Mandarin Pineapple Fluff Salad

We were at a wedding a few months back when I spied a suspicious looking fluffy salad in the buffet line.  I say suspicious, mostly because I'm a little leery of those "ambrosia" type salads.  I mean, you never quite know what is going to be in there... will it be fruit...nuts...berries...twigs...?  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for fruit and whipped cream, it's just those "unknowns" that usually make me pass it on by. So initially I don't know what compelled me to grab a small scoop of this pretty salad, but I was so glad I did.  Soon I was hunting down the maker of said salad to secure a copy of the recipe, which now I can share with you!

Mandarin and Pineapple fluff salad - a tropical delight!

First and foremost, if you are tired of the same ol' whipped cream salads, then you are in for a real treat!  This is such a lovely tropical variation of a fruit salad that the whole family will love.  By the way, there are many versions of this salad out there on the interwebs.  Some use tapioca, some use vanilla pudding, and some strange souls make this with cottage cheese.  Um.  We won't talk about them.  We actually ended up making this twice, once with vanilla pudding when I couldn't locate tapioca at the store (a disaster of unspeakable proportions) and the second time following the exact directions with tapioca, which gave us the fluffy salad we were looking for.  Here is what you will need. (full printable recipe at the bottom of the post)

1 box (3oz) orange jello
2 boxes (3oz) tapioca pudding mix
2 cups of water
1 16 oz can of mandarin oranges, drained
1 8 oz can of crushed pineapple
1 8 oz tub of cool whip (thawed)

In a medium pot, add 2 cups of water, one box of orange jello, and the 2 boxes of tapioca pudding and mix together.  Cook on a little above medium heat stirring constantly until it comes to a boil.  This will take between 5-10 minutes.  Right before it boils you will see it noticeably thicken.

keep stirring, you are trying to dissolve everything into a smooth consistency

Once you get to a boil then take it off the heat.  It will smell like heavenly orange creamsicles at this point.  Let this mixture cool for at least 15 minutes (ours was still pretty hot, so we let it cool down much more).  Once it is totally cool it will look like this:

Pour this cooled mixture into your salad/serving bowl.  Next add in your drained mandarin oranges and your crushed pineapple.

Mandarin oranges are my girls' absolute favorite!

Gently stir in the fruit until everything is combined nicely.

Now for the fun part: Flop the whole 8 oz container of cool whip and "fold" it into the fruit/pudding mixture.  This will lighten up the color a bit and add that fluffy element that makes this so light and airy. 

fluffy fluffy fluffy goodness

You are now done with your Mandarin Pineapple Fluff Salad.  All that is left to do is chill this bad boy for a few hours, until you are ready to serve it.  We actually made this the night before and it was fabulous by party time the next day.  This stuff goes pretty fast and it was highly recommended to me to double it, so we did.  A doubled recipe will fit in a nice big serving bowl and is a perfect size for a big crowd.

Embrace the fluffiness

We served this as a side at my daughter's tropical luau birthday this weekend and kids, adults, cousins, party goers, everyone loved this thing.  We only had a tiny bit left over but it was just as tasty the next day.  This would make a great side at any upcoming holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas) and any summer BBQ or large family get together.  People around you will rave and beg for the recipe.  Full printable recipe found here.  Enjoy!