Everyone’s Favorite Cranberry Salad – Tastes Better From Scratch


Our Cranberry Fluff Salad recipe is made with fresh cranberries, sweetened with crushed pineapple and loaded with fluffy marshmallows. It’s a holiday tradition everyone looks forward to.

This may be my favorite side for Thanksgiving, it’s right up there with Thanksgiving Stuffing, Homemade Rolls, my favorite Turkey, and easy Lemon Cream Pie!

An easy Cranberry Fluff salad recipe served in a glass and topped with three fresh cranberries.

Cranberry Fluff is the unsophisticated salad adults love as much as kids.

It’s such an old-fashioned mid-western tradition to serve fluffy dessert “salads” like this at parties, but it’s a holiday tradition I secretly love (it wouldn’t be Easter without our Ambrosia or Frog eye salad!). We’ve been making this one for decades, but after trying Mel’s version a few years ago, with a little cream cheese added for stability, that’s now our go-to method. It’s a bright spot on the table with all of our other favorite side dishes.

Only 6 Ingredients Needed:

All of the ingredients needed to make an easy cranberry fluff recipe: cream cheese, heavy cream, cranberries, crushed pineapple, mini marshmallows, and sugar.

How to make Cranberry Fluff Salad:

Combine: Blend cranberries in a food processor until chopped, but not mushy. Pour into a large bowl, add sugar and pineapple and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, then drain some (not all) of the juice.

Two images showing fresh cranberries blended in a food processor then after sugar and crushed pineapple are dumped on top for a cranberry marshmallow salad.

Add Cream: Beat the cream cheese until smooth then pour in the heavy cream and whip until stiff peaks form. Fold into the cranberry salad. Stir in marshmallows. Cover cranberry fluff salad and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Two images showing a cream cheese whipped cream mixture before and after it's incorporated into a bowl of blended cranberries and pineapple for an easy cranberry fluff recipe.

More Side Dishes to Try:

Follow me for more great recipes

Recipe

Refrigeration Time 6 hours
Total 6 hours 10 minutes
Save Recipe

Prevent your screen from going dark

  • Chop Cranberries: Add the cranberries to a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped, but not mushy.

  • Marinate: Pour the cranberries into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and pineapple and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for one hour or longer.

  • Whip Cream: In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Pour in the cream and whip until stiff peaks form

  • Combine: Drain some of the juice from the cranberry mixture. Fold the whipped cream mixture into the salad. Fold in marshmallows.

  • Chill in the refrigerate for 3-4 hours (or overnight), before serving.

Make Ahead Instructions: The cranberry pineapple mixture can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for a few days. The entire salad could be made 1 day before serving. Store leftover cranberry marshmallow salad covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Calories: 402kcalCarbohydrates: 64gProtein: 4gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 124mgPotassium: 225mgFiber: 3gSugar: 55gVitamin A: 592IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 116mgIron: 0.4mg

Create a FREE Account to save your favorite recipes and create meal plans

I originally shared this recipe November 2015. Updated November 2019 and November 2024.

Recipe from my Grandma, with cream cheese idea adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.

This post contains affiliate links.



Discover more from reviewer4you.com

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

We will be happy to hear your thoughts

Leave a reply

0
Your Cart is empty!

It looks like you haven't added any items to your cart yet.

Browse Products
Powered by Caddy

Discover more from reviewer4you.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading