Easiest Fruit Salad takes minutes to toss together. Studded with mini marshmallow, this is a classic Midwestern fruit salad recipe!
It doesn’t get more Midwestern then Easiest Fruit Salad!
This fresh and fun, easy fruit salad recipe combines fresh fruit, juicy canned fruit, plus mini marshmallow (that’s the “fun” part!) to create a special snack, sweet side, or dessert.
Easiest Fruit Salad also goes by another name – Recital Fruit. The recipe is from my friend Laura’s Mom who made the magical concoction of fresh strawberries, bananas, mandarin oranges, and marshmallows for us to devour during rehearsals for our spring dance recital each year growing up.
Needing sustenance into the wee hours of the morning, which rehearsals usually went until, she’d send a big tub along with a plethora of plastic spoons so everyone could scoop up their fair share of this sweet, super-Midwestern fruit salad.
I mean, marshmallows in a fruit salad? Brilliant!
They get soft and mousse-like after soaking up the juices of the fruit and melt into the strawberry-banana flavor spiked with mandarin oranges, I adore this combo and have yet to meet someone who doesn’t!
Like I said, the recipe couldn’t be easier. Start by slicing 1lb strawberries.
Add the strawberries to a large bowl then add 1 can drained mandarin oranges packed in water that have been drained.
In goes 2 sliced large bananas, or 3 small sliced bananas (if making ahead of time, add these just before serving.)
Followed by 1 cup mini marshmallows. Like I said – pure Midwest, purely delish. Easiest Fruit Salad MUST have mini marshmallows!
Toss to combine then stash in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour to give the marshmallows time to soften and soak up some of the yummy juices from the strawberries and mandarin oranges.
Whether you’re from the midwest or not, you will love this special little snack! Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 lb strawberries, sliced
- 15 oz can mandarin oranges packed in water, drained
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- 2 large or 3 small bananas, sliced
Directions
- Add all ingredients into a large bowl then fold to combine.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour which will allow the natural juices of the strawberries and oranges to release and create a light syrup then serve. Serve within 2 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Yum! You can never have enough marshmallow ;)
It’s interesting that is this day and age of food network, food blogging, newfangled recipes, that some of our best dishes are recipes from the generation before us. You should considered a recipe book of favorites from your mom and her friends!
Looks amazing!!!
I love fruit salad but sometimes the chopping, etc gets so tedious! Love this idea!
very nice, very easy! Love!
mmm i love fruit salad with marshmallows! your pictures are so pretty…
So simple and I love the marshmallows! Brings out the inner child.
What a cute photo! And this salad – yes! Definitely loving the mini marshmallows!
I love the dance picture!
Also, Happy Early Birthday! I love early July birthdays-mine is the 7th and my dad always saved a few fireworks to set off on my birthday :) Enjoy the holiday!
My midwestern grandma (Omaha) made a salad similar to this all the time when I was growing up! Yum! Hers also had fruit cocktail with cherries.
The fruit salad looks delicious, and incredibly easy!
And I think I totally had the same dance costume you guys are wearing in that picture…the skirt was like a bunch of strips of toilet paper? And it had little pink underwear things? (I remember this specifically because one time at a competition my mom had the costume underwear in her purse for some reason, then she forgot her purse at Fazoli’s and I was thisclose to having to wear my actual pink underwear on stage.)
I LOVE fruit salad, but surprisingly, have never added marshmallows to mine. I will have to track done some vegan ones and add them to my next salad :).
I love easy recipes that allow me to use a lot of the produce I have on hand.