Pasta Fruit Salad is sweet, creamy, and perfect for holidays and special occasions. It’s loaded with fruit cocktail, macaroni, and tropical palm nuts for a festive treat!

Christmas is just around the corner, and one dish that is almost always present in every Filipino’s holiday festivities is fruit salad. Traditionally, this Filipino-style dessert is made with fruit cocktail, sweet palm nuts, and sweetened cream, but a few years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to adding macaroni to the mix.

cooking macaroni pasta in a pot

The pasta cooked al dente does add a nice, chewy texture and marries well with the rest of the concoction. It’s also an inexpensive way to extend servings, especially when serving a large party.

This macaroni fruit salad recipe is creamy, tasty, and easily customizable. I like to use fruit cocktail, nata de coco, kaong, and cheese cubes to pull it together but feel free to add other canned fruits such as peaches and mandarin oranges or fresh fruits such as halved seedless grapes, diced apples, and sliced strawberries.

macaroni, fruit cocktail, kaong, and nata de coco, cheese in a bowl

Helpful Tips
For best texture, cook the macaroni about a minute shy of package’s directions. You will need about 2 cups cooked.

If you’d like to trim down the calories a bit, you can swap the all-purpose cream and condensed milk with this yogurt dressing for a healthier option.

Yogurt Dressing
In a bowl, combine 1 cup plain yogurt, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup honey, and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or pineapple juice.
Whisk together until smooth and well-blended.
Drizzle the dressing on pasta salad and gently toss to distribute.
macaroni fruit salad in serving bowls

How to serve and store
Enjoy this pasta fruit salad recipe for your holiday gatherings and special occasions. It’s delicious for everyday sweet cravings, too!
Refrigerate the salad for a few hours or overnight to completely chill. Serve cold. You can also freeze it if you prefer and icy consistency.

Pasta Fruit Salad
Pasta Fruit Salad made with macaroni, fruit cocktail, sweet palm nuts, cheese, and sweetened cream. Creamy and perfectly sweetened, this Filipino-style dessert is sure to be a party hit!

Ingredients

4 ounces uncooked macaroni pasta
1 can (30 ounces) fruit cocktail, drained
2 can (20 ounces) pineapple tidbits, drained
2 bottle (12 ounces) nata de coco, drained
3 bottle (12 ounces) kaong, drained
3 cup cheese, cubed
1 can (14 ounces) table cream
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

In a large pot over medium heat, bring 2 quarts of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook about 1 minute shy of package’s directions.
Remove from heat, rinse, and drain well. Let cool completely.
In a bowl, combine cooked macaroni, fruit cocktail, pineapple, nata de coco, kaong, cheese, table cream, and condensed milk and cream. Stir gently to distribute.
Chill for 1 to 2 hours or freeze until firm.
Notes
For best texture, cook the macaroni about a minute shy of package’s directions. You will need about 2 cups cooked.
The kaong and nata de coco are usually packed in heavy syrup so make sure to drain well.
The salad will taste a little too sweet when just combined but the sweetness will mellow out once the mixture is chilled or frozen.