Pasta Fruit Salad made with macaroni, fruit cocktail, sweet palm nuts, cheese, and sweetened cream. Creamy and perfectly sweetened, this Filipino-style dessert is sure to be a party hit!
Pasta Fruit Salad is the follow-up recipe to chicken sisig in our 24 Days to Christmas recipe series. Since it's an old recipe from 2013 that gets a lot of love during the holiday season, I thought I'll update it with new photos and push it back on the spotlight in time for Noche Buena.
If you're looking for more holiday desserts, my buko pandan also got a bit of TLC and was revamped with new photos as well as a video to guide through the simple process. I also have a couple of brand new sweet treats coming your way soon so yay!
Christmas is just around the corner and one dish that is almost always present in every Filipino's holiday festivities is fruit salad. Traditionally, this Filipino-style dessert is made with fruit cocktail, sweet palm nuts, and sweetened cream but a few years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to adding macaroni to the mix.
My first thought when she offered me a serving was, "what a way to ruin a good recipe" but I took one spoonful and quickly swallowed my words.
The pasta cooked al dente does add a nice, chewy texture and marries well with the rest of the concoction. It's also an inexpensive way to extend servings, especially when serving a large party.
This macaroni fruit salad recipe is creamy, tasty, and easily customizable. I like to use fruit cocktail, nata de coco, kaong, and cheese cubes to pull it together but feel free to add other canned fruits such as peaches and mandarin oranges or fresh fruits such as halved seedless grapes, diced apples, and sliced strawberries.
If you'd like to trim down the calories a bit, you can swap the all-purpose cream and condensed milk with this yogurt dressing for a healthier option.
How to Make Yogurt Dressing For Pasta Fruit Salad
- In a bowl, combine 1 cup plain yogurt, ½ cup sour cream, and ¼ cup honey. Whisk together until smooth and well-blended.
- Drilled dressing on pasta salad and gently toss to distribute.
Tips on How to Make Macaroni Fruit Salad
- For best texture, cook the macaroni about a minute shy of package's directions. You will need about 2 cups cooked.
- The kaong and nata de coco are usually packed in heavy syrup so make sure to drain well.
- The salad will taste a little too sweet when just combined but the sweetness will mellow out once the mixture is chilled or frozen.
Make sure to bookmark, pin, or print this pasta fruit salad recipe for your holiday gatherings and special occasions. I hope to see you here again tomorrow for another delicious party dish!
Pasta Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 4 ounces uncooked macaroni pasta
- 1 can (30 ounces) fruit cocktail, drained
- 1 can (20 ounces) pineapple tidbits, drained
- 1 bottle (12 ounces) nata de coco, drained
- 1 bottle (12 ounces) kaong, drained
- 1 cup cheese, cubed
- 1 can (14 ounces) table cream
- 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, bring 2 quarts of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook about 1 minute shy of package's directions.
- Remove from heat, rinse, and drain well. Let cool completely.
- In a bowl, combine cooked macaroni, fruit cocktail, pineapple, nata de coco, kaong, cheese, table cream, and condensed milk and cream. Stir gently to distribute.
- Chill for 1 to 2 hours or freeze until firm.
Video
Nutrition
I made this last night and it's so yummy!!! 😋😋😋 It's one of my many favorite pinoy dessert. Thank you for sharing your great recipes! 😊
Thanks for the feedback, Jean. This is my favorite dessert, too, and I am glad you liked it 🙂