Momma Lamb's Famous Fruit Salad

This is the best fruit salad I have ever had. I buy the cook'n serve vanilla pudding though, and cook the pineapple juice pudding on the stove. I think it mixes together a little more thoroughly

My grandmother got this recipe years and years and years ago, and it's been a staple at every family gathering since - Easter, Thanksgiving, Xmas, birthdays, etc. However, we change do it slightly different - 2 cans of mandarin oranges, a couple more bananas (since everyone loves them), and more importantly: we use 1/2 a package of cook n serve vanilla pudding, cooked on the stove with the pineapple juice until it thickens and "becomes clear". Let this cool, and then pour it over the fruit and chill until it's time to serve.

I did change this up a bit, but had fabulous results. I used white chocolate pudding instead of vanilla and folded in a container of sour cream and cool whip for more texture. I made a sugar-free version of this salad minus the sour cream for my grandmother who is a diabetic. They were good both ways.

After draining the pineapple there was only about a 1 cup of juice to add to the pudding mix..thought that might make the sauce too sweet as the pudding mix does take 2 cups of milk..so I added about 3/4 cup of milk as well, and I'm glad I did. the taste was just fine! I used what fruit I had on hand..cantaloupe, fresh raspberries and bananas..(put lemon juice on the bananas to keep them from going brown)

This recipe definitely gets points for being easy and quick to make. I used sugar-free pudding mix and it tasted great. I did add a little bit of the juice from the mandarin oranges in addition to the pineapple juice to get the right consistency.

i make this using whatever fruit i have on hand, often a bag of frozen mixed fruit, fresh strawberries, and bananas. i mix the bananas with a little lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. i also use sugar free pudding because my husband is diabetic. this is a fabulous recipe!!!

This recipe was a great hit for Father's Day. However it was a little to sweet. I will probably make it again though.

awsome dish!!!

This is a great recipe. I put fresh strawberries and fresh blueberries in.

A good fruit salad. Easy to change to diabetic.

maybe we didn't follow the directions correctly, the way we made it we did not make the pudding we just added the dry pudding mix to the pineapple juice, if we were supposed to make the pudding as directed on the pudding box the recipe should say so, if i made it correctly, this was very pastey, and very rich.

what you need to do is take the juice of all three and mix it together. then take a cup of the juice mixture and mix it with the pudding mix. you must then cook it until it has a clear, gelly consistency. then mix the rest of the fruit in with that as instructed

My family has been making this forever but this is how we do it: 2 cans pineapple chunks drained saving the juice, 2 cans mandarin oranges drained, 1 jar maraschino cherries drained, 4-5 bananas, 1 small box vanilla pudding. Combine pudding with 1 cup of the pineapple juice and pour over fruit, gently stir. YUMMY!

I thought this recipe was good, but missing something. An 8 oz. container of cool whip and 1/2 c. milk did the job! The texture was much better. I also used sugar-free pudding. I made this for a church dinner and everyone loved it. It was the only bowl to go home empty!

Followed the advice of others and used cooked pudding made with the drained pineapple juice and then heavy cream to make two cups of liquid. I used canned pineapple, mandarin oranges, maraschino cherries, fresh grapes, bananas, and blueberries. For good measure, I also added some mini marshmallows. The pudding sauce was great.

Great taste! So easy to make! I took it to a church supper with kids as well as adults going back for more and making positive comments. A real favorite for me...Jeanne P.

Absolutely delicious! I've made it twice now, the first time exactly as written and the second time I added fresh Strawberries, Blueberries, along with the original fruit and instant sugar free vanilla pudding. I then folded in a little Cool Whip, yum. Thanks for the great recipe!

Too sweet for a light summer salad.

I've been making this recipe for several years with pineapples, mandarin oranges and strawberries. I love the addition of the maraschino cherries (love them) and the bananas. I used crushed pineapples for this recipe. My husband loves it as a dessert that is somewhat healthy when made with sugar-free fat-free pudding.

This was an awesome fruit salad. Will be making this again.

this fruit salad was good and very easy! little on the sweet side i think adding alittle milk and whip cream instead of all the juices wouldn't of been as sweet and more different kinds of fruit. i would consider making this again.

I have made this several times except I add 2-3 TBSP. of Tang to the pudding mix. It gives it great added. flavor

after chilling longer, this tastes better. i used vanilla sugar free fat free pudding (which really does taste good and 'normal') and also used peaches instead of cherries. it was better after it sat a while. if I have anything to make it again for, I will add fresh strawberries and more canned peach chunks........

This wasn't horrible but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. The oranges got all runny and it was pretty soupy. It was also too sweet. One helping was all I wanted of it.

I was so excited to try this...and was a little disappointed. I used sugar free/fat free pudding...maybe that was where I went wrong.

Myself, I think this fruit salad turned out too intensely sweet. However, I asked my oldest son's opinion of it and he thought it tasted great. Difference in taste buds, I guess! I did do some adjustments to accommodate the ingredients I had in the cupboard, but the submitter of this recipe does say it can be easily doubled and that the juice from the oranges could be used. I had two 3.4-ounce boxes of lemon instant pudding, so I substituted these for vanilla. I measured out the pineapple juice (approx. 1-1/2 cups), and added enough mandarin orange juice to make 2 cups (because of the increase in the amount of pudding). I also had two 11-ounce cans of oranges and used both. I sliced up four medium-sized bananas into a smaller bowl and then sprinkled them with a tablespoon or so of bottled lemon juice to prevent them from browning. That way I could add the bananas to the salad along with the other fruits before refrigerating, and since I used it sparingly, I didn't really detect the taste of the lemon juice. The pudding didn't actually set up; rather it came out creamy, which was fine. In all, it resembled a VERY sweet, creamy fruit cocktail!

I used a small box of pudding (3.4 oz) and liked the way it turned out. A nice change from the fruit salad we always have.

There must be a line left out of the recipe. If you follow this, the pineapple juice and pudding make a paste as thick as brownie batter. I added the mandarin orange juice, and some 1% milk I had until I got it the way I wanted it - which was a thick sauce, instead of pudding.

Very good fruit salad. I omit the bananas and sometimes use lemon pudding mix. You can add whatever fruit you like. I sometimes add grapes and strawberries.

Tastes wonderful! I also had trouble with the pudding sauce being too thick. I added extra pineapple juice to get a consistency that would coat the fruit. Next time I will try using the smaller box of pudding.

So good, must be chilled overnight

I agree with Harlee. I made it as recipe called but 1(5 oz) box of pudding made it like glue. Very disappointed. Maybe I misunderstood directions. Had the flu and wanted something quick and easily. Again, very disappointed. Please let me know what I did wrong.

I've made this numerous times for my family and for potlucks. It's always a hit.

Awesome recipe! My family has made this fruit salad for Thanksgiving for many years, however our recipe uses the cook and serve vanilla pudding instead. I cook the vanilla pudding and 1 cup of liquid from the pineapples and the mandarin oranges...cook on the stove until clear. Place the fruit in a bowl, pour the pudding mixture over it, cool, chill and enjoy!