Dairy-Free Ambrosia Recipe

Have you ever looked for a dessert that was quite enjoyable and didn't take long to make? This recipe is one of those types of desserts. But it is Dairy Free also! It's hard to have dairy-free desserts, and if you need to monitor your dairy, this dairy-free ambrosia recipe is for you to try!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Reveal:
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Dairy-Free Ambrosia Recipe

Ambrosia recipes became popular in the 1920s and 1950s as potluck dishes. In our Philadelphia neighborhood, they also called it a five-cup fruit salad. Each ingredient was about 1 cup and mixed with one cup of the creamy component. My husband introduced me to this dessert when we first got married.

This ambrosia recipe was inspired by my SURPRISE DAIRY FREE GLUTEN FREE PARFAIT RECIPE on this site. While this recipe is per person, the ambrosia recipe has more ingredients and is excellent for a crowd.

Ingredients

• 16 oz. Dairy-Free Yogurt - KiteHill plain made with Almond milk
• 10 oz jar Maraschino cherries - pitted and stem free
• 20 oz. Can Pineapple tidbits in water
• 15 oz. Mandarin oranges
• 1 c of shredded coconut dried or fresh
• 1 c of marshmallows minis (optional)

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Instructions

Reveal:

After we waited for the Ambrosia salad to chill, we enjoyed it with the whole family. It was wonderful and not very sweet because I didn't add any additional sugar. What do you think? Would you make it tonight for a sweet treat?

Substitutions

While you can easily use dairy vanilla yogurt or sour cream to make regular ambrosia, below are other things you can do with this recipe.

• Vegan - to make this dish vegan, you will need to use vegan marshmallows. They are usually found in health food stores, like Whole Foods.
• Gluten-free - this recipe is gluten-free naturally. Usually, Marshmallows are gluten-free.

Variations

This recipe is pretty flexible, depending on your tastes and likes. Below are just some variations you can do.

• Bananas - You can easily add sliced bananas to this dish at the last minute. Use one banana per recipe.
• Grapes - Cut the grapes in half, add a cup to the bowl, and mix well.
• Get kids involved in making this dessert - This recipe is easy because most ingredients are already cut up.
• Less Coconut—If you don't want to taste the coconut as much, you can easily use finely shredded coconut and cut the quantity in half.
• Walnuts - Add chopped walnuts to this dish for an added crunch.
• Coolwhip - if you want, you can replace the vegan yogurt with Coolwhip.
• Sour Cream - Use the same parts of the vegan yogurt with the sour cream. I have never tried the Dairy-Free Sour Cream with this recipe. If you feel daring, feel free to try it and let us know how it goes.
• Marshmallows are optional. We didn't add them until the last minute because we forgot, so some of our photos have them in them, and others do not.

Equipment

Equipment can significantly impact a recipe's outcome. Below, I used the following items to make this recipe: a large mixing bowl (Affiliate Link), a wooden spoon, a strainer, a chef knife, and a cutting board (Affiliate Link).

Storage

This can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days. This dairy-free yogurt didn't break down after a few days.

Do not freeze any of these ingredients after they are mixed or in raw form.

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