Creamy Grape Salad

5 from 9 votes
11 Comments

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This easy Grape Salad recipe is an all time favorite! Crisp red and green grapes in a sweet, creamy sauce topped with sugary, crunchy grape nuts and coconut.

Top view of two Grape Salad bowls with forks.

This creamy Grape Salad is my favorite fruit salad! It is so sweet and yummy, it’s almost more of a dessert than a salad. We will frequently take this grape salad on family picnics and it is ALWAYS a huge hit! Because there is such a variety of textures in the salad, every bite offers something cool, creamy, and crunchy. Even the kids are crazy for it! It is so quick and easy to whip up, too.

Table of Contents
  1. Ingredients in Grape Salad
  2. Substitution Options for Grape Salad
  3. What Makes A Salad A Salad?
  4. Frequently Asked Questions for Grape Salad
  5. More Salad Recipes with Fruit
  6. Grape Salad with Crunchy Coconut Topping Recipe

Ingredients in Grape Salad

  • Seedless grapes – red, green, or both. Make sure they are at the peak of freshness, crisp, and sweet. No one likes biting into a soggy, mushy grape!
  • Sour cream
  • Cream cheese
  • Granulated sugar
  • Grape nuts cereal
  • Brown sugar
  • Coconut

Just remember, if you are taking it to a picnic or potluck and want to prepare ahead of time, add the coconut topping RIGHT before serving so it stays nice and crunchy!

Grape Nuts, red grapes, green grapes, sour cream, cream cheese, vanilla, coconut and sugars to make Grape Salad.


Substitution Options for Grape Salad

In the filling

Substitutions can be tricky. Be careful not to make too many substitutions at the risk of altering the flavor of the salad. Having said that, lighter versions of both cream cheese and sour cream can be used. Greek yogurt can also be used as an alternate ingredient for sour cream. Stevia, or another sweetener, can be used to replace the sugar.

In the topping

Since all three topping ingredients combine to make a delightful topping for this salad, it’s difficult to recommend anything different. Chopped nuts, like pecans or walnuts, can be used to replace the grape nuts, but this is an expensive substitution. A brown sugar substitute can also be used, if necessary. You can also scrap all three ingredients and make a topping with candy bars. Chop up Snickers bars or Heath bars and sprinkle them on top.

Prepared Grape Salad in a 9x13 glass pan.

What Makes A Salad A Salad?

In the world of food, there are a few hot debates. One of them is over the definition and composition of a salad. For some, tossing together grapes with a creamy sauce and some coconut falls short of the traditional image of a tossed green salad. Hence the distinctive phrase “fruit salad.” According to Merriam Webster, a salad is “any of the various “usually cold dishes” including raw greens, vegetables and toppings. It is served with dressing or small pieces of food, or usually mixed with a dressing or set in gelatin.” A fruit salad on the other hand generally contains small pieces of fruit served in their own juice or a syrup of some kind.

No matter what you call it, this Grape Salad hits the spot — and is totally on the mark to be considered a flavorful side dish to your barbecue or picnic.

Fork stabbing two Grape Salad grapes.

Frequently Asked Questions for Grape Salad

What is grape salad made of?

First of all, grapes. Then most grape salad recipes have a creamy dressing made of cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar. The crunchy topping is usually made of nuts, cereal, or candy bars.

Where does grape salad come from?

It is an old fashioned party dish that originated in Minnesota.

What kind of grape is best in grape salad?

We like to use a mix of seedless red and green grapes, but you can use all red or all green. Purple grapes or any other kind of grape can be used as long as they are seedless. However, we don’t recommend Cotton Candy grapes. They are too sweet for this salad.

More Salad Recipes with Fruit

There are a whole lot of things you can add to the main dish of any meal to round out the experience. Check out some of these sweet, fruity salads:

Top view of two bowls of Grape Salad with fresh grapes.

Grape Salad with Crunchy Coconut Topping

5 from 9 votes
This Grape Salad recipe is an all time favorite! Crisp red and green grapes in a cool sweet creamy sauce topped with sugary crunchy topping.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Servings 12

Video

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds red grapes seedless
  • 2 pounds green grapes seedless

CREAMY GRAPE SALAD FILLING:

CRUNCH TOPPING:

  • 1 cup Grape Nuts (heaping cup)
  • 2/3 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup coconut flakes

Instructions

  • Beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl using an electric mixer. Fold in sour cream.
    Bowl of cream cheese and sugar mixed to make Grape Salad.
  • Pick red and green grapes from the stems. Rinse and dry well. Stir the grapes into the cream cheese mixture until the grapes are completely coated.
    Bowl of grapes covered in the white cream cheese mixture to make Grape Salad.
  • Pour the creamy grape salad filling into a 9×13 glass pan. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl to get all of the filling. Lightly cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
    Pan of Grape Salad with out the topping.

RIGHT BEFORE SERVING:

  • Combine topping ingredients well.
    Bowl of topping for Grape Salad.
  • Evenly sprinkle topping over the grape salad filling.
    Prepared Grape Salad in a 9x13 glass pan.

Notes

  1. Use crisp, ripe grapes for best texture and flavor.
  2. To avoid little lumps in the cream cheese mixture, make sure the cream cheese is softened to room temperature.
  3. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 290kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 4gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 133mgPotassium: 198mgFiber: 3gSugar: 25gVitamin A: 555IUVitamin C: 0.9mgCalcium: 58mgIron: 4.3mg

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About the author

Emily Walker

Emily lives in Meridian, Idaho, with her husband, Beau, a physician assistant, and her three incredible children: a son and two daughters. Travel is one of her favorite ways to experience new cultures and cuisines, and she has a love for all things Disney.

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Co-Author of Favorite Family Recipes 3 Cookbooks:
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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    WARNING: This is addicting! And a good addition to yogurt, too. Thanks for this amazing summertime recipe!

  2. 5 stars
    We love this salad and everyone always asks for the recipe when we bring it to all of our get togethers. A total crowd pleaser.

  3. Your website is my “go-to” site for yummy recipes. I have seriously made soooo many of your recipes and some have become family favorites at our house too, but this one needed a comment. I made the recipe as is but as I made the topping I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be very good and it wasn’t. Sorry. The raw sugar made the salad sickly sweet and the grapenuts were not very appetizing. I wish I had used chopped nuts and baked it and the coconut in a crumbly topping of some sort that could be sprinkled over the top. I know it is just one person’s opinion but I would be careful if you decide to make this and perhaps just sprinkle a little granola over the top instead of the grapenuts/brown sugar/coconut topping. Our family didn’t really care for it much.

    1. 5 stars
      I’ve not tried it yet but want to make some changes cause of the sugar. Soooo has anyone come up with a replacement for the 1/3 cup of sugar??

  4. 5 stars
    I have a similar recipe that I love that calls for chopped pecans instead of a topping. I’m definitely going to give this version with the coconut topping a try and see which I like better.