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The Best Watergate Salad

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There is nothing better than Watergate Salad! This simple dump-and-go salad is a classic that makes it’s way into every celebration because it’s both incredibly delicious and incredibly easy. Whip it together in less than 5 minutes and you’re good to go! Love pistachio? Make sure to try my Easy Pistachio Pie and Pistachio and White Chocolate Pudding Cookies too!

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Watergate Salad

Pistachio Dessert Salad, Watergate Salad or Pistachio Fluff – whatever you choose to call it – it’s delicious! I mean, what’s better than dumping a handful of ingredients together in a bowl, giving it a quick stir, popping in the fridge to the chill and then having it ready to go when you are?

The answer? Nothing. Especially when you end up with a deliciously sweet and satisfying Watergate Salad for that teeny amount of effort.

As you guys know, I am a fluff lover. Like, I make a fluff salad for pretty much every function you can think of: holidays, potlucks, parties, etc. It’s my go-to. And there’s ample reasoning to support these decisions:

  1. There is never a single bit leftover. Never.
  2. Takes about 5 minutes to make.
  3. Cheap. Like, really, really cheap to make.

This is basically the criteria for all my life choices.

To top it all off, this is pistachio flavored! I looooove pistachio!

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What Is In Watergate Salad

Not a whole heck of a lot you guys. We’re talking 5 ingredients. TOTAL.

  • pistachio Jell-O instant pudding mix
  • crushed pineapple – in juice! Do not drain!
  • miniature marshmallows
  • chopped nuts your favorite – I usually use pecans or pistachios
  • Cool Whip – you can use lite if you prefer

Family recipes are the best. Seriously.  I mean, if we’re talking food that brings back the memories, it’s got to be a family recipe. Last month my little sister was out visiting and we made the rounds to all the local relatives so they could visit with Ashley. We met up with my Aunt Lana and had a wonderful visit.

My Aunt Lana surprised all of us girls with a late Christmas present…a compilation of favorite family recipes!! Now, I had totally forgotten about this when she told us around Christmas that she was working on this little project. Seriously, it couldn’t have come at a better time. I had SO much fun going through all the recipes and you could hear all three of us going “Oh yeah! I love that recipe!” or “Oh my gosh! I’ve always wanted that recipe!”

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I’ve already made several of the recipes already and if I hadn’t needed to feed my hungry family before I could get some pics – I would certainly have shared 🙂  This one I made in secret and snapped a few quick pics while the boys were away. As soon as they find out there are marshmallows in here…yeah, it’s not going to last long.

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Watergate Salad Can Be Made In Advance

I’m sure this salad looks familiar to some of you and hopefully brings back good memories too! The best part of this recipe is that it uses ingredients that you probably already have on hand. It’s super quick to make and stays good for days so it’s the perfect recipe to make in advance. This is definitely one of those recipes that you’re going to want to double for a crowd. Maybe triple 🙂

Some people ask for watergate salad without pineapple. This is definitely not it! I use the pineapple and it’s juice to dissolve the pudding mix. You can also make watergate salad with cottage cheese. It’s a lot like my Tropical Orange Jello Salad. You can add a cup of cottage cheese to this recipe if you like.

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Get Your Fluff On With These Great Dessert Salads

How To Make Watergate Salad

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5 from 2 votes

Watergate Salad

There is nothing better than Watergate Salad! This simple dump-and-go salad is a classic that makes it's way into every celebration because it's both incredibly delicious and incredibly easy. Whip it together in less than 5 minutes and you're good to go!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword pistachio fluff, pistachio salad, watergate, watergate salad
Prep Time 5 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Servings 10
Calories 158kcal
Author Trish - Mom On Timeout

Ingredients

  • 3.4 oz pistachio Jell-O instant pudding mix
  • 20 oz can crushed pineapple
  • 1 cup miniature marshmallows
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts your favorite
  • 8 oz container Cool Whip I used lite - thawed

Instructions

  • Combine pudding mix, pineapple (with juice), marshmallows and nuts in a large bowl and mix well.
  • Blend in Cool Whip and chill until ready to serve.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 158kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 159mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 70IU | Vitamin C: 5.4mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 0.3mg

Originally published August 11, 2013. Updated March 24, 2019.

