Frog's Eye Salad

5 from 1 vote

Frog’s Eye Salad may have a quirky name, but it’s a beloved retro dessert salad packed with mandarin oranges, whipped cream, and tiny pasta pearls.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: Dessert, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 403kcal

Heat a large pot of water (about 2L) to boil. Add acini de pepe noodles and salt to water, cook according to package directions (about 9 minutes).
8 oz uncooked acini de pepe , ¼ teaspoon salt
Drain about ¾ cup (180 mL) mandarin orange juice and ¼ cup (60 mL) crushed pineapple juice into another small pot. See note 1.
Add cornstarch to the juice, whisk together and heat to a boil for 1 minute, until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and cool completely.
15 oz can mandarin oranges, 20 oz can crushed pineapple , 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
Remove noodles from heat and drain in mesh strainer, running cold water over them for 1 minute or so to cool them down and stop the cooking process.
In a mixing bowl, combine heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla. Whip using an electric mixer for 4-5 minutes until firm peaks form.
You can also use my cream cheese whipped cream recipe for this.
2 cups heavy whipping cream , ½ cup powdered sugar , 1 teaspoon vanilla
In a large serving bowl, add the drained mandarin oranges, crushed pineapple, cooled acini de pepe noodles, cooled orange juice sauce, optional coconut, and about ½ of the whipped cream. Gently stir together.
Add the other ½ of the whipped cream and carefully stir in. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
optional: ½ cup sweetened coconut

Note 1. Drain the pineapple as much as possible after saving a little juice for the sauce. It helps the salad from becoming soggy!

Troubleshooting: runny salad

Make sure the noodles and orange juice sauce are cooled down to at least room temperature/refrigerated before mixing with the other ingredients.
Draining the pineapple and oranges thoroughly helps to make sure there isn't excess juice added to the salad.