Frog Eye Salad is a fruit salad which a tendency to make people give me a worried look, like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe so, but that’s more than this blog can cover. Once they’ve tried it, though, most really like it. It is not a universally loved food, but it is love by many, liked by most of the rest, and reviled by a few. Most versions of the recipe call for coconut and not only do none of us like coconut, most people we’ve ever known don’t really care much for it, so you gotta question why the heck so many Frog Eye Salad recipes contain it. Coconut really only belongs in Pina Coladas.
I have always used this recipe, which I originally added to the blog in July 2010, which calls for Acini de Pepe pasta. Up until covid hit, anyway. I was able to find some on amazon and then none for months. We ran out finally and I needed something. Couscous is NOT the answer here, we ended up with leftovers that eventually got tossed with that experiment. After much googling, I discovered a pasta called peperini, which is……. another name for acini de pepe. Again, I couldn’t find it anywhere but Amazon, but it was there and I stocked up. While the weirdos were stocking up on toilet paper, I went after tiny noodles, which are also perfect for homemade Italian Wedding Soup.
Make this for your next get together, and check out my Potato Salad and Coleslaw for more sides to feed a group.
Frog Eye Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 L unsweetened pineapple juice separated, see instructions
- 2 eggs large
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 8 cups water for boiling pasta
- 16 oz acini de pepe or peperini pasta
- 3 cans mandarin oranges, drained 11oz
- 2 cans pineapple tidbits, drained 20oz
- 1 can crushed pineapple, drained 20oz
- 8 oz frozen whipped topping aka Cool Whip, thawed
- 1 cup miniature marshmallows
Instructions
- In a sauce pan, whisk together sugar, flour, salt, 1¾ cup pineapple juice, and eggs. Stir and cook over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat; add lemon juice and cool to room temperature.
- In a large colander, add all the canned fruit and allow to drain for at least an hour then place in covered bowl and refrigerate until cold.
- Bring remaining pineapple juice and water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. Rinse under cold water (use a metal sieve strainer for best results) and drain.
- In a large bowl, combine the pasta and sugar/juice mixture and refrigerate until cold, about 4 hours or overnight.
- Once chilled, mix fruit into pasta mixture, add marshmallows. Just before serving, mix in whipped topping.
Notes
Nutrition
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2 comments
I thought I knew all the uses for acini de Pepe but this ais a brand new one to me. It will be fun to make.
I bet you’ll love it :) thanks for stopping by!