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This Creamy Grape Salad with walnuts is is creamy and sweet and the perfect side dish or dessert for picnics, potlucks and parties.
I don’t know who originally created the grape salad, but I am so glad they did. It feels like a Midwestern Lutheran basement potluck kind of dish, total comfort food, that sits right between the tater tot hotdish and the jello salad.
I love finding new ways to get my kids to eat fruit, and coating these crisp, juicy grapes in a creamy sweet dressing and tossing in some crunchy walnuts is just heavenly. Now, we could get into the whole “salad versus dessert” debate as people often do when talking about salads such as this (like the big Twix Salad debate of 2016), but let’s not. Let’s just say a salad is a salad whether it’s sweet or sour or savory. Vegetables or fruit…does it really matter? I don’t think so.
How to Make Creamy Grape Salad with Walnuts
This sweet salad side dish couldn’t be simpler. Softened cream cheese is combined with Greek Yogurt (or sour cream or another flavored yogurt) and some brow sugar for sweetness. I added a pinch of salt (just a little pinch) to help balance the sweetness, and added my favorite walnuts for crunch.
I’ve seen a lot of grape salad recipes in my research and most call for pecans and A LOT of brown sugar. Like, twice a whole cup of brown sugar between the dressing and the topping. I cut that down to less than half and it’s still sweet and delicious. I mean, grapes are nature’s candy right? So they are plenty sweet on their own.
This creamy grape salad is best chilled, and if you can chill it over night, then all the better. It’s cool and refreshing, so it’s perfect for those warm spring and summer months when pool parties and backyard barbecues are in full swing.
Try it alongside my Spice Rubbed Grilled Tri-Tip and my Easy Vegetable Pasta Salad.
More Side Dish Salads
- Bib & Blue Salad (Macaroni Grill Copycat)
- Easy BLT Pasta Salad
- Tropical Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing
More Walnut Recipes
- Turkey, Cranberry and Walnut Pasta Salad
- Cranberry Walnut Pinwheels
- Walnut Crusted Chicken Nuggets
- Churros Walnuts
Creamy Grape Salad
Ingredients
- 5 cups grapes red and green, sliced in half
- 8- ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1/3 cup brown sugar or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup walnuts chopped, plus a handful for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.
- Add sour cream, brown sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Beat until well combined and smooth.
- Gently fold in grapes and walnuts and stir to coat completely.
- Top with additional chopped walnuts for garnish, if desired.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
I definitely needed more brown sugar to make it more sweet and cut the sour cream taste, but it turned out great!
Everyone has different preferences, glad you were able to adjust to your liking!
it just couldn’t be simpler and more delicious it helps for my cooking skills and fav ingredient is
cheese I luv cheese pls make more cheeselicious recipes and what’s your recipe for mac’n’cheese
Awesome feedback inshrah! Thanks for stopping by.