Aunt Cathie’s Southern Grape Salad
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This quick and easy Southern grape salad recipe includes pecans and grapes covered in a sweet yet creamy dressing. The combination of sweet and savory flavor and texture make this the best grape salad I’ve had… EVER!
Today, I’m sharing a recipe for Aunt Cathie’s Southern grape salad from our friend Shannon. I’m gonna tell you now, this is the best grape salad I have ever had IN MY LIFE. Seriously, folks, this grape salad recipe must have been blessed and prayed over at countless church suppers because that is the only logical explanation for how one dish can taste so good.
Aunt Cathie’s Southern grape salad is perfect for a springtime brunch, bridal or baby shower, or just simply as a treat for yourself or anyone else you love enough to serve this earthly manna to. Make sure you save this recipe, print it off, share it on your Facebook wall, or pin it to your Pinterest boards.
Now, this is a deliciously creamy grape salad. We coat our grapes and pecans in both cream cheese and sour cream. Then we add a little sweetness with vanilla, white sugar, and brown sugar. These ingredients are so simple, so staple, and so normal. But when combined, they become something so wonderful! It’s a little sweet, a little savory, and a lot creamy. The pecans also add a lovely texture. Is it obvious yet that I can’t get enough of this grape salad’s flavor? Did I also mention it takes 10 minutes to whip it up? Yep, the best grape salad ever!
Recipe Ingredients
- Cream cheese (check out my easy homemade cream cheese recipe)
- Pecans (optional)
- Sour cream
- Vanilla
- Seedless grapes (I prefer red grapes for color)
- White sugar
- Brown sugar
How to Make Southern Grape Salad
Take your softened cream cheese and put it in a mixing bowl along with the white sugar, sour cream, and vanilla extract.
Beat that with an electric mixer until it accepts its fate of becoming the wondrous dressing for this salad.
Sometimes bad situations transform us into better things, as has just happened to that cream cheese here. #creamcheeselifelessons
Take a large spoon and stir in your whole grapes.
Hopefully, you remembered to wash them. If not, consider this a boon to your immunity!
To anyone freaking out after reading that last sentence: Hey there, friend! It’s gonna be okay. We used to eat dirt as kids. It’s all good. For reals. Exhale.
When you’re done, sprinkle the top with a little brown sugar and some chopped pecans if you’d like.
Now step back, look at it, and smile.
Awww! Such a pretty dish.
Okay, admiring time is over. ENJOY this Southern grape salad today!
Storage
Store leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. I don’t recommend freezing it.
Recipe Notes
- If you like, use a combination of red grapes and green grapes.
- For extra crunch, add a cup of chopped celery and/or diced apples.
- Substitute the chopped pecans for chopped walnuts or omit them completely. Toast the nuts briefly in the oven for extra flavor.
- You can also sprinkle coconut flakes on top for a different kind of taste and texture.
- If you don’t like sour cream, substitute it for Greek yogurt.
- 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.
You might also enjoy these fantastic fruit salad recipes:
Ideas For Fruit Salad – Festive Holiday Fruit Salad
Fresh Fruit Salad with Lemon Honey Dressing
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
Nutrition
Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.
~Lucius Annaeus Seneca
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.