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...
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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
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Instructions
- 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
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- 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.
Nutrition
This Farm Girl Cooks is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
KT says
I could not find either instant or cook n serve tapioca pudding, did not want to use pudding with artificial flavors, and had baby pearl tapioca on hand. To adapt this recipe for whole tapioca, google "cooks.com pearl tapioca orange" and adapt to their Tapioca Pudding recipe. I reduced the sugar in that recipe to 1/2 C. My coworkers loved it!
Karen says
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 says
This is easy to make and very good. There were no left overs.
Deanne Frieders says
So glad you liked it Rachel!
Karens says
So glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!
Kelly says
Great recipe. The only change we made was to cut the jello down to one box instead of two. Thanks for sharing.
Beryl says
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 says
Hi Beryl, Cool Whip is a brand of whipped topping here. I'm not sure if you have it in Australia or not!
Jimmy says
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 says
Awww, I'm so glad to hear that, Jimmy. There's something about tried and true recipes that bring us closer together.
Sara says
We use lemon and lime and my kids call it green stuff. Love the way you can use any flavor of jello and you still have the same 'stuff'.
It's ALL good and can be color coordinated to go with the holiday decorations just by changing the flavor of the jello!
Deanne Frieders says
My husbands family calls it junk, haha! A fun recipe for sure!
Kim says
Do I use the instant kind of orange flavored jello? The directions do not specify and neither does the rest of this blog posting. Thanks so much.
Sara Welch says
The name of this recipe clearly states the truth! This was so light and fluffy and full of sweet flavor; my whole family loved it!
Natalie says
YUM! Looks so delicious and I bet kids will love it!
Veena Azmanov says
This is surely a delicious and yummy salad. Love the orange flavor to it. Unique and special.
Sophie says
Such a lovely recipe. Always love orange and cream!
Sylvie says
What a fun recipe, so perfect for a hot summer day bbq or picnic! I'm sure kids go crazy for this one 🙂
Kiki Johnson says
This recipe looks amazing! We don't get orange flavored jello here in Mexico but mango and pineapple! Do you think that would work as well?
Kate says
Mmmm I love fluff jello recipes, and this orange one looks delicious! Can't wait to try!
Jennifer says
Yum! We called it fluff. The jello flavor varied, but the other ingredients are basically the same. Wondering now why I never make it for my own family? This was a holiday staple all through my Iowa childhood.
Deanne Frieders says
Hello in Iowa! I'm trying to make some of my childhood favorites so our kids get to see them, too!
Bee says
This looks very delish! I have a recipe that is similar and my husband always requests it. Thanks for sharing, I am always looking for new recipes to try.
Jeannette (Jay Joy) says
MY FAMILY LOVES FLUFF! I have been looking for this recipe everywhere. I am so making this Orange Fluff Jello Salad for dessert after Easter dinner!
Beth says
I call this Delicious!! I know it's a salad but I could eat this as a meal!
Beth Pierce says
This sounds like the best afternoon delight! What a fun combo of flavors; I'll have to give this a try at Easter!
Katie says
OH YUM!!! I grew up in the south, and we had a version of this with coconut! Yum yum, I love this recipe and can't wait to try it!