Somehow, we got into the business of making old-fashioned salads for our free drive-thru meal ministry at a United Methodist church in Knoxville, Tennessee. That may have happened because we have limited oven and storage space, so we aim to have at least one cold dish to make ahead and stash in the refrigerator.
At our Easter Saturday takeout lunch, we served “Strawberry Fluff Salad” alongside the holiday ham. Everyone who saw it said, “Oh, my mother/grandmother used to make that.” Kitty, one of our regular volunteers, tasted it and said, “Oh, I forgot how good it is.”
This salad (or is it a dessert?) won’t win awards for nutrition or originality. A 2019 NPR story lumped our salad in with a pistachio-flavored version (known famously as “Watergate Salad”) before dismissing it with, “The salad became a food grandmas made, a staple of church basements.”
Anyway, our guests loved this easy and inexpensive blend of fruit-flavored gelatin, whipped topping (Cool Whip), cottage cheese, and crushed pineapple. I grew up with a lime-green version including chopped pecans or walnuts, traditionally served at Christmastime. We just called it “Green Jello Salad.” Kitty said her family called it “Green Mush.” I’ve also heard about salads with similar ingredients and different fruit flavors that families affectionately called “Pink Stuff” or “Green Goop.”
We picked strawberry-flavored gelatin for our Easter salad, which inspired us to slice one perfect strawberry – a tip of the hat to the first fruits of spring – on each serving.
Strawberry Fluff Salad
Serves 8
- 15-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
- 16-ounce container cottage cheese
- 3-ounce package strawberry gelatin
- 8-ounce container whipped topping, thawed
- Fresh strawberries (optional)
Combine pineapple, cottage cheese, pineapple, and gelatin in a bowl. Stir well. (Don’t prepare the gelatin with boiling water — just mix in the powder.)
Fold whipped topping in with other ingredients until combined. Do not over mix to keep the salad “fluffy.”
Refrigerate until serving time. If desired, slice fresh strawberries over each serving.
Kitty dishes it out. 
Bill slices the strawberries. 
All ready to go!
Write to me at annettespence@holston.org.
The Call to Cook 
My favorite is a layered orange lemon jello salad with pineapple, bananas, and mini marshmallows topped with a whipped cream/pineapple puddingish thing and topped with grated sharp cheddar cheese. Salad? Dessert? Why the cheese? I don’t know but it is a delicious combo.
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Sounds delish! I would love to try this!
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That would be called Sunshine Salad!!! My Mom used to always make it and serve at her “Circle” meetings (we grew up 1st Baptist) on top of a piece of head lettuce and served with hot tea, hot cider or hot coffee in the little matching cup on the plate. She would usually throw in a few pieces of mixed nuts along side it as well. My sisters and I still make Sunshine Salad all the time. Still our favorite of all time! I have the recipe!!!
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I never knew where my mother got the recipe so I was interested in this article. My favorite is 2 boxes of strawberry Jell-o powder and 1 box of orange Jell-o powder mixed into the carton of cottage cheese. Then I stir in 3 small containers of whipped topping (thawed). Next I stir in at least 3 small cans of mandarin oranges (drained well). Save out some of the nicer segments of mandarin oranges to make a design on top. Chill until ready to serve. This makes a very large bowl full which is good for family gatherings.
I like the strawberry orange flavor with the mandarin oranges. We just called it Jell-o salad but our daughter-in-law named it Pink Fluff. She loves it!
My mother experimented with different flavors of Jell-o and fruits. Cans of fruit cocktail give it more variety with the different fruits.
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I haven’t tried it yet, but I like the idea of adding more fruit to the mix! This sounds so good.
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Oh – I hope you don’t change too much! I just found you – and I shared your site with Facebook friends, several of whom are or have been involved in cooking endeavors similar to the ones your write about. Re Pink Fluff – my mother introduced us to this when my children (now in their late 40s) were quite small. One taste and my daughter named it “Pink Yum-Yum” – in our family, no other name will do.
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Pink Yum Yum … That’s a new one but I like it! Thanks for letting me know. — Annette
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