Frog Eye Salad

Why you’ll love this frog eye salad

Pasta for dessert? Unless you are buddy the elf, you may not have enjoyed a sweet pasta salad before, but we think you will love it. It’s very reminiscent of a traditional ambrosia salad, but with pasta. The little frog eye shaped pasta add just enough of a bite to enjoy the sweetness, without adding more sugary ingredients. You just have to try it. We promise you won’t be disappointed.

If you like this recipe, you have to try this creamy corn pasta, and this blt pasta salad and this classic shrimp macaroni salad.

Searching for more pasta salad recipes? We’ve got just a few more, like this dill pickle pasta salad and this Mexican street corn pasta salad – it’s elote in a bowl basically. Plus, try making this Italian chopped salad with ditalini. It’s fresh and full of greens.

Ingredients & substitutions

• Acini di Pepe – This is what give the pasta dish its unique name. When cooked the acini de pepe are little, tiny spherical pasta which give the appearance of frog eyes.
• Cool whip
• Pineapple – Canned tidbits work best for this recipe. Don’t forget to reserve ½ cup of the juices before draining them.
• Mandarin oranges – We use canned mandarin oranges in light syrup for this, but we don’t recommend using fresh.
• Vanilla pudding mix – Instant pudding mix only, not the kind you have to cook.
• Coconut – Shredded and sweetened, this adds texture and sweetness.
• Mini marshmallows

The following is a detailed overview of the recipe steps with added tips and tricks for recipe success. For a simplified and printable version, including ingredient amounts and more formal instructions, see the recipe card below.

How to make this frog eye salad recipe

Cook the pasta. In a large saucepan, cook the acini de pepe pasta according to the package directions, except skip the traditional amount of salt included when making pasta. For this recipe, we only want to use a pinch – you want a tiny bit to balance all the sweetness, but not enough that it tastes fully salted. When pasta is cooked, drain and set aside.

Whip up the pudding. In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, whip the pudding with the milk and reserved pineapple juice. Continue to whip until pudding has set, this will take about 5 minutes.

Mix it up. Add the fruits, marshmallows and cooled pasta to the mixing bowl with the pudding. Stir to combine, then fold in the cool whip. Gently folding to cool whip as the very last step is what will keep this dish fluffy.

Chill. When everything is well combined, pop the dish in the refrigerator to chill. This allows the pudding to and cool whip to set up further while the pasta absorbs some of the sweet sauce. Garnish with a cherry and serve cold.