This cherry fluff salad is a flavorful no-bake sweet cherry dessert that will be the hit at every potluck you go to. Recipe requests are inevitable with this amazing and easy-to-make Cherry Salad.
Cherry Salad – The best side!
My favorite foods to pile up on my plate at any potluck are the sides. The dessert salads are a side dish that are in a league of their own – especially the old-fashioned tried and true dessert salads. They are my absolute favorite.
Don’t confuse this with the Cherry Cheesecake Salad that has cherry pie filling and sweetened condensed milk. That is a delicious recipe, and one I will add to the blog in the near future, but this cherry salad is a stand-alone star and one I think you have to try.
Love easy desserts? You should try my recipe for Pistachio Fluff. It is so easy to make and so yummy.
Table of contents
I recently had a hankering for the one my mom used to bring to potlucks or holiday get-to-gethers, so I gave her a call. She couldn’t remember the exact one that I was talking about, so she gave me something similar to what I remembered as a kid. It was close, but not exactly the same. After doing some doctoring to the recipe, however, I think it’s even better than the original.
When these ingredients come together in a bowl, how can you go wrong? I’ll tell you, my family couldn’t stop snacking on it. The bowl was empty in no time, and that to me is the biggest test. It’s definitely a winner that you’ll be handing out the recipe for all year long.
If you are here looking for side dishes or more fruit salads that you can take to holidays or backyard barbeques, check out these recipes –classic macaroni salad, the best broccoli salad ever, and old-fashioned Waldorf salad.
Make-Ahead and Storage:
You can easily make this cherry salad up to a few days in advance. Cover and store in the refrigerator. When you are ready to serve it, stir ingredients to make sure they are juices are mixed in.
Where can I serve Cherry Salad?
- holidays – such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas
- backyard barbeques
- picnics
- wedding or baby shower
- potlucks
- dinner
- as a dessert
- serve as a snack
Are you ready to make this delicious pink cherry fluff? Let’s make sure you have everything you’ll need:
Ingredients:
- cream cheese
- powdered sugar
- whipping cream – you can substitute cool whip
- 8 oz. of cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat)
- maraschino cherries – cut in half + juice
- crushed pineapple – drained
- pecan pieces or halves
- mini marshmallows
Other helpful equipment:
- large mixing bowl
- silicone spoon or mixing utensil
- stand-alone or handheld mixer
- strainer
Tips and tricks for this dessert salad:
- if you don’t like pineapple or pecans – leave them out
- a great substitute for pineapple could be mandarin oranges – drained
- you can substitute walnuts for pecans or other nuts such as almond slivers or pistachios
- chill well before serving
- it’s fine to substitute cool whip for heavy whipping cream (whipped)
- if you don’t have crushed pineapple, drained pineapple chunks will work just as well
Add-Ins for Cherry Fluff Dessert Salad:
you might try…
- mandarin oranges
- pistachios
- walnuts
- coconut
- cottage cheese
How do you Make Cherry Fluff Salad?
Instructions:
- mix softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, drained crushed pineapple, cherries, and juice
- using a mixer whisk the heavy whipping cream
- fold in whipping cream, pecans, and marshmallows
Here’s the printable recipe for you:
How to Make Cherry Salad – Cherry Fluff Salad (No Bake)
Print Pin RateIngredients
- 8 oz. softened cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese 1/3 less fat
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 pt. heavy whipping cream 2 CUPS – you can substitute cool whip
- 1 cup maraschino cherries – cut in half
- 6 Tbsp. maraschino cherry juice
- 1 cup crushed pineapple – drained
- 1 cup pecan pieces or halves
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
Instructions
- mix softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, drained crushed pineapple, cherries, and cherry juice
- using a mixer whisk the heavy whipping cream until it is stiff
- fold in whipping cream, pecans, and marshmallows into the cream cheese mixture
- cover and refrigerate for 2 hours
Did you add 8 ounces or 16 ounces of cream cheese?
I used 8 oz. of cream cheese.
Oh my gosh! I just realized why you asked that! I looked at the recipe real quick and saw it wrote 8 oz., and thought…why is she asking that. Then, I double-checked and saw that I wrote it twice. oopsie! That was a big oversight on my part. Let me go fix that right away.
I’ve always made the Cherry Fluff recipe that uses sweetened condensed milk. Does this one have more of a cheesecake flavor using cream cheese?
Hmm…I don’t personally think it has a cheesecake flavor. The cream cheese adds texture and thickens it.