Add this sweet and sour Cranberry Fluff Salad to your holiday dinner lineup. Filled with pineapple, cranberries, and pecans mixed with creamy Cool Whip and fluffy marshmallows, everyone will love this beautiful cranberry salad.

Cranberry Fluff Salad
If you’re ready to try a new twist on cranberry sauce or cranberry salad, our Cranberry Fluff Salad recipe will be right up your alley. It’s so pretty and tasty, perfect cold side salad for turkey, chicken, or even with a roast beef meal.
Love cranberries? Don’t miss these recipes that highlight the oh-so-delicious cranberry: Cranberry Apple Coleslaw | Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad | White Chocolate Cranberry Fudge | Cranberry Orange Cookies | Easy Cranberry Chicken
The Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make Cranberry Fluff Salad (the exact measurements and full recipe instructions are below in the easy to print recipe card):
- Canned pineapple chunks – drain the pineapple then you’ll blend half of it with the cranberries and the other half will be folded into the salad so you have some nice chunks of pineapple.
- Fresh cranberries – rinse and dry the cranberries before adding them to the recipe.
- Powdered sugar – the cranberries and pineapple are quite tart, so the sugar helps balance the sweetness.
- Miniature marshmallows – if you don’t have mini marshmallows you can use regular-sized marshmallows and cut them into small pieces.
- Pecans – chop the pecans well. They add great crunch to the salad, but they are optional if you prefer no nuts.
- Cool Whip – or use any store brand whipped topping you like. Thaw completely before using in this recipe.

How to Make Cranberry Fluff Salad
Pour half of the pineapple chunks and the fresh cranberries into a food processor or blender.
Tip: if you’re using a blender you may find it more difficult to get the ingredients to break down. In this case, you may need to add a little of the pineapple juice or water to give the blender enough liquid to blend the ingredients together.

Pulse until the cranberries and pineapple are roughly the consistency of a thick smoothie.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl, mix in the powdered sugar, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Stir in the marshmallows, the rest of the pineapple chunks, and pecans. Fold in the Cool Whip.

Refrigerate the Cranberry Fluff until ready to serve. Garnish with chopped pecans and fresh cranberries if desired.
Variations
Sweeter – taste the cranberry fluff before serving and if it’s still too sour for your taste, add more powdered sugar until you like the level of sweeteness.
Coconut – try adding some flaked coconut to the salad.
Nuts – you can leave the nuts out completely, or go for a nut such as chopped walnuts.

Salad Garnish Ideas
Before serving the salad, you may want to add some garnish to the top. Here are some ideas:
- Cropped pecans
- Fresh cranberries
- Mini marshmallows
- Flaked coconut
- Toasted coconut
- Wedges of fresh pineapple
How to Store Leftover Cranberry Salad
Keep the leftover cranberry fluff in an airtight food storage container. Store in the refrigerator for up to three days and stir well before serving again.

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Cranberry Fluff Salad
Ingredients
- 1 20-ounce can pineapple chunks drained and divided
- 1 cup fresh cranberries rinsed and drained
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups miniature marshmallows
- 1 cup pecans chopped (optional)
- 8 ounce container Cool Whip thawed
Instructions
- Pour half of the pineapple chunks and the fresh cranberries into a food processor or blender. Pulse until the cranberries and pineapple are roughly the consistency of a thick smoothie. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, mix in the powdered sugar, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Stir in the marshmallows, the rest of the pineapple chunks, and pecans. Fold in the Cool Whip.
- Refrigerate the Cranberry Fluff until ready to serve. Garnish with chopped pecans and fresh cranberries if desired.
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