This old-fashioned frozen fruit salad made with cool whip, walnuts, and fresh strawberries will bring you back to your childhood! This dessert treat comes from my grandma’s recipe box and is a great make-ahead dessert in the summer.
If you like this recipe you’ll also other vintage recipes like this old-fashioned carrot cake and mandarin orange salad.
This recipe is incredibly easy to make. And because it’s frozen, you can make it days ahead. It hits the mark on all my favorites. Made with strawberries, pineapple, and bananas it can be made year-round.
Key Ingredients
- Cool Whip – Yes you can make your own whipped cream. However, if you want that true vintage taste, use cool whip.
- Cream Cheese – Makes sure it’s softened. Place it on the kitchen counter at room temperature for about 20 minutes and you’re ready to whip it into the recipe!
- Fruit – My favorites to use in this recipe are bananas, pineapple tidbits and frozen strawberries.
How to Make Frozen Fruit Salad with Cool Whip
- Whip together the softened cream cheese, cool whip, and sugar until smooth.
- Mix together the nuts, bananas, frozen strawberries, and pineapple in a separate bowl.
- Fold in the cool whip mixture into the mixed fruit until well incorporated.
- Freeze in a serving dish overnight.
When you’re ready to enjoy, just set out for at least 30 minutes to thaw a bit. Slice and enjoy!
There are few recipes that take me back to my childhood, but when I do stumble onto one I want to make it over and over again. This frozen fruit salad is absolutely a treat to be had. I’ve never been one to shy away from old fashioned recipes, so why not fruit salad – frozen. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Watch How to Make
Recipe Tips
How to Thaw: This fruit salad will be frozen SOLID when you take it out the freezer. That makes it difficult to cut into. Set out this dessert 30 minutes before you want to slice it.
Strawberries: I prefer using fresh strawberries, cutting them into bit size pieces and then freezing them. It make it much easier to consume this dessert. If you’re in a crunch, you can use frozen berries, they’ll just make bigger bites in the final product.
Nuts: If you don’t like them leave them out! I prefer using walnuts in this recipe but any favorite nut will work. (Except peanuts, I don’t recommend using those.)
Frozen Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 9 oz cool whip
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 bananas sliced
- 20 oz pineapple tidbits drained
- 10 oz frozen strawberries
- 1/2 cup nuts chopped
Instructions
- Using a hand mixer, whip together cool whip, softened cream cheese, and sugar until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine nuts, pineapple, strawberries, and nuts.
- Fold in the cool whip mixture into the fruit and nut mixture. Mix well.
- Add to the pan of your choice. Freeze overnight.
Notes
Nutrition
More Dessert Recipes
This frozen fruit salad recipe was originally published back in 2017.
Comments & Reviews
Hope you can reply today! 😁 I’m making this for dessert tonight! would this still be good if it didn’t freeze for ten hours? like maybe 7-8 hours? and can cottage cheese be used in place of cream cheese? does it need to be frozen at all? Thank you!
I haven’t tested less than 10 hours but you may be okay depending on how cold your freezer is. If you have a deep freezer, that would be helpful as it freezes at a lower temperature. You may want to freeze it in a larger pan with a more shallow base to help it freeze faster. In terms of cream cheese vs cottage cheese, they have a very different texture and flavor so I can’t guarantee results with cottage cheese. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Easy and delicious. Glad it doesn’t call for a gelatin. I put into 24 silicone cupcake liners. Perfect!
Im making this for my family reunion. Will the bananas be ok? Should I squeeze lemon juice over them?
They will be ok because the recipe is frozen! There is no need to put lemon juice over them, just make as directed and keep frozen until serving. Enjoy!
Once the salad has frozen overnight, should any leftovers be refrozen or can they then be stored in the fridge?
I would keep it in the freezer. It will taste okay chilled – but the real star is when it’s frozen.
Hi Lynette. I’ve been looking for this recipe! My mother-in-law always made these for the holidays, but used maraschino cherries instead of strawberries. These, I know my husband is going to love! My only question is, can I make these in pretty festive paper cups and freeze? That’s how my mother-in-law did them! I’m so glad I found ur site: Love your format and your recipes!
Thank you and I hope ur holidays are bright!
Your comment is why I share recipes. I love reuniting people with long-lost recipes that bring back memories. In terms of putting it in festive paper, I do think that would work. I would line a muffin tin with the papers to help support them until they freezer. Great idea, by the way!
Can I reduce the amount of sugar in the froZen fruit salad?
Of course! I haven’t tried the results, so let me know how it turns out.
How long can you keep this old fashioned fruit salad in the freezer?
Hi Sally, it will last for quite a while. The only concern is that the longer it’s in there the more likely it will get freezer burn.
Can you use blueberries and no nuts
The very top of your description it says, Made with walnuts and fresh strawberries, this make ahead dessert is the perfect cool treat. However the recipe says frozen strawberries. Can you use fresh strawberries?
Yes! I use fresh strawberries that I freeze ahead of time. It’s described in the recipe post but I’ll update the recipe card to avoid confusion in the future. Thanks!
In the recipe you mention frozen bananas but there is no mention of freezing in the steps. Could you clear this up.
In the post it should have said frozen strawberries. I mentioned adding bananas and frozen bananas. 🤦♀️ I am sorry for the confusion and I’ve updated the post. The recipe card has been correct in that you need frozen strawberries but the bananas can just be sliced at room temperature. Thank you so much for letting me know so I can update the post!
What size pan
looking forward to it!
This recipe is fantastic. I served this and it was a big hit. Will make it over again.
My Mom used to make this and freeze it in individual foil muffin liners, you have to use foil liners the salad will stick to paper