EASY PISTACHIO SALAD (WATERGATE SALAD)
Easy Pistachio Salad is the perfect addition to any holiday gathering. We love it for Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas. It is always great for any potluck!
If you are a fan of fluff salads then you will want to try our Strawberry Praline Salad. It has wonderful reviews and it’s always a hit.
❤️WHY WE LOVE THIS RECIPE
We love how simple this recipe is and the ingredients really go great together. It’s also versatile you can add or take away from this salad. It also looks great on a holiday table which is always a plus. Most everyone love the “green stuff” and it’s just a holiday staple.
🍴KEY INGREDIENTS
- Cool whip
- Pistachio instant pudding
- Miniature marshmallows
- Crushed pineapple with juice
- Chopped nuts
- Shredded coconut – sweetened
SWAPS
There are a few different ways to make this salad but this is or favorite. Some people don’t add the shredded coconut so you can always leave it out. Same goes with the nuts.
🍽️HOW TO MAKE
Let your cool whip thaw in the fridge for a few hours, which is the only time-consuming part of this dish. The hardest part of making this dish is getting the ingredients out. Which is another reason why this dish is a winner!
COOKING STEPS
Step 1
Stir dry pudding mix into cool whip. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Keep refrigerated.
⭐TIP
This salad has a few different names such as Watergate salad, pistachio salad and green stuff. Make sure you use INSTANT pudding mix, not the cook-and-serve kind.
RECIPE VARIATIONS
You can add a few different things to this recipe if you like. Such as:
- Maraschino Cherries
- Fruit Cocktail
- Real Pistachios
SERVE THIS WITH
This fluff salad is a classic so it goes with just about any meal. We love it at Christmas or Easter and we serve it with our Southern Pea Salad and our Amish Pasta Salad. You may also love these delicious Thanksgiving Side Dishes.
❓FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
You can but will need to stir it up well before serving, so if you plan to add cherries for decoration, wait to add those until you serve it.
Yes, you can leave it out.
Yes, it is best cold right out of the fridge.
STORING
We store this in an air-tight container in the fridge and it will keep for 2-3 days.
💕MORE POPULAR RECIPES TO ENJOY
SERVING SIZE
This makes about 8 servings and can easily be doubled.
Easy Pistachio Salad (Watergate Salad)
Ingredients
- 1 8 ounce cool whip
- 1 3.4 box pistachio instant pudding
- 2 cups miniature marshmallows
- 1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple with juice, drained well.
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts of your choice
- 1 cup shredded coconut
Instructions
- Stir dry pudding mix into cool whip. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Keep refrigerated.
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We use zero sugar cool whip and zero sugar pudding mix. You cannot taste the difference and it’s still yummylicious. We fix this anytime of the year, not just holidays.
WATERGATE ???? WHAAAT!!! OK, PISTACHIO, Where’d WATERGATE come from ??
(It’s Mighty Good )
It’s Watergate salad season again! I make this every year at the holidays because the green color goes with the seasonal decor. To make it even more festive (and yummy) I add maraschino cherries to it. Pretty and delicious!
Will you be offering your Spring edition of your magazine in print
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Dear Ladies, I ordered the magazine recently at 7.77,as offered, now I want to know do you publish a book printout that is mobile to move about from room to room, as I am having no luck at getting the digital to come up? Thank you, Sara Walker,swalker110@triad.rr.com
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Is there another fruit that you would recommend other than the pineapples listed? I am allergic to pineapple but love “the green stuff”! My grandma used to make this ❤️
Hi! You could try it with mandarin oranges. Thanks!
Connected to Granny’s recipes list, I can only conclude you are speaking of vintage ladies like myself. My Grannies were born in 1911. LOL
Served at Easter huge hit all gone…big favorite had to make my husband another bowl next day. Love this so good!!!
YAY!! So glad it was such a hit!
These are the times that test our souls. The low carb devils keep screaming at me to just back off. haha Gosh I used to love this stuff!
My husband loves pistachio, so this salad was a hit.
This was a hit yesterday!
Thank you!
Wonderful!!
In the South, “salad” just means dessert you eat with your meal. 🙂
Yes!!
Could l substitute whipped cream for cool whip? Thank you.
I have never tried it with whipped cream. Sorry, I cannot advise you.
I would think real whip cream would need to be kept chilled. The cool whip wouldn’t break down as easily. Its so good it probably won’t last long enough to worry about.
I make a fruit salad with this recipe. I use the sugar free pudding and cool whip, cut up all the fruit I can get my hands on with pecans or walnuts. I then binge. (I try not to throw in the marshmallows but lose that battle often.)
Have never understood why this is called a “salad”. Much too sweet, it is really a dessert!
My mama made this every Thanksgiving and Christmas-we loved it and called it “the green stuff”.
We also called it the green stuff! I haven’t made this for years and it’s soooo delicious!!
I WAS WONDERING WHAT SIZE (OUNCES) OF COOL WHIP DO YOU CONSIDER A LARGE.
Love, love,love this dessert ! Thank you for posting it !
How many ounces in regular size can of pineapple? Do you mean the flat can size? Thank you!
I mean the 16 ounce size which is probably 14 ounces today.
We love Watergate Salad! Try adding coconut for a more tropical taste. Delicious!!!!!
made it this morning like it with coconut
We call it watergate salad too..I am 42 and remember this from childhood. So good! I’m making it this weekend, I forgot all about it. My kids will love it. Thanks for the reminder!
I’m gonna try this recipe this week…my little one LOVES/addicted to Pistachio’s ~I bet she will love this! thanks for sharing…
That looks so good, Judy!
I bought some pistachio Jello mix the other day to make that stuff we used to have at every church function or picnic. It was the jello stuff, nuts, cheese and some other stuff. I may try this recipe instead. Maybe it is just getting to be spring and we are remembering all the good stuff.