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Serve up a spoonful of creamy Orange Fluff Salad at your next family gathering. This retro dessert salad delightfully combines jello with whipped topping, crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges for a luscious treat that everyone will love.
If you're from the Midwest, you know this jello salad recipe, especially as part of an Easter meal or Thanksgiving dinner..
It's the one that my family calls orange fluff. My husband's family calls it Orange Junk Salad and the neighbor calls it Orange Stuff. My great Aunt calls it Mandarin Orange Fluff Jello Salad.
Yet we all know what fruit salad we're talking about.
I mean, let's face it - when we devoured this sweet treat as kids, we didn't know what was in it. We just knew it was delicious.
What is orange jello fluff?
I'd rank this orange fluff salad recipe along with other famous retro American desserts. Think of ambrosia salad, oreo fluff, watergate salad, and all those fluff-style desserts.
It's sweet and creamy, light and fluffy. The jello with tapioca pudding adds body and texture and of course, there's a hint of the tropics from the fruit.
It kinda tastes like an orange pineapple creamsicle, except - fluff. Dreamy, right???
When we were kids, my Mom called it a salad. In the family cookbooks, guess where it's listed? Not in the cake section, not in the sweets or desserts. It's in the salad portion of the cookbook, right along the also delicious Taffy Apple Salad.
I love my ancestors.
How to make Orange Fluff Salad
Okay, let's do this! In a large bowl, add one package of orange jello and two packages of tapioca pudding to three cups of boiling water.
Stir well until all the jello mix dissolves. In case you'd like to know, this was my job as a child and it took it very seriously. Moving on...
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
I'm gonna repeat that. Refrigerate overnight. This means don't wait until the last minute to make this like I may have done the very first time I made it. Ehem...
Add Cool Whip to the jello mixture. Now, you can 100 percent do this by hand but just know your arm muscles may feel the burn in the process. I like to use a hand mixer to break up the jello a bit to make the job easier.
You want your jello to be broken into little pieces. Stir in the Cool Whip.
Drain your canned fruit and fold it gently into the mixture. And that's it!
You may want to transfer it to a serving bowl, or maybe not. Your call.
Variations
- Use pineapple tidbits instead of crushed pineapple for a chunkier jello salad.
- Substitute canned and drained fruit cocktail
- Top with mini marshmallows as a fun, playful garnish.
You might also like this jello with fruit cocktail!
Can I use Sugar Free Options?
Sure, you can use sugar free jello and light whipped topping when you make orange fluff.
Oh, and make sure you lick the spoon when you're finished.
Other delicious recipes you'll love:
- Mom's Apple Slab Pie
- Pistachio Fluff Salad
- Mom's Cinnamon Rolls
- Best Scotcheroo Bars
- Mandarin Orange Cake
If you make this Orange Jello fluff, leave a comment below!
Orange Fluff Jello Salad
Ingredients
- 2 packages tapioca pudding cook n serve (3 ounces each)
- 1 package orange jello 3 ounce package
- 20 ounce can crushed pineapple drained
- 15 ounce mandarin oranges drained
- 8 ounce cool whip brand or similar whipped topping
Instructions
- Â In a large bowl, add one package of orange jello and two packages of tapioca pudding to three cups of boiling water.
- Stir well to combine until all the jello mix is dissolved. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- After the jello has set, add Cool Whip to the jello mixture. You can do this by hand or may use a hand mixer to break up the jello into small pieces.
- Stir in the Cool Whip. Drain your canned fruit and fold it gently into the mixture.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
-
- Use pineapple tidbits instead of crushed pineapple for a chunkier jello salad.
-
- Substitute canned and drained fruit cocktail
-
- Top with mini marshmallows as a fun, playful garnish.
Karen
Stores do not carry 3 oz pkg of Tapioca. I have the large box. What would be the amount of Tapioca I should use for this recipe ? Thank you
Rachel
This is easy to make and very good. There were no left overs.
Deanne Frieders
So glad you liked it Rachel!
Karens
So glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!
Kelly
Great recipe. The only change we made was to cut the jello down to one box instead of two. Thanks for sharing.
Beryl
This sounds so yummy and I would like to make it but one thing I cant substitute here in Australia is Cool Whip as I don't know what it is, can you give me an idea what it is so I can try and find something similar here
Thanks for sharing. I am about to have a good look around your site now.
Deanne Frieders
Hi Beryl, Cool Whip is a brand of whipped topping here. I'm not sure if you have it in Australia or not!
Jimmy
My grandma used to make fluff salads. I stumbled on your recipe a year ago and I’ve made it for my family on many occasions. Thank you for sharing it. It makes me feel closer to my grandma.
Deanne Frieders
Awww, I'm so glad to hear that, Jimmy. There's something about tried and true recipes that bring us closer together.