I was given this recipe by a good friend of my Mothers. Since then it has become one of my favorite things to make. It’s so incredibly easy to throw together and it makes a lot. It could very easily be halved using the smaller 8 oz container of cool whip, etc, etc. That’s what I usually do when I make it for just myself. It doesn’t really keep well past the second day, it starts to break down and soften, getting kind of wet. Not exactly the texture you are looking for with this salad. But served the day it’s made, it is just awesome!
I’m actually quite shocked that I enjoy this dish as much as I do. Firstly, I am not a huge orange flavor person. Citrus just isn’t my favorite. And furthermore, I don’t really enjoy pudding-like textures. Luckily with all the ingredients and the cool whip, the salad isn’t so strongly flavored orange and there is actually a nice degree of texture.
Some of you may be looking at the ingredient list wondering why in the world is their cottage cheese in this salad and at that rate, how that could possibly be appetizing. Well, I really don’t have an answer for you. All I can say is that it just IS. And once you add in the immense amount of cool whip, the cottage cheese just kind of gets lost in it all. NOTE: If you decide to use lower-fat cottage cheese and cool whip, it will be a little bit wetter and not as thick. I don’t really recommend it. I’ve never personally used sugar-free jello either so I can’t say how well that works as a substitution.
I will say that this isn’t the most popular dish to serve at social functions. And that is simply because people don’t recognize what it is. I’ve learned over the years that people are far more apt to eat things that they can look at and know exactly what it is. For example- a chocolate chip cookie would be far more popular than a chocolate mint chip cookie or a butterscotch oatmeal cookie. It’s a shame that so many good dishes get overlooked because of this, but it is very true. So I do have to throw that out there. Unless you are serving this to a group of people that are familiar with the salad, then it probably will only be picked at.
Orange Jello Salad
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
- 1 (32 oz) large container cottage cheese
- 1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 (15 oz) can mandarin orange segments, drained and cut in half
- 2 small boxes of orange flavored jello
- 1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
- 1 large container cool whip
Directions:
Combine cottage cheese, pineapple, oranges, jello, and cherries together in a large bowl.
Fold in cool whip until completely combined. Cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. Best served the day it’s made.
