This creamy apple salad is loaded with juicy grapes, crunchy walnuts, crisp apples, and sweet marshmallows swimming in a flavorful tart dressing.
With apple season upon us, I decided to resurrect an old fashioned recipe from back in the day when marshmallows were a welcomed addition to salad. This apple salad is perfect for a potluck, particularly if you are feeding a nursing home or simply nostalgic baby boomers craving edible memories!
Apple Salad
This apple salad recipe is not a traditional leafy salad, instead, it is a creamy salad similar to a classic chicken salad. A sweet and savory mixture of chopped apples, grapes, walnuts, and dried cranberries tossed in a tart dressing spiked with lemon juice.
Apple Salad with Mayo
I highlight the marshmallows as the most uncommon ingredient in this salad, however, the mayo-based dressing may seem equally out of place to many people. After all, who eats apples with mayo?
The truth is, the mayo doesn’t even taste like mayo. The dressing soaks up the flavor of the apples and is spiked with lemon juice to transform it into a delightfully sweet and tangy dressing.
Apple Salad Customization
This is an easy recipe to customize to fit your own tastes. Feel free to substitute a different nut, such as pecans, or perhaps, raisins for cranberries. If the idea of marshmallows in a salad is too weird for your tastes, omit them entirely.
If the idea of mayo in a fruit-based salad is hard for you to stomach, substitute vanilla yogurt instead. You could even go for a sweeter concoction like Cool Whip to turn it into an apple fluff recipe.
How to Serve Apple Salad
Apple salad can be prepared immediately prior to serving, but the flavors are best if you make it in advance and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. This allows the flavors to meld together.
If you are serving this at a potluck where it will sit out all day, I recommend placing it in an iced serving bowl (affiliate link) to ensure the mayo dressing stays cold. Letting a mayo-based product sit at room temperature for hours and hours on end is asking for food poisoning otherwise.
Apple Salad
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 cups cubed apples (1/2 inch chop)
- 1 cup chopped red grapes
- 1 cup miniature marshmallows
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Mix mayo and lemon juice in a bowl and add all remaining ingredients and toss to coat.
- This can be served immediately, but the flavor is best if it is allowed to meld in the refrigerator overnight.
Notes
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Paula C Carmin says
Thank you for resurrecting an old time recipe from back in the day with a few updated tweaks. I had totally forgotten about this salad. Next time I need to take a dish some place, I will be taking this salad. It will probably be the only one of its kind. I know it’s yummy!
Dannielle L Lynch says
My grandma always brought this to our family gatherings with the addition of celery i make it occasionally now