Holiday Fruit Salad (My favorite thing in the world to eat!!)
Alright, I know I always tell you how much I love everything I post here. Well, I decided when I started Southern Plate that if I didn’t love a recipe, I just wouldn’t post it. So I am always telling the truth when I go on and on about how good something is. This is different though. This fruit salad is my absolute favorite thing in the entire world to eat. I adore it. I love it. As my son said once “This is so good, if it were a girl, I’d marry it!”. This fruit salad is soooooooo incredibly good. I LIVE for this fruit salad!
My grandmother makes it at Thanksgiving and Christmas. No other desserts exist for me when this fruit salad is present. You can tempt me with creme brulee, tiramisu, carrot cake, even Grandmama’s chocolate pie, but this fruit salad is the beginning and end as far as I am concerned.
In case you haven’t caught on yet, I REALLY REALLY love THIS fruit salad!
LETS MAKE SOME!!!!
~eyes widen and mouth begins to water~
You will need: Apples, Oranges, Grapes, 3-4 cans fruit cocktail (with juice), 1 Cup sugar, and 6 egg yolks (the yellow part).
Peel and chop apples. Place in bowl.
Peel and cut up oranges. Cut oranges up over apples and stir so that the orange juice prevents them from browning.
Cut grapes into halves. Place in bowl.
Pour all of the fruit cocktail into bowl, juice and all.
stir well.
Drain juice from bowl of fruit into a sauce pot.
Add sugar
(you CAN use Splenda in place of sugar here!)
Separate eggs. You can discard the whites or find another use for them
(I will be showing you how to make a meringue soon!)
Beat egg yolks well.
Add to sauce pot. Stir well.
Cook approximately 15 minutes over medium heat stirring occasionally until slightly thickened.
Cool.
Pour over fruit. Cover and refrigerate.
Will keep in frig for a week. Make at least 24 hours ahead so that flavors can marry.
(or they can just date for a bit, they”ll likely get along better if they haven’t signed on for a commitment after such a short time anyway)
Serve cold.
OMG….if you had any idea how wonderful this tastes you’d be dying right now!
Grandmama and Mama always store theirs in glass jars in the fridge, kind of like this one.
Ingredients
- 6-8 Apples
- 6 Oranges
- 1 lb Grapes
- 3-4 Cans Fruit Cocktail (You can use generic, it is every bit as good!)
- 1 Cup sugar
- 6 egg yolks
Instructions
- Peel fruit and chop into small pieces. Cut oranges over apples so that the juice from the oranges will stop the apples from turning dark. Pour fruit cocktail over fruit. Drain juice from fruit into saucepan.
- Add 1 cup sugar and 6 egg yolks. Blend well.
- Cook approximately 15 minutes over medium heat stirring occasionally until slightly thickened. Cool. Pour over fruit.
- Cover and refrigerate. Will keep in frig for a week. Make at least 24 hours ahead so that flavors can marry. Optional: Coconut and pecans. Bananas can be added but they turn dark quick and the fruit salad will not last as long in refrigerator.
Posted by Christy Jordan
on Nov 24 2008. Filed under Breakfast, Dessert, Holiday Favorites!.
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I cannot wait to try this! Years ago I made a congealed salad with apricots and it had a frosting/topping very similar to your custard. It was divine but unfortunately I lost the recipe. Thanks for all the great recipes, Christy!
This really sounds great. Can’t wait to try it. How many servings does this make?
OMGosh fruit and custard? The love fest for you continues!
i’ve been making this type of fruit salad for many years. but, i put 1 can of tropical salad with 1 can of fruit cocktail. only because it has bananas in it and because i make it for the holidays there is tangerines on the market that’s what i use.
When trying one thanksgiving when our grandson was two, to get him to try fruit. I told him we were having a fruit salad party. He helped put the cut up fruit in the bowl. Still didn’t eat it, but always asked each year if we are going to have a fruit salad party!! I can’t wait to try this one out.
Oh my goodness, we will have 2 fruits salads this year at Thanksgiving and Christmas, this one and the frozen fruit cups. i love fruit salads. I can’t wait to try this!!!
