Overnight Fruit Salad

This amazing overnight fruit salad recipe is packed with juicy fruit and a sweet custard dressing that you make the day before so that it is ready to serve when you are.

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Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time12 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings10 cups

This creamy overnight fruit salad recipe is a delightful make-ahead salad that came right out of grandma’s recipe box. A colorful medley of fruit is combined with a simple custard dressing and mini marshmallows for this fun vintage dessert.

Overnight Fruit Salad Ingredients

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This salad is a delightful medley of flavors and textures, featuring pineapple chunks and mandarin orange.

The salad comes alive with juicy grapes, miniature marshmallows, chopped pecans, and slices of banana, creating a balance of sweet and crunchy elements.

You’ll need:

• 20-ounce can of pineapple chunks (plus juices)
• 15-ounce can of mandarin orange segments (plus juices)
• ¼ cup of lemon juice
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
• 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, whipped (2 cups whipped cream or Cool Whip)
• 2 cups of seedless red or green grapes (or a combination)
• 2 cups of miniature marshmallows
• 1 cup of chopped pecans
• 2 large bananas, sliced into thick slices

Substitutions And Additions

FRUIT: If you have other favorite fruits you’d like to add to this creamy fruit salad, you can.

Depending on the time of year, you can add any seasonal fruit to this wonderful salad that you enjoy.

During the summer, fresh strawberries or peaches would be a tasty option.

PINEAPPLE: There are plenty of different types of canned pineapple.

Pineapple chunks are the right size for this delicious fruit salad recipe, but if you can’t find them, pineapple tidbits will work, or you can even use fresh pineapple if you prefer.

If you are using fresh, just cut fruit to the desired size, and if you don’t have enough pineapple juice, you can substitute water to top up to the needed cup.

LEMON JUICE: Either fresh lemon juice or bottled will work fine in this recipe.

How To Make This Overnight Fruit Salad Recipe

This is the perfect salad to make the day before since it has to chill overnight. Make it before a party or event to save time.

STEP ONE: Pour the juice from the pineapple chunks and the mandarin oranges into a measuring cup – you will need one cup total.

You can combine the two juices or use one and substitute water to make a full cup.

STEP TWO: In a medium saucepan, pour one cup of reserved juices. Add lemon juice to it. Whisk in the sugar and cornstarch.

STEP THREE: Add the eggs to the juice mixture and whisk until combined and frothy.

STEP FOUR: Place the saucepan over medium heat and whisk dressing ingredients constantly, cooking until the mixture thickens into a light custard.

STEP FIVE: Remove the egg mixture from the heat, whisk in the butter, and allow the mixture to cool completely (about one hour).

STEP SIX: Fold the whipped cream into the custard mixture.

STEP SEVEN: In a large serving bowl, toss together drained pineapple chunks, drained mandarin oranges, grapes, marshmallows, and pecans.

When the custard sauce has cooled, pour it over the fruit mixture and toss to combine.

STEP EIGHT: Slice bananas and add them to the fruit mixture.

Stir gently to ensure that the custard mixture coats the banana slices, but be careful not to mash up the banana.

STEP NINE: Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

How To Serve

This delicious salad is a yummy choice to serve for special occasions but also easy enough to make for any day of the week.

Not only would this salad be a great way to finish a fancy meal such as ​​our glazed ham, roasted vegetables and sweet potato casserole, but it would also be a fun treat for a special breakfast over the holidays.

Add our Christmas punch or whipped hot chocolate to drink.

Dessert salads are the way to go for a delightful treat. You get the freshness of the fruit combined with a little burst of sweetness.

Our grape salad and Snickers salad both feature that tasty combination and add a little bit of fun to your fruit salad.

MORE FRUIT RECIPES

Dessert Dips

Fruit Salsa

No Bake Desserts

The Best Orange Fluff Recipe

Storing This Overnight Fruit Salad Dessert

If you have any leftovers of this salad, here are a couple of tips to storing it.

IN THE FRIDGE: This easy fruit salad recipe will keep in the refrigerator for several days.

IN THE FREEZER: We don’t recommend freezing this salad.

This sweet overnight fruit salad is a fantastic dessert option any time of year. Because it uses canned fruit and other fresh fruit that is available all year, you can always count on being able to whip up this old-fashioned fruit salad.

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Overnight Fruit Salad

5 from 1 vote

This amazing overnight fruit salad recipe is packed with juicy fruit and a sweet custard dressing that you make the day before so that it is ready to serve when you are.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 12 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 10 cups

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 20 ounces pineapple chunks plus juices
• 15 ounces mandarin oranges plus juices
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream whipped (2 cups whipped cream or Cool Whip)
• 2 cups seedless grapes
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 cup pecans chopped
• 2 large bananas sliced into thick slices

Instructions

 

• Pour the juice from the pineapple chunks and the mandarin oranges into a measuring cup – you will need one cup total. You can combine the two juices or use one and substitute water to make a full cup.
• In a medium saucepan, pour 1 cup of reserved juices. Add lemon juice to it. Whisk in the sugar and cornstarch.
• Add the eggs to the juice mixture and whisk until combined and frothy.
• Place the saucepan over medium heat and whisk constantly, cooking until the mixture thickens into a light custard.
• Remove from the heat, whisk in the butter, and allow it to cool completely (about 1 hour).
• Fold the whipped cream into the custard mixture.
• In a large bowl, toss together drained pineapple chunks, drained mandarin oranges, grapes, marshmallows, and pecans. When the custard has cooled, pour it over the fruit mixture and toss to combine. Slice the bananas and add them to the fruit mixture. Stir gently to ensure that the custard mixture coats the banana slices, but be careful not to mash up the banana.
• Cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Notes

• The lemon juice will keep the sliced banana from turning brown – I like to slice the bananas just before I can toss them with the custard. The other fruit can be prepared ahead of time. The marshmallows will dry out if removed from their packaging before mixing with the custard.
• Press a sheet of plastic wrap onto the custard while it cools to prevent it from forming a skin.
• The custard-like sauce is light and flavored with a slightly sweet fruit flavor. It keeps the fruit salad light and fresh.

Nutrition

Calories: 359kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 41mg | Potassium: 382mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 827IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 1mg

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