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What are some of your favorite recipes that show up time and again at family functions?

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More recipes our family loves:

veggie-crescent-bites-summer-appetizer-recipe

Veggie Crescent Bites

fruit-basket-sugar-cookie-mini-pizzas

Fruit Basket Mini Sugar Cookie Pizzas

Carrot Cake

To-Die-For Carrot Cake

 

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For all breakfast recipes, go HERE.
For all dessert recipes, go HERE.
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Have a great day!

Comments

  1. Zelda Halsall says

    I’ve made this dessert off & on for over I’d say 30 years or more we can’t always find the pistachio puddings at least not we’re we live they said they weren’t making anymore than one day I was in another city found a couple of boxes then next time I manage to get back not that often they didn’t have any haven’t been able to find last several years than the store moved and changed names to far out to drive to.

    Reply

  2. Denise says

    I change this up a little for something different. No nuts (my son is not a fan). I use vanilla pudding with fruit cocktail & mandarin oranges. And, of course, still add the cool whip & rainbow color mini marshmallows. Still melts in your mouth delicious!

    Reply

  6. Baker Judy says

    Thank you so much for this recipe! I’m going to serve it for our New Year’s Day brunch. I have only had it yearly at a friend’s party. People will love it!

    Thank you!

    Reply

  7. Beth says

    Don’t like marshmellows? I
    Add 1 pound of seedless green grapes, sliced in half … BETTER than marshmallows!
    Or add both. This is the way my family enjoys Watergate Salad!

    Reply

  8. Linda says

    I make this with your recipe all the time. This past week I did something a little different, I add Christmas mini marshmallows and put the fluff in a graham cracker crust pie tin. I like the ones that you can purchase already made. My neighbors loved it.

    Reply

  9. Ivory says

    Thank you so much for posting this recipe, because (although I use to make this all the time) I forgot how to make it. Been a long time since I made it. Now thanks to you, I can once again make this over and over for my family. We truly love it! Hope your Thanksgiving was great.

    Reply

  10. Judy says

    Sour cream works great in the pistachio fluff if you don’t have Cool Whip, you might need to add a tablespoon or two of milk if it’s too stiff.

    Reply

  11. margie says

    i would like to thank you trish for sharing the pineapple cake receipe with ee. I made it and it was delicious! everyone loved it! thanks again

    Reply

  12. Asra says

    This sounds delicious, thanks for sharing:)
    I don’t eat Marshmallows.Any suggestions what I can replace Marshmallows with?

    Your cherry fluff had condensed milk in it. Will it be tastier if I add condensed milk to this as well?

    Thanks again:)

    Reply

    • Baker Judy says

      If you don’t eat marshmallows because of the gelatin/animal products, try the Trader Joe’s min marshmallows. They are vegan. You can find them toward the end of the year.

      In the summer, they sell only the large ones, for campfires. Both vegan.

      That’s how I was able to make the recipe today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t

      Reply

    • Carol says

      This salad is even better when you add white cooked rice to it. Have made it like that for years Everyone loves it.

      Reply

  14. Alice says

    Your recipes sound fabulous, but we call it Princess Pudding and make it from strawberry jello, chopped strawberries, marshmallows, flaked coconut, and Cool Whip folded in gently. Then we frost it with swirls of Cool Whip and plop choice straw berried and several bottled cherries on top. Since it’s pink, it’s great for Valentine’s Day.

    Reply

  15. Dianna Phillips says

    This is what I was told as a child. I love this fluff.

