It’s super delicious and has great flavor. Some other favorites are watergate salad, raspberry jello pretzel salad and pineapple fluff.

This cranberry salad (aka cranberry fluff) is the perfect Thanksgiving side dish to add to your Thanksgiving menu. Let’s be honest… it’s pretty much a dessert. Not sure why it’s even called a salad, but I’m okay with that. It’s so delicious!

This dessert is made with fresh cranberries, giving you that tasty sweet and tangy flavor. It’s also filled with pineapple, marshmallows, chopped apples and whipped cream. You can even mix in nuts or coconut (or both!), which adds a nice crunch. However I usually leave those out to keep it kid-friendly.

What You’ll Need

The ingredients for this cranberry fluff are super simple. Below are the base ingredients, but feel free to add in extras like chopped pecans or shredded coconut for some crunch. Amounts included in printable recipe below.

• Fresh cranberries
• Granulated sugar
• Crushed pineapple
• Green apple
• Mini marshmallows
• Whipped cream (or cool whip)

How to Make Cranberry Salad

Scroll down for the printable recipe.

1. Crush the cranberries. Add the cranberries and sugar to a food processor or blender and begin blending together. Scrape down the sides and blend a few more seconds. You want the cranberries to be cut into small pieces, but not liquid.
2. Stir in pineapple and refrigerate. Then mix in the pineapple and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
3. Add remaining ingredients and chill again. Drain the juices, then stir in the apples and marshmallows. Add the coconut and nuts if desired. Fold in the cream. Then place the cranberry salad in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Helpful Tips

• Blender. I like to use a blender or food processor to crush the cranberries. Just don’t puree them.
• Juices. Make sure all of the juices are completely drained so that you don’t have a runny salad.
• Creamy. I added the full 2 cups of whipped cream because my family likes it extra creamy. If you want to keep it more on the tart side, add 1 cup.
• Cool whip. You can use cool whip in place of whipped cream if preferred.
• Make ahead. This is a great dish that can be made the night before. Follow steps 1 and 2, then complete the 3rd step on the day of serving.
• Top. Top with whole fresh cranberries and mini marshmallows for an extra festive touch!

More Holiday Dishes

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