Frog Eye Salad
This Frog Eye Salad is a tasty treat for those with a sweet tooth! An interesting mix of a pasta and fruit salad, a must try for those who love tapioca pudding.
Right off the bat – No of course it isn’t real frog eyes in this salad. It is Acini de Pepe, a very small pasta, similar in size to tapioca pearls. They are a little bit more firm than tapioca pearls.
A lot of the recipes I saw online made a fruit juice & flour sauce over the stove top. I went a slightly different route but I thought the results were delicious. Please note that you will need to plan ahead for this as it needs to chill overnight before serving. Enjoy!
Notes: If you would prefer to use Instant vanilla pudding, you can try using the method at Simply Delish, which is to add in a full cup of reserved pineapple / mandarin orange juices. If I were to use instant vanilla pudding, I would mix it up in a separate bowl with the fruit juices to make sure that it is mixed completely, then add it as directed.
Frog Eye Salad
Ingredients
- 8 oz. Acini de Pepe (Found in the pasta aisle)
- 16 oz. crushed pineapple or tidbits ~2 small cans, with juice
- 11 oz. can mandarin orange slices drained
- 4.6 oz. box cook & serve vanilla pudding
- 8 oz. Cool Whip
- 8 oz. mini marshmallows
- Optional add in: shredded coconut
- Optional garnish: Maraschino cherries and Mandarin orange slices
Instructions
For the pudding:
- Cook the vanilla pudding as directed on the box. Pour into a bowl and place in the fridge until chilled. (You may want to put saran wrap over the pudding, right up against it, so a pudding skin doesn’t form. If it does, just scrape it off after it is chilled).
For the pasta:
- Cook the pasta as directed on the box. Rinse with cold water and drain.
For assembly:
- Add the pasta to a very large bowl. Add the pineapple with juice, the drained mandarin orange slices and stir. Add the chilled vanilla pudding, cool whip and marshmallows. Chill and let sit overnight before serving.
This looks so great! I'm pinning so this summer I can make it for us at dinnertime!
My family always made a custard using the pineapple juice, sugar and eggs then poured it over the cooked, drained pasta and allowed that to sit over night. It gives the pasta great flavor.
I had that recipe and lost it.
It was the original recipe on the box
My family always made a custard using the pineapple juice, sugar and eggs then poured it over the cooked, drained pasta and allowed that to sit over night. It gives the pasta great flavor.
my family did too, no instant pudding in original recipe
Is there something that I can sub for the pineapple or can I just leave it out all together? There is an allergy to it in the family.
Seeing this recipe brought back recent memories. My coworkers and I would host a Halloween Boofett every year for the rest of the office. This is one of the dishes I would take, adding a little green food coloring to make it look froggy. The dish itself is so delicious though.
Hi! As a fellow food blogger I just wanted to send you a heads up that I found your recipe and photo here posted on a Facebook page without any link back to you (save they didn't edit off your watermark). Thought you might want a heads-up. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=484225978329653&set=pb.100002267646923.-2207520000.1374852873.&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-prn1%2F1010264_484225978329653_843978538_n.jpg&size=572%2C471
We've been making this for years, and it is great with just about any flavor pudding. The best is pistachio because not only does it taste great but it really looks froggy!
Is there any reason not to use instant pudding?
I have this recipe with the fruit juice and flavor custard, but this sounds easier. I think that I will try it.
I make this by just adding a box of dry instant vanilla pudding (1 lg or 2 sm depending how big of batch I want) & don't drain any of the fruit juice(s). The fruit juice w the dry pudding mix creates the pudding mixture. It is so quick, easy & good! My husbands fav!
I'm wondering why you reserve the pineapple juice, just to add it in at the same time as the pineapple. Am I reading that incorrectly?
Good catch! I will update the recipe. Thank you!