Christy,
Is there anything I could substitute for the fruit cocktail? I really don’t care for that flavor. Could I do something like canned pears and pineapple tidbits maybe freestone peaches? Would the juice of these be just as good? I thought bananas would be nice in it too since that is one of favorite fruits. Thanks for your help.
Linda
Go for it and sub away. Any canned fruit in juice would be great! Make it your own and have fun!
Oh wow this looks amazingly delicious, I so can’t wait to try it!! Thanks for another great family favorite recipe Christy, we love ya girl!
Sounds delish, but my 8 year old is allergic to eggs. Any thoughts on what I could substitute? Thanks!
A friend of mine makes this with Jello Instant Pudding mix.
Yes, We make ours with the instant vanilla pudding mix. Don’t have to cook anything. Sprinkle over fruit , stir well and fridge until juice thickens.
Hey Christy,
Did ya ever make this with the fruit cocktail that has the cherry juice in it? Do you think it would change the flavor? You are givin us too many good recipes. I better start cooking for Thanksgiving now so that I can be done by the time it rolls around!
What would I do without you?
I found this recipe and I am so excited to make this for Thanksgiving to take to my daughters – I know my 2 grandsons will love it! My grandmother made something similar and it was delicious – but yours looks even better! I LOVE the decorative jar you put it in – looks so festive – I love that idea as a container!
This reminds me of a recipe I have that uses Tang breakfast drink and vanilla pudding mix that you pour over fruit. Can’t wait to try yours!!
My mother always made a fruit salad for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I followher receipe every year.
This is the first time I have heard of using fruit cocktail. My husband loves that, so I am going to try to and make this for Thanksgiving and see how it goes. If it is a winner than I know I will add it to make Thanksgivng and Christmas dinner every year.
Thank you for the receipe.
OK… so now, I can *tell* TheBigGuy what a healthy dessert he’s eating, and not be fibbing!! Thanks, Christy.
I’ve got to try this one. An old neighbor used to make one that the sauce was very similar to banana pudding sauce. Hope this tastes close to that!
I HAVE to try this one – it really looks like something I would just LOVE to have in my frig all the time during the holidays.
Thanks so much for sharing this one!
I’m looking so forward to making this fruit salad and taking it to our large family dinner on Thanksgiving.
This recipe is slightly different than the one in the cookbook. This one has more fruit cocktail and less sugar. Any reason for the difference?
I bought the ingredients today and am going to make this tonight…Serving Thanksgiving day but wanted plenty of time for the flavors to mix.
Just got done making the custard for this recipe….mine looks real ‘orangey’…unlike yours…sure hope I ain’t messed it up! Oh well….I recon I can’t make of your recipes point on. lol Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Hey! It’s just the eggs you used, the color varies easily with the eggs. Farm fresh will be realllly deep colored. Now just give me your address and I’ll be right over to help you test it
!
I’m another fan that just finished making this salad for Thanksgiving! I plan to take it to take to my daughter’s home tomorrow! My “custard’ did not thicken very much – maybe it will as it cools and chills? I found a pretty jar with a holiday red lid at Target to use for storage! I know it will be delicious – and my grandsons will love it ! It is so nice to have something tasty and different to take to a family dinner – Happy Thanksgiving to your family!
Would it make a difference if the fruit cocktail was in heavy syrup and not just juice? Just asking, because what I got from the pan was not a good custard sauce. I know I followed the directions correctly. Just trying to figure out what went wrong.
WOW! This is delicious and just the recipe I was looking for!!
When my Dad passed away unexpectedly a tad over 3 yrs. ago someone brought this over but I never could snag the recipe…found it now and will cherish it…wish Pop was around to enjoy it with me!
BTW…I made it for our Thanksgiving and put it in a jar that is the twin to yours…my husbands family loved it so much each of his two sisters and his mama asked me to make them some all their own AND to bring it back for Christmas!!
[...] My favorite thing in the world. Grandmama’s fruit salad! [...]
Is this made with fruit cocktail in heavy syrup or its own juice??
Christy,
I have to say THANK YOU for your recipes! I am a newly wed, and my husband adores my cooking. Well, that’s all because of YOU!! I made this fruit salad tonight, and it will be a tradition in our family for years to come now. It’s to die for!!!! And the shipwreck cassorole, and the chicken planks, and the buttermilk biscuits, and the sweet tea, and the taco soup……….
