This cottage cheese fruit salad is not your grandmother’s jello salad. Cottage cheese and berries are blended with coconut cream and chia seeds into a mousse that is perfect for a snack or healthy dessert.

“That pink stuff” aka the jello fruit salad

You show up to your 4th of July party and see it on the potluck buffet. It’s the bowl of fruit, marshmallows, and nuts at the picnic. Sometimes it’s pink from strawberry jello or fruit cocktail and sometimes it’s orange from mandarin oranges. And sometimes it’s GREEN! It’s mixed with cool whip, is a bowl of fluff, and sometimes has nuts (ew). You’re never reallllllyyyyy sure what inside.

I know you Southerners know what I’m talking about!

Well this jello salad with cottage cheese is not that. But it is similar! It’s also one of those silly named recipes that someone decided would be a “healthy side salad” or side dish, but it’s much better suited at the dessert table. Call it a salad or call it a dessert – either way it’s delish!

This cottage cheese fruit salad gets it’s “jello” from chia seeds, its cool whip from coconut cream, and is way healthier for you using fresh organic berries and protein-packed cottage cheese! I prepped it in mason jars so it would be single serving chic, but you could also use a serving bowl or trifle dish too.

It’s not jiggly and there are no mysterious crunchy bits. It’s pretty much a cheesecake-ish fruit mousse with whip on top that is perfect as a refreshing snack or healthy dessert.

Apparently this is the year of cottage cheese!

I am all for it. I love cottage cheese, but I sometimes get a little weirded out by it. It’s a strange love/hate relationship! I don’t usually sit down and eat it plain, although I do like it plain, but more often I mix it into smoothies, oatmeal, and savory recipes – like tuna salad with cottage cheese.

Cottage Cheese Fruit Salad

This cottage cheese salad recipe is so quick and easy to make! It takes all of five minutes to blend together and ideally an hour in the fridge to “gel,” although you can certainly eat it right away. You can sub the coconut cream for homemade whipped cream if you’d like.

Ingredients

1.5 cups fresh fruit (berries are my go-to, but you can also use fresh or crushed pineapple, bananas, or stone fruits)
16 ounce container full-fat cottage cheese
2 tbsp chia seeds
Can of full fat coconut milk, drained
1-3 tbsp high quality maple syrup
Fresh cherries for garnish

How To Make Fruit Salad With Cottage Cheese

Step 1: make coconut cream

Open can of coconut milk and drain off liquid (you may need to use a spoon to poke a hole). The more you drain it, the thicker it will be and if you’d like it to be the most whipped cream like, you can whip it with a whisk or mixer.

Scoop coconut cream into a bowl and stir in 1 tbsp maple syrup.

Step 2: Blend the fruit, cottage cheese, chia and 3/4 of the coconut cream together

Add washed fruit, cottage cheese, 3/4 of coconut whip, and chia seeds to a blender and blend until combined. Keep remaining coconut whip for topping.

Step 3: Portion into glasses and top with remaining whip

Portion into jars or glasses, evenly distribute remaining coconut whip, and top with fresh cherries.

Step 4: Chill for an hour in the fridge to allow chia to set

You can enjoy immediately, but a nice chill will help the salad set up.

Recipe Notes

What fruits go best with cottage cheese?

All kinds of fruit will work with this cottage cheese recipe, but my favorites are berries, banana, tropical fruits like mangos, or stone fruits like peaches and cherries. The more flavorful the fruit the better (which is why people often you concentrated canned fruits in similar recipes!) The fruits I would avoid are watery or crunchy fruits like watermelon and apples.

Adjust The Sweetness

You can control the sweetness based on which fruits you choose and how much maple syrup you add. I like to sweeten the coconut cream, but leave the syrup out of the base. But if you’re feeding this to children, they might like a few tablespoons of maple in the salad base to balance out the tang from the cottage cheese.

Use full-fat ingredients

For the best flavor and texture, use full-fat cottage cheese and coconut milk. While you can sub in a lighter fat cottage cheese, you do need the full-fat coconut to make the cream. Lite coconut milk will only be liquid.

How to serve your cottage cheese fruit salad

For the potluck version, serve family style in a bowl with a spoon. People can dollop it onto their plates at a picnic or cookout. If you’d like, you can fold in marshmallows, pecans, canned fruit, and all your old time favorites!

How to store your fruit salad

Be sure to keep this recipe chilled until you’re ready to serve, and take it in a cooler to a picnic. If the base separates, just give it a good stir to mix it back together.

Enjoy!

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