Aunt Cathie’s Southern Grape Salad
If you’ve never had Southern Grape Salad before, get ready for a dish that’ll surprise you in the best way. Juicy grapes and crunchy pecans are folded into a luscious dressing made from cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla, and sugar, then finished with a sprinkle of brown sugar on top. Simple ingredients, but when they come together, you get a potluck-worthy salad that tastes like it’s been prayed over at more than a few church suppers.
Craving more fresh and colorful dishes? Check out my favorite fruit salad recipes: Five-Cup Fruit Salad, Fresh Fruit Salad with Lemon Honey Dressing, and Fruit Cocktail Cake!
The process couldn’t be easier. Beat softened cream cheese with sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until smooth, then stir in whole seedless grapes. Sprinkle brown sugar and pecans over the top, and you’re done. That creamy dressing clings to every grape, balancing the sweetness with just enough tang, while the pecans add a bit of crunch. You can serve it right away, but letting it chill for a few hours makes it even better.
Before You Get Started
- Soften the cream cheese: Leave it at room temperature overnight so it blends smoothly.
- Choose your grapes: Red grapes add a pretty color, but green grapes or a mix of both work too.
- Nut options: Pecans are traditional, but you can swap in walnuts or leave them out. Toasted nuts add more flavor.
- Make ahead: This salad can be made up to 24 hours in advance and stored in the fridge until serving.
Recipe Ingredients
- Seedless grapes
- Sour cream (full fat will give you more flavor)
- Cream cheese (check out my easy homemade cream cheese recipe)
- Vanilla extract
- White sugar
- Brown sugar
- Chopped pecans (optional)
How to Make This Easy Grape Salad Recipe
- Let the cream cheese come to room temperature. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla, and white sugar. Beat until smooth.
Tip: You can use an electric mixer or hand mixer to make it super creamy.
- Stir in whole grapes until coated.
- Transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle the top with brown sugar and chopped pecans, if desired.
- Chill until ready to serve.
Storage
- Fridge: Store in an airtight container up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Not recommended, as grapes don’t hold up well once frozen and thawed.
Recipe Notes
- Choose your grapes wisely: If you like, use a combination of red grapes and green grapes.
- Add extra crunch: Add a cup of chopped celery and/or diced apples.
- Nut swap: Substitute the chopped pecans for chopped walnuts or omit them completely. Toast the nuts briefly in the oven for extra flavor.
- More texture: You can also sprinkle coconut flakes on top for a different kind of taste and texture.
- Sour cream swap: If you don’t like sour cream, substitute it for Greek yogurt.
- Extract swap: Substitute the vanilla extract for almond extract if you like.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make my grape salad in advance?
Absolutely! In fact, I think it tastes even better when chilled overnight, so you can definitely make it up to 24 hours in advance.
What do you serve with grape salad?
Grape salad is a popular appetizer to take to a potluck, barbecue, or holiday party. But you can also serve it as a side dish with your favorite main meal. This might be fried chicken, grilled chicken tenders, or Southern fried catfish.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds seedless grapes
- 8 ounces sour cream
- 16 ounces cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- chopped pecans, optional
Instructions
- Allow the cream cheese to come to room temp by leaving it on the counter overnight. In a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla, and granulated sugar. Beat until well blended and smooth.8 ounces sour cream, 16 ounces cream cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ cup white sugar
- Stir in grapes to coat.2 pounds seedless grapes
- Move to a serving dish and sprinkle the top of your salad with brown sugar and pecans.2 tablespoons brown sugar, chopped pecans, optional
I made this recently and absolutely loved it. This will be the only grape salad recipe I ever plan to try-I liked that much. Thanks for sharing.
Definitely addictive. I was given this, or a very similar recipe, many years ago. BTW, it also looks great in a trifle bowl or some other taller clear glass container.
I’ve been making this salad for many many years and it’s always a crowd favorite. The only thing I do different is to use two different colors of grapes. Makes it even prettier.
That sounds like it would be beautiful. Thank you so much for your kind words 🙂
I have never even heard of grape salad. It look’s amazing. I actually think I would like to eat this for breakfast. ♀️Thank you for sharing it. We are having “Thanksgiving” dinner this Sunday. My son is in the Navy and he wasn’t here for any of the holidays because of COVID-19. No traveling allowed. I am going to make this salad.
This is one of my favorites and we laugh and say actually it’s so sweet and good it could serve as dessert. Only thing I do different is only one package of cream cheese as 16oz is a little over kill for me…but to each his own. Also it’s fun to use two colors grapes for more color. It’s just plain delicious no matter what you add or don’t add. So glad to see it shared on your page.
Thank you for your comments! Love this “salad” 🙂
Christy, I grew up in north Louisiana. We had cows and chickens and a horse or two and Daddy always had a big garden. He was a carpenter by trade and worked in Shreveport, so he had to get up early and take care of the livestock before leaving for his job. Momma fixed a big breakfast of hot biscuits and bacon or sausage and eggs every single morning for him, and my older sister and I got up and we all had breakfast together and a devotional even though it was very early before school. I was always ENVIOUS of my friends who had toast for breakfast. It sounded so exotic, until I had my first piece and saw what it was! 🙂 Then, for supper we had chicken or some kind of beef and vegetables (most of which I didn’t like – I’d wrap my green beans in a slice of bread!) and cornbread and dried beans of some sort. I gradually began to like various veggies, though, so perseverance does pay off! I’d give the world to sit around that kitchen table one more time, with my daddy stirring, stirring his iced tea telling either about his dreams over breakfast or his day at work and who he’d picked up on the job and taken to lunch. Such sweet memories. I can hear Momma singing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” right this minute while she cooks.
I love this Grape Salad. We don’t have children to pass these memories on to, but I hold them dear to my heart and the little bit that I cook, I cook with my Momma in my heart as well. She would have loved this recipe and Daddy would have, too. You’re a treasure.