Amish Yum Yum Salad is a refreshing, creamy orange jello salad made with pineapple, cream cheese, and whipped cream. It's light, fluffy, fruity, and just sweet enough to feel like dessert - even though it's traditionally served as a side dish.
This classic Amish jello salad is perfect for potlucks, summer barbecues, holiday dinners, or church gatherings. It's easy to make, requires just a few simple ingredients, and always disappears fast.
Jump to:
Why You'll Love Amish Yum Yum Salad
- Creamy, fluffy texture with fruity pineapple flavor
- Easy make-ahead side dish
- Perfect for picnics, potlucks, and holiday meals
- Tastes like dessert but fits right in with dinner
- Can be made with different jello flavors
Ingredients
- Crushed pineapple (with juice) brings fruity sweetness and moisture. The juice helps dissolve and flavor the gelatin.
- Water is used to dissolve the jello properly.
- Sugar adds extra sweetness to balance the tangy cream cheese.
- Orange jello gives the salad its bright color, flavor, and structure. (Feel free to try strawberry or other flavors that pair well with pineapple.)
- Cream cheese adds richness and a slight tang that keeps the salad from tasting overly sweet.
- Heavy whipping cream adds creaminess. When whipped, it creates a light and airy texture, helping to incorporate air into the salad and making it fluffy. (Feel free to replace it with thawed Cool Whip.)
How to Make Orange Yum Yum Salad
This creamy jello salad is simple to make, but timing matters. Be sure to allow enough time for chilling and setting.
- Cook the Pineapple Mixture - In a saucepan, combine the crushed pineapple (with juice), water, and sugar. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the dry jello powder until completely dissolved.
- Cool Until Slightly Thickened - Let the gelatin mixture cool in the refrigerator until it is chilled and just beginning to thicken (it should look syrupy, not firm).
- Tips: If the mixture is too warm when added to the cream, it can deflate the whipped cream and make the salad runny.
- If it sets completely solid, don't panic - just gently stir it to loosen before mixing.
- To speed up cooling, place the saucepan in a bowl of ice water and stir occasionally.
- If it sets completely solid, don't panic - just gently stir it to loosen before mixing.
- Tips: If the mixture is too warm when added to the cream, it can deflate the whipped cream and make the salad runny.
- Make the Creamy Base - In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth and lump-free. Add the heavy whipping cream and beat on low until combined, then increase speed and whip until thick and fluffy.
- Combine Gently - Pour the chilled gelatin mixture into the whipped cream mixture and beat gently, just until fully combined.
- If using Cool Whip instead of heavy cream, fold the gelatin in gently instead of beating.
- Chill Until Firm - Transfer to a serving dish and refrigerate for at least 3 - 4 hours, or until fully set.
- For best results, make it the day before serving.
(Note: The other day I made the jello part and set it in the fridge to cool. Something else came up, and I couldn't finish it on the same day. So I covered the jello mixture and left it in the fridge overnight. It was completely set before I got to add it to the creamy part. But it still worked fine.)
Orange Jello Salad or Strawberry Jello Salad
This recipe works beautifully with different gelatin flavors. Orange is the classic choice, but strawberry, peach, or even raspberry pair well with pineapple. Just swap the flavor - no other changes needed.
Should We Use Heavy Whipping Cream or Cool Whip?
I usually prefer real heavy whipping cream because it gives this salad a fresher flavor and a richer, creamier texture.
However, Cool Whip works perfectly well if you prefer the convenience. AND since it's stabilized, it holds up better in warm weather - making it a smart choice for potlucks or outdoor gatherings. So if you're taking this jello dish to an outdoor picnic, where it might be sitting in the heat for a while, I would recommend using Cool Whip.
What's the difference?
- Heavy whipping cream creates a softer, more homemade texture.
- Cool Whip makes the salad slightly sweeter and a bit firmer.
If using Cool Whip, gently fold it in instead of beating. Overmixing can cause it to break down and become runny.
Orange Fluff Salad
This old-fashioned Amish Yum Yum Salad recipe is sometimes also called orange fluff salad or orange jello fluff. Made with crushed pineapple, cream cheese, and whipped cream, it's one of those vintage jello salads that used to show up at many Amish potlucks.
In one of my Amish cookbooks, there's a recipe that's almost exactly like this yum yum salad, but it's called orange fluff salad. AND it includes mandarin oranges.
So if you like mandarin oranges, feel free to add a can of well-drained mandarin oranges. I would fold them in at the end.
Jello Salad… or Dessert?
