Watergate salad is a well-loved fruit salad, made up of pistachio pudding with marshmallows, pineapple and Cool Whip and often other add-ins.
Original Watergate Salad
This original Watergate Salad is another one of those classic recipes that dates back to the 70s and that just about every southern cook has in their party file, though like everything else, with some variations. It's still a very common dish at baby showers, bridal showers, and even weddings down south, and I honestly cannot remember a single event that Mama catered where this wasn't expected on the table.
I've never had much of an attraction to green colored foods, and as a young girl I had no idea what was behind this dish. It was years before I had any interest in finding out either, but by that time I had fallen in love. Course these days I love pistachio anything, but back then the thought of it very likely would have elicited a totally different reaction and I would have missed out on this tasty treat.
Apparently known by quite a few names over the years, including Pistachio Pineapple Delight - believed to be the original name of the recipe Kraft used when they introduced their pistachio pudding to the marketplace. A few others have popped up along the way, including Green Stuff, Green Fluff, Pistachio Delight, Pistachio Salad, and Picnic Passion to name a few.
Though nobody has ever been able to verify the story, it is said that a Chicago food writer is the one who assigned the name "Watergate" to this salad, thanks to the political monkey business with the Watergate scandal going on in our country at that time.
I always have a hard time figuring out where this dish belongs. Is it a salad - along the way of say, fruit salad? Or is it really a dessert? Truth is, it is not so sweet that you can get away with having it as a side dish to any meal, but at the same time, it's a perfect light dessert too. Either way, it would be an absolute welcome addition to any holiday menu.
For more of my favorite holiday recipes, visit my page on Pinterest!
If you make this or any of my recipes, I'd love to see your results! Just snap a photo and hashtag it #DeepSouthDish on social media or