Grandma’s Vintage Recipe Watergate Salad
Do you remember having Watergate Salad at family dinners? This vintage recipe is the same one grandma used to make for those gatherings.
Featuring easy to find ingredients and simple preparation instructions, it’s no wonder our grandma’s made this dessert so often!
I’ve often seen Watergate Salad on the dessert table at church potluck dinners. You know, church ladies make the best dishes, right? They use only the tried and try recipes for those potluck dinners.
There are many stories about how this dish became named Watergate Salad. In fact, it would be difficult to separate urban myth from folklore from fact when digging for the true story.
This dish has been known as Pistachio Pineapple Delight, Green Fluff, and Grandma’s Salad among other names. Becoming popular in the 1970s might have something to do with the Watergate Salad name, as the presidential scandal of the era was know as Watergate.
Regardless of what you call it, you’ll agree that it’s a vintage recipe worth remembering. My grandma more frequently made a Jello recipe that featured fruit cocktail, but once in a while, this dish was on the table.
I’ve yet to find many recipes that are more simple to prepare. With only two steps, anybody can mix up this delicious and popular dessert. You don’t really need cooking skills, just be able to open a can and stir.
Make It a Meal:
This dish is a perfect add on to the family holiday meals. Talk about traditional, set up a buffet with Green Bean Casserole, Corn Pudding, Baked Apples, Oatmeal Pie, and Grandma’s Fruit Jello.
 
Every family has their own traditional dishes to be found on dinner tables. The common element among all of those recipes is that they are loved and and made repeatedly.
Recently I surveyed a group of friends for a recipe that their grandma or mother made that was particularly loved. The list of vintage recipes was fairly lengthy, and Watergate salad was mentioned a couple of times.
I’m not certain the folks who responded to my survey make those favored dishes or if they simply treasure the memories attached, but for those who are interested in making Watergate Salad, I’ve included the recipe below.
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Inside my grandmother’s recipe box are many newspaper clippings of recipes that she either made or simply wanted to make. Often those recipes yield the most compliments at the dinner table.
Sometimes she copied the recipes from the newspaper to index cards…often saving both versions of the recipe for future use.
Watergate Salad Recipe
Ingredients:
Pudding, Cool Whip, Marshmallows, Pineapple, Nuts
Recipe Directions:
Mix and chill, eat and enjoy!
Watergate Salad
Just like grandma always made, this vintage recipe for Watergate Salad will be a winner at the table.
Ingredients
- 3.5 ounce Pistachio Instant Pudding
- 20 ounce Crushed Pineapple
- 4 ounce Cool Whip
- 1.5 cup Mini Marshmallows
- 1/2 cup pecans
Instructions
-
Mix the pistachio instant pudding, crushed pineapple (with juice) and marshmallows in medium bowl.
-
Fold in the whipped cream and pecan pieces.
-
Chill for one hour, serve.
Approximate Nutritional Information:
Servings Per Recipe: 8, Amount Per Serving: Calories: 306, Fat: 22g, Cholesterol: 0g, Sodium: 70mg, Carbs: 27g, Protein: 3.5g
(please remember these are approximate and will vary slightly based on your ingredient selections.)
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