Frog Eye Salad is a mild dessert-like vintage salad featuring small pasta balls (the frog eyes), canned fruits, and a creamy whipped dressing. This version makes the pudding sauce from scratch using flour and juices from the fruit.
What Is Frog Eye Salad
Frog Eye Salad is a vintage salad that originated in the United States and is believed to have been inspired by traditional ambrosia salad recipes.
The main ingredients are always mini pasta balls called Acini Di Pepe, canned fruit, some type of pudding dressing and mini marshmallows.
It gained popularity around the mid-20th century in the Mid-West and has since become a staple at potlucks. The name "Frog Eye" refers to the small pasta balls, resembling the size of tiny little frog eyes.
I can imagine a Grandma came up with this name to make it a little more fun for the kids.
I was thinking to put two little green candied cherries on the top to make it look like green frog eyes, but I only had red maraschino cherries on hand.
Then and Now
There was one vintage salad my Mom always made growing up. I think every mom back in the 1970's had their favorite version of Ambrosia fruit salad laden with marshmallows and mandarin oranges or some combination of fruit cocktail.
Over the years, I've been seeing different versions of it in my community and church cookbooks. I finally decided to try it for the first time.
This salad has an unforgettable name. If you love vintage salads, you might like my Apple Carrot Waldorf Salad!
Frog Eye Salad Recipes
First, let’s review some examples of recipes published in the 1998 BNSF Women’s Club Recipe Book. Topeka, KS.
The original recipe I worked from, was probably older, similar to the second recipe here. It makes the sauce from cooking down flour with the juice from the cans of fruit. Pineapple juice and the mandarin orange can of juices are heated up with the flour.
The more modern versions of the recipe, use a box of instant vanilla pudding.
I added Cool Whip to make it sweeter. I also changed the pineapple chunks to tidbits and removed the crushed pineapple. The original recipe I used had two types of pineapple and it had too much of a "canned" fruit taste.
Back in the days, canned fruit was usually in heavy syrup. Now it is mostly available in it's own natural juice with less sugar or in light syrup.
Ingredients
- Acini Di Pepe Pasta
- Pineapple Tidbits
- Mandarin Oranges
- Sugar
- Flour
- Two Egg Whites
- Mini Marshmallows
- Cool Whip Whipped Topping
- Maraschino Cherries
Recipe Reflection
The pasta should cook a little past the point of al dente. You want your "frog eyes" to be like the texture of tapioca pearls.
This recipe makes a large bowl of fruity salad. If I make it again, I'll add some more cherries chopped in half and stir them in at the end.
This is Frog Eye Salad Recipe is a fairly mild side dish so it would go great with Ribs or BBQ Chicken. I could even see it on the table next to a baked chicken or meatloaf dinner.
You make this recipe, chill overnight, and then put it all together the next day. Keeps for a day or two in the fridge.
Frog Eye Salad
Equipment
- 1 whisk
Ingredients
- 1 cup Acini Di Pepe pasta
- 1 (20 oz.) can pineapple tidbits
- 2 (11 oz.) cans mandarin oranges
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 Tablespoons All-purpose flour
- 2 egg whites (separated, yolks discarded)
- 2 cups miniature marshmallows
- 1 cup Cool Whip, thawed (Add more to taste and use some for serving on top)
- maraschino cherries, drained *optional
Instructions
- In a pot, bring 5-6 cups of water to a rolling boil. Add pasta and cook about 15 minutes. (optional* may add ½ teaspoon salt to the boiling water)
- Drain pasta in a colander and rinse with cold water. Pour into a large bowl, cover and refrigerate to chill overnight.
- Drain the cans of pineapple and oranges, reserving the juice. Place the fruit in the refrigerator to chill overnight.
- Pour juice in a medium sauce pan. Whisk together the juices, sugar, flour, and egg whites.
- Turn on heat to Medium-Low and continuously whisk until mixture thickens to a hot pudding consistency. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Pour pudding sauce into a bowl, cover and refrigerate over night.
- The next morning, drain fruit in colander again. Pour pudding sauce on pasta, along with the fruit. Fold in the marshmallows and Cool Whip. Serve with Cool Whip and Cherry on top.
J C P says
Just like I remember. Good thank you