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This quick and easy Strawberry Fluff Salad is a delicious “dump and go” dessert salad that lets you literally add all 6 ingredients into a single bowl, stir, and serve–no mixer or fancy equipment needed and no cooking required! Light, creamy, and extra fluffy, this simple side is loaded with mini marshmallows, fresh berries, and tasty pineapple tidbits, all combined with cottage cheese and whipped topping and made a pretty pink color from a packet of jello.
Simple Strawberry Fluff
Strawberry Fluff Salad is an easy old-fashioned favorite that takes mere minutes to make by simply mixing your ingredients in one bowl and then refrigerating until you’re ready to eat!
The creamy cottage cheese combined with the smooth whipped topping (Cool Whip) and strawberry jello creates a fun fruity-flavored fluff that’s bursting with fresh berries, pineapple, and mini marshmallows in every sweet bite.
Is it a side dish or a dessert? Is it a fruit dip or a fruity-filling for pie? Some version of this sweet salad seems to show up at every backyard barbecue or potluck picnic in the form of a Strawberry Fluff, an Ambrosia Salad, Watergate Salad a Cherry Fluff, or another variation of this vintage recipe.
Whether you serve it as a side beside the main meal or save it for a refreshingly light dessert, this no-cook classic is an easy make-ahead addition to any menu.
Why We Love This Strawberry Fluff Recipe
- Quick and easy to make using only 6 ingredients.
- Simple no-cook recipe made in a single bowl.
- Sweet, creamy, comforting, and delicious.
- Flexible and forgiving recipe that you can customize to your tastes.
- Perfectly portable side dish or dessert to bring to parties, picnics, backyard barbecues, and potlucks.
Ingredients
- Cottage cheese: I used 4% Milkfat small curd, but you can use any type of cottage cheese that you prefer for this recipe.
- Pineapple tidbits: Feel free to use fresh pineapple for this recipe. You will need about 1 ½ cups of diced pineapple. Some recipes call for crushed pineapple, but I love the pineapple chunks that I get in this recipe.
- Fresh strawberries
- Whipped topping or Cool Whip
- Strawberry jello mix
- Mini marshmallows: I used normal white mini marshmallows, but you can use the multicolored ones for some extra excitement and flavor.
Substitutions and Additions
- Change The Cottage Cheese: You can replace the cottage cheese with vanilla pudding or Greek yogurt.
- Add-Ins: For crunch and extra flavor, add some chopped pecans, walnuts, canned mandarin oranges sliced almonds, or coconut flakes.
- Fluff Flavors: Feel free to try this recipe with a different fruit, like raspberries, bananas, or mandarin oranges, and then switch out the jello mix to match the fruit that you are using. Some other fun flavor ideas include:
- Raspberry Fluff: Keep the recipe the same, but swap out the strawberry jello for raspberry flavored jello and use fresh raspberries instead of strawberries.
- Banana Fluff: Use vanilla or banana instant pudding instead of the cottage cheese and jello mix and use fresh bananas.
- Orange Fluff: Swap the strawberry jello for orange jello and use canned mandarin oranges. Just make sure to drain them.
- Thicker Fluff: Add half of a small package of vanilla pudding
Recommended Tools
- Large bowl
- Measuring tools
- Mixing tools
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How to Make the Strawberry Fluff Salad
Strawberry Fluff Salad is a simple, 10 minute, stir and serve recipe. Perfect to make ahead as a side dish, salad, or dessert after the main meal, this is the easiest no-cook classic fruity fluff.
- Combine the cottage cheese, pineapple tidbits, strawberries, whipped topping, jello mix, and mini marshmallows in a bowl.
- Stir until everything is thoroughly combined.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to plate and serve cold.
- Enjoy!
Storage Tips
- To Store: Make sure you store this Strawberry Fluff in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It can last up to 7 days depending on the freshness of the strawberries, but the longer it sits, the more the dessert will start to separate. If that happens, just mix it back together.
- To Freeze: Freeze this fluff to create a delicious frozen dessert, similar to ice cream. I don’t recommend keeping it for longer than 10 days, otherwise it will get icy and the consistency will change too much.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you want to use frozen strawberries, make sure you thaw them and blot them dry first. Frozen strawberries won’t last as long as fresh ones, so I would only keep it in the refrigerator for up to two days. It will also create a mushier consistency.
You can absolutely make a homemade whipped cream for your fluff. A simple way to may your own is by beating cold heavy cream with powdered sugar for 2-3 minutes. See my easy homemade whipped cream recipe!
Since this is a no-cook dish, you can easily make it in advance. If your fluff begins to separate, give a stir and it will mix back together. I do not suggest making it more than a few days in advance.
This strawberry fluff is part of a group of recipes that sometimes have the name “salad” in the title but are served as desserts. Most of these recipes have jello or pudding mix, are very creamy, and usually include ingredients that are canned or packaged for maximum efficiency. Many of these include some type of fruit, particularly pineapples.
Other Easy Strawberry Recipes
- Strawberry Poke Cake
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Cookies
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad
- Strawberry Shortcake Truffles
- Strawberry Shortcake Fudge
Strawberry Fluff Salad
Ingredients
- 24 ounce tub cottage cheese
- 20 ounce can pineapple tidbits drained
- 16 ounce package large fresh strawberries hulled and sliced (~ 2 ¾ cups)
- 8 ounce package whipped topping
- 3 ounce box strawberry jello mix
- 3½ cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the cottage cheese, pineapple tidbits, sliced fresh strawberries, whipped topping, strawberry jello mix, and mini marshmallows.
- Stir well until everything is thoroughly combined.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to plate and serve cold.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: Make sure you store this Strawberry Fluff in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It can last up to 7 days depending on the freshness of the strawberries, but the longer it sits, the more the dessert will start to separate. If that happens, just mix it back together.
- To Freeze: Freeze this fluff to create a delicious frozen dessert, similar to ice cream. I don’t recommend keeping it for longer than 10 days, otherwise it will get icy and the consistency will change too much.
I’ve made this for 40 yrs. No recipe needed.