I have often wondered why creamy jello dishes like this Yum Yum Salad, Indiana Salad, Layered Christmas Salad, and Grape Dreamsicle Salad are called jello salad instead of jello dessert.
These vintage-style jello salads may taste like dessert, but at Amish gatherings they're traditionally served as salads - right alongside the main meal. You'll often find them on the table with the first course at church dinners and family get-togethers.
So why call something this sweet a salad?
That's just the tradition. These creamy gelatin dishes are served with the meal rather than after it. And if we're being honest, most of us don't mind enjoying something that tastes like dessert with our meat and potatoes. 🙂
You can call it a salad or a dessert, it works great for either!
More Amish Recipes to Try
Amish women are known for their delicious home-cooking. And when serving guests, they will often have a well-rounded hearty meal with lots of different choices.
A typical meal will usually consist of some kind of potatoes (such as mashed or scalloped potatoes), meat (such as pot roast, meatloaf, or shake and bake chicken) , a vegetable, side salad (such as layered lettuce salad, broccoli cauliflower salad, or cole slaw), jello salad, homemade bread or rolls, and desserts. And possibly a side dish of buttered noodles as well.
AND if you try this Amish recipe for Yum Yum Jello Salad, I'd love it if you left a comment and star rating below. Let me know if you serve it for salad or dessert! 🙂 Thank you!
Visit my shop to purchase my cookbook
Check out my YouTube channel at MyAmishHeritage
I'm leaving a couple of affiliate links to Jello Molds in case you're interested. The Amish (at least when I was growing up) love to put jello salads into pretty molds to make them look fancy.
📖 Recipe Card
Yum Yum Jello Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, undrained
- 2 c. water
- ⅓ c. sugar
- 1 box (6 oz.) orange jello
- 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
- 2 c. heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Place pineapple, water, and sugar into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Stir occasionally, and boil for 5 minutes.1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, undrained, 2 c. water, ⅓ c. sugar
- Remove from the heat and add the gelatin powder. Stir until dissolved.1 box (6 oz.) orange jello
- Chill the gelatin mixture until it begins to gel.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese then add the whipping cream. Beat slowly until incorporated.1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened, 2 c. heavy whipping cream
- Scrape the sides of the bowl, and increase speed to high. Beat until thickened and creamy.
- Add the chilled gelatin mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Place into a dish and chill until firm. Serve.
- Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 or 6 days.
Jane M.
I have a question. When the whipping cream is incorporated into the cream cheese, is it added unwhipped?
Anna
I notice that many people say to whip the cream separately and then add it. However, I always add my unwhipped cream and whip it till it's stiff.
Anna
So yummy!
Cat
Anna! We're hooked! This is the most delicious thing I have tasted in quite a while. So refreshing and light, my son and I agreed we could have eaten the entire bowl at one sitting. We prefer it as a dessert. Having said that, my son's girlfriend absolutely detests pineapple. Is there a way to make this with strawberries? We still love the orange pineapple flavor, but she wouldn't eat it with someone else's mouth..lol. If there's a way to use strawberries, I would be eternally grateful if you could let me know.
Thanks!
Cat
Anna
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I have never made it with strawberries, but I'm sure you could. I would use strawberry jello instead of orange. Omit the pineapple, then just add some cut up strawberries at the end before refrigerating. I think it should work.
Cat
Thanks, Anna... I actually had an idea before I received your reply. If I mash or even use a food processor on pulse to break up the strawberries till they are the consistency of the crushed pineapple, and then mix the sugar in with the strawberries and let them sit for a while, it might create juices the equivalent of the 20 oz can of crushed pineapple with juices. If I'm successful, I will definitely let you know! Thanks again.
Anna
That should work too! Good luck!
Cindy
I’ve made this recipe from another site. I enjoy it at those delicious holiday meals as a refreshing offset.
But, I’m writing today to tell you that you are brilliant! The way the ingredients are listed under their associated steps is mastery!!
Thank you!
Anna
Thank you! 🙂
Chrissie O.
I grew up with this!! BUT, we included the water from the Mandarin oranges (lg. jar!) in the water requirements for the Jello/gelatin, and we definitely used Cool Whip; right out of the fridge, it's almost like a Creamsicle, which I never, actually, liked... but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!!! As a PS, at a picnic, since Cool Whip really hasn't much dairy, it's better for setting outdoors for a while, especially in warmer weather! Thank you for posting. I haven't, actually tried strawberry (I wonder why not??? Hmmmm...) but I have a quart of fresh berries and I just might have to rectify that tomorrow!!! It will be wonderful, I'm sure!!!
Anna
🙂