This Filipino Fruit Salad is a creamy, sweet, tropical side dish that you can whip up easily and quickly. It’s a great side or dessert to balance out the savory, sour, tangy flavors of main course Filipino dishes.
Growing up as a Filipino-American in suburban United States, I used to get a lot of flack for some of the food in my lunchbox. And sometimes for the food in our own home when guests would come over for my birthday parties (which were epic, btw!).
But this Filipino Fruit Salad is, interestingly enough, one of the dishes that mainstream America and our immigrant Filipino family members could agree on. Maybe it’s the refreshing fruit medley that instantly transports you to the tropics. Maybe it’s the creamy coating that makes this more like a dessert than a salad (I always felt like “salad” should be in quotes for this dish).
Or maybe it’s the way the sweet, juicy flavors of Filipino fruit salad beautifully balance out the earthy, savory, sour, umami flavors of Filipino dishes like lumpia, Instant Pot Filipino chicken adobo, and pancit.
The bottom line: this is a fruit salad that makes you feel like you’re on a warm, sunny, tropical island. And that’s enough to put a smile on anyone’s face, and reason enough to make this for your next gathering.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this family favorite recipe!
If you’re hesitant to try this recipe (it’s okay, no shame here! At least you’re trying!), here are a few reasons to give it a shot:
- So easy – It’s literally a dump, mix, and chill recipe. Boom! Done!
- Flexible – You can make substitutions and adjustments easily and it will still taste great (see Ingredient Notes section below).
- Refreshing – This is such a chill, refreshing treat on a warm day.
- Unique – This is not your ordinary fruit salad. This is a tropical fruit salad taken up another level!
- Make-Ahead – You can make this a day or even two before you need to serve it.
Ingredient notes
You only need five ingredients to make Filipino fruit salad! Here are some notes to help you out.
- Fruit cocktail – Canned fruit cocktail (drained, and lightly rinsed) makes this recipe a breeze. You can use whatever fruit cocktail you like best. I like to use a tropical fruit cocktail that has mango, pineapple, and guava. Make sure you drain the fruit cocktail well, so that the salad doesn’t become too liquidy.
- Condensed milk – You can use sweetened condensed milk, which is more traditional, or unsweetened condensed milk.
- Table cream – You can find this next to the condensed milk in some US grocery stores, but definitely at your local Asian market. The Nestle brand is labeled as “media creme.”
- Young coconut – You can find canned young coconut also at local Asian grocery stores. Be sure to drain it well. If you can’t find canned young coconut, you can buy fresh young coconut (in the produce aisle of most Asian markets) and shred it yourself.
- Maraschino cherries – This ingredient technically is optional. Not all of my Filipino relatives include cherries, but my mom did and I personally like the pop of color it adds plus the rich cherry flavor.
Marlynn’s Tip
Recipe Tip
The purpose of Table Cream is to add even more richness to the dish. If you are having a hard time finding Table Cream or Media Crema, you can substitute Greek yogurt, whipping cream, or even blended silken tofu.
Step-by-step instructions
Here are a few step-by-step photos to show you how easy it is to make Filipino Buko Fruit Salad! You’ll find the full list of ingredients along with measurements, and more detailed instructions in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- In a large bowl, add the condensed milk and table cream.
- Whisk together until smooth.
- Add the young coconut and fruit salad mix.
- Mix everything together until well combined.
- If desired, top with maraschino cherries.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Canned fruit is simply the traditional way of making it, but you can gather up and peel, slice/chop fresh peaches, pineapple, mango, papaya, guava, and pitted cherries instead.
Store this Filipino fruit salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
This is tricky. Some people (like my Filipino mom) say that you can freeze this fruit salad. However, I normally don’t like to freeze food that dairy and fresh fruit together. The texture after you thaw it out from freezing may not be the most desirable. If you do decide to freeze it, I would only suggest freezing it for up to 1 month.
Serving suggestions
This Filipino fruit salad shines as a side or dessert served with classic Filipino dishes like our Instant Pot Filipino Chicken Adobo, Pancit Bihon, and Filipino Lumpia.
For summer, we love to serve this at barbecues and cookouts with Filipino Pork BBQ Skewers, Chicken Inasal, and Filipino Mac Salad.
🍷 🥂 Wine pairings
This sweet fruit salad calls for a sweet wine. Serve it with an off-dry Riesling or almost any sparkling wine. We had an Italian-style Tocai Fruilano recently from Oregon that would pair deliciously with this!
More Filipino recipes
Filipino Recipes
Instant Pot Chicken Adobo
Filipino Recipes
Authentic Filipino Lumpia Recipe (Filipino Egg Rolls)
Filipino Recipes
Filipino Pancit Bihon Recipe
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
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Filipino Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk, about half of a 14-ounce can
- 1 can (8 ounces) table cream, also known as media creme
- 4 cups fruit cocktail mix, drained, approximately 2 cans *see notes*
- 1 can (15 ounces) shredded young coconut, drained
- handful of maraschino cherries
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk and table cream until combined and smooth.
- Add the drained fruit cocktail mix and shredded young coconut to the bowl. Mix well to coat the fruit.
- Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
- Top with maraschino cherries before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
