I have a friend who told me good cooks are people who have amazing friends. Amazing friends who are willing to share recipes. That is so true. Thanks to my friend Becki for sharing. This salad is the hit of every party I bring it to. And knowing that it only takes about five minutes to throw together doesn’t hurt either.
In fact, this weekend my family has a get together. It’s at my sister in laws house. She asked all of us to bring salads. Of course, I immediately decided to bring Almost Cheesecake Salad. Then my mom told me not to bring it. She said whoever brings your Almost Cheesecake Salad will be the hit of the party. And I want to be the hit of the party this time. Any other salad suggestions?
Put one small package of instant vanilla or cheesecake pudding in a big bowl. Add container of vanilla yogurt. I like Greek yogurt, but use whatever you have. When you live as far from the grocery store as I do, you use whatever you have around. Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir together.
Fold in an eight once carton of Cool Whip. Pretend like I took a picture of that. I wouldn’t have been able to make the salad in five minutes if I would have snapped pictures of every step. Or maybe I just forgot.
Add about two cups of frozen berries. I used a mix of blueberries, raspberries and black berries. Back to the “whatever you have around” principle. I have used fresh strawberries and bananas (Yes, I hate bananas. I was taking one for the team.” Use your imagination and clean out your freezer. Fold berries and cream together.
The salad might be a little lumpy. Don’t worry as it sits, everything will get right with the world. The berries start to melt and run everywhere. It is beautiful. So, serving in a glass bowl is the best.
There you go!! Five minutes and you have Almost Cheesecake. With only half of the guilt of cheesecake. That means you can have twice as much. I’m good at math when it is important.
- 1 32 ounce container of vanilla yogurt
- 1 3.4 ounce instant cheesecake or vanilla pudding
- 1 8 ounce Cool Whip
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups frozen or fresh berries
- Mix yogurt, pudding and vanilla together. A few lumps may remain but will dissolve by serving time.
- Fold in Cool Whip.
- Fold in berries. Let sit for a few hours.
Elaine Duckett says
May 9, 2013 at 1:50 pmHey Jack, I can’t even imagine your Mom wanting to the hit of the party, she is such a bashful person.
I have taken this salad to lots of events too, and one guy even told me there must be a place reserved for me in heaven because the salad tasted so good. So thanks for sharing the recipe with me, I give you all of the credit for doing that. Love you. Mom
Pia says
August 23, 2013 at 6:07 amHi
Found this on pinterest and it sounds wonderful, but I live in Australia and we don’t have cool whip here that I have found so is there any substitutions for that as I really want to try this out. I have my instant vanilla pudding and my vanilla yoghurt all ready to go. Thanks for any help.
Amy Engberson says
August 23, 2013 at 10:48 amMy brother lived in Australia for two years and loved it there. That’s too bad you don’t have whipped topping in Australia. I bet you could whip your own cream until it was stiff and use that instead. It might not stay stable as long, but it’s worth a try. The salad doesn’t last that long before it’s gone anyway!! Good luck!
Pia says
August 28, 2013 at 5:36 amHi, I finally tried it and made it tonight just using normal cream which I whipped till stiff. And it tastes good – so thank you for this, I will be definitely making this again. I was even saying to my husband that we would try and put into a glass with some layers of cookie crumbs and make it like a trifle/eton mess type thing. Thanks again.
Amy Engberson says
August 28, 2013 at 9:55 amGlad you tried it and glad it worked. Turning it into a trifle sounds yummy! Thanks for the suggestion!
vicki says
May 24, 2014 at 3:56 pmHow many does this serve?
Amy Engberson says
May 25, 2014 at 10:58 pmI’m so bad at guessing these things! I would say about 6-8 small servings. It’s really easy to make it bigger if you need to serve a crowd!
Lori Ann says
September 5, 2014 at 6:06 pmHi Amy….I’m a facebook follower and have been giggling at your pics lately:). Imagine my surprise when I came across your recipe today on pinterest! Making it for a potluck party tomorrow. Looks super yummy. Hoping to impress the in-laws
Amy Engberson says
September 9, 2014 at 3:17 pmLori Ann, my kids make me giggle too! I’m so glad they brought a smile to someone else’s day too! Almost Cheesecake Salad is one of my favorite salads because it tastes amazing, it is so quick to put together and every on always loves it! I bet your in-laws are super impressed!
Ingrid says
July 7, 2015 at 8:14 amThanks so much for this! I’m excited to use it this weekend at a picnic I was invited to. I’m also the one who plans and organizes hikes and get togethers on weekends. Was looking for a nice summer snack to give everyone after a day of hiking or swimming. This seems perfect and I love using fresh fruit and Greek yogurt (Fage). Thanks a million!
Amy Engberson says
July 8, 2015 at 6:32 pmIt sounds like you have weekends packed full of fun, Ingrid! This salad will be perfect to take along!
Terri Anderson says
November 21, 2015 at 9:40 pmDo you make the pudding or just add the powder ??
Amy Engberson says
November 29, 2015 at 9:16 pmI add the pudding powder. The whole mixture will be lumpy at first but it will smooth out as it sets! This is one of my very favorite salads EVER!
Mom of 3 boys says
December 18, 2016 at 1:41 pmMight make this as a dessert for Christmas…..into a graham or cookie crumb crust? You think it’d fit into a 9×13 pan?
Amy Engberson says
December 22, 2016 at 12:16 pmGreat idea! I think it would fint perfectly in a 9 x 13 pan! Let me know how it goes!
Kathy Biedenbach says
May 10, 2018 at 2:56 pmCan you freeze dressing after it is made without fruit of course?
Amy Engberson says
May 14, 2018 at 11:12 pmHi Kathy! I wouldn’t recommend freezing the dressing. It’s really quick and easy though so hopefully that helps! And you can make it ahead of time.