    Pistachio Salad got its name from President Richard Nixon. It was during the Watergate Hearings. This was his favorite salad to eat.

    Reply

  18. Carol says

    In my family, we call this “green stuff”, we also have pink stuff and orange stuff, but green stuff is the favorite.

    Reply

  19. Kellie says

    This is Watergate Salad. We have it every holiday but to be honest I could eat this all year round…so yummy and light.

    Reply

  22. Maren says

    I made this for Easter dinner yesterday, and it is AMAZING! It was a total hit with our family – So glad I found you on Pinterest!

    Reply

  23. KimD says

    Your pistachio dessert salad, just like my mom’s we ate it with the regular meal not for dessert though, still a family favorite

    Reply

  24. Susan N. says

    Been wanting to make this for YEARS, but never got around to it. Finally bought the stuff, but I’m having a bit of a dilemma: I’ve seen the recipe on the pudding box, which calls for the pineapple to be undrained. I’ve seen other various sites say drained or undrained; which is it?? I would like to double the recipe, but using ALL that juice, wouldn’t it make it too runny? I found another website that mentions reserving the juice and use only as needed to make it moist… but… you see what I mean? I want this first crack at it to be a success and not a disaster. I loved this stuff(my aunt used to make it) and I want my family to love it too.

    Reply

    • Susan N. says

      Erm.. sorry about the avatar.. I forgot I still had that over at Gravatar as my default avvie. (it’s now hopefully changed)

      Reply

      • KimD says

        Susan N I make this every year, just like my mom did, she and I drain it and than add a little juice, it just depends on how you like it. You are over thinking it, for this is an easy salad to make. I have even used other pudding flavors and other fruits.

        Reply

        • Susan N. says

          Thanks Kim. I guess I *was* “overthinking” as you say, but in the end I did just that, drain it out and add some back(just a little, actually) and it turned out fine 🙂 My family ate it up! I guess I’m nervous about doing things,especially things my family never had before(really), and wanted them to like this. I hadn’t had this in years, my hubby says he doesn’t remember ever having it and my daughter, never. So. I may try other ideas, now that I’m not so nervous!

          Reply

  25. Chris says

    We used to make this, minus the marshmallows. Put it in a graham cracker crust. It was pistachio pie. We always made it at holidays.

    Reply

  26. melissa says

    My Grandma called it pineapple fluff. She did what you have in recipe but the marshmallows were fruit flavored and she added fruit cocktail and maraschino cherries. It’s the bomb!

    Reply

  27. Donna M says

    We make this but with mandarin oranges, walnuts and the jarred red cherries like you use for ice cream sundies

    Reply

  30. Sandra Ruper says

    We add a can or 2 of drained mandarin oranges and use prepared Dream Whip in place of cool whip. We have always called it Fluff. Amazingly delicious!

    Reply

  31. Meg C says

    We’ve always called it pistachio jello pudding. It’s the dish my dad always has to make for family get togethers. Ours has everything that yours has, but the pineapples are tidbits and we also add mandarin orange slices. It’s delicious!

    Reply

  37. Allie | Baking A Moment says

    My family always had something similar at Easter dinner and bridal/baby showers… only it was made with lime jello, cool whip, cream cheese, and crushed pineapple. So weird, but so good! (I mean, how is that called “salad???”) Every time I taste it though, it brings me right back… 🙂

    Reply

  38. Lily says

    We make this salad all the time, although I think it’s really called Watergate Salad. The recipe is just the same…I think it’s on the pistachio jello pudding box …

    Reply

  42. Nancy P.@thebittersideofsweet says

    My sister did a book of family recipes a couple of years ago at Christmas. It is such a great book and each year we add new recipes to it! This version of this recipe using pistachios is really nice! I have only had it with orange and pineapple!

    Reply

  43. Jamie @ Love Bakes Good Cakes says

    Seriously, one of my favorite summer dishes! I think every family had this in one form or another 🙂

    Reply

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