[...] Holiday Fruit Salad [...]
No kidding – this really is as good as it sounds, and just as easy! One of the girls in my office wants it at her wedding reception in the spring. I can’t wait to add some fresh strawberries and blueberries to it. LOVE IT! Thanks for the recipes.
Hi, I was wondering if you can break this salad down to 1 can of friut cocktail for me. I need to know how much sugar n egg yolks to use. I just would like to make this for 1-2 people at a time. Thanks Chris
Could an egg substitute like Egg Beaters be used in place of the egg whites?
Splenda instead of sugar?
I have made this several times and the more I make it, the better it gets. I usually just half the recipe and still end up with a huge glass bowl of it. The last time I made it I just squeezed the juice from 2 oranges over the cut apples (about 2 large), the red grapes, and I use 1 large plus 1 reg can of cocktail in light syrup. I still used 6 egg yolks to make it the right consistency and only 1/2 cup of sugar and it is awesome. You really can eat on it all week long. Thanks for the recipe!
[...] ones that I have bookmarked are MeMe’s mashed potatoes, Thanksgiving Menu Bonanza, and your Holiday Fruit Salad! They were delicious! Whenever I want a recipe for anything, I first search your site before trying [...]
Yummy! Can’t wait to try. I love all fruit salads(probably because I love all the fruits God made!)
I was all geek’d up while waiting 24 hrs 2 taste this 1, Christy! I think I know what I did wrong. I added each egg yolk n2 the pot individually instead of stirring them n a separate bowl 1st. U can c lil pieces of cooked egg. It still tasted alright but I think it was suppose 2b a thinker consistency. Wondering out loud if I should rinse off the fruit? Oh well, heavy sigh…I’ll know 4 next time or maybe I’ll just take the short cut & use pudding instead of cooking any of the ingredients. The investment was $20. I ended up adding some Reddi Whip & sprinkled some flax seed on top.
[...] Holiday Fruit Salad (Cookbook p.164) [...]
If you need to replace egg yolks in the salad a small box of vanilla instant pudding added to the fruit juices will create the same custard sauce.
Great tip Phyllis!! Thank you for sharing!!
this looks sooo good! A question though, could you not just drain the canned fruit before putting in the bowl? perhaps the juice is helping the apples to not turn brown? thank Christie. wishing all green lights!
I’m with you, the fruit salad is the star attraction at holiday meals! This is a great one and looks like it would be a great one to share. Thanks Christie!
Can’t wait to try this!!! What type apples do you like best in this salad? Tart, sweet? Thanks so much!!!!
Has anyone every made individual Sweet potato pies in a muffin pan? Would I need to adjust the cooking time for them?
I can’t BELIEVE my MIL doesn’t even OWN a pie tin!!!!!! 8-O!!!!!
I’m making this for my Daddy and my brother for Christmas
I make a mean buttermilk poundcake that I give to them and this will be yummy as a topping. Daddy loves his fruit and poundcake.
My mama always made a fruit salad for Thanksgiving and Christmas and it was my favorite. The smell of apples and oranges will always remind me of Christmas.
If you use vanilla pudding instead of the eggs do you still need to add the cup of sugar?
this was AMAZING when I made it last year.. this year, I think before i serve it I’m going to stir in some mini marshmallows.
Christy happy holidays to you and your family and thank you for the oh so wonderful recipes
I love the jar you have it displayed in. What type of jar or size is that? Thanks you! I just love you site and recipes so much.
Scrumptious-dilly- uptious! Making it AGAIN for Christmas. Thank you so much for sharing such a refreshing, delightful, cheerful, colorful, healthy, simple and delicious fruit salad! Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family
)
Christy, I tried making this for Christmas, the cookbook varies from your website. I dont’ have the cookbook with me but I think it says stir constantly and use only 1 can of fruit cocktail? I never have noticed a difference between the site and your book so was wondering what happened.
I just made this for a birthday brunch, and I’ve decided I want it in my fridge at ALL TIMES. My hubby can’t eat eggs, so I followed another reader’s advice by mixing the cocktail juice with a small box of Jello instant vanilla pudding. It is the most heavenly-tasting sauce. I can see why this is one of Christy’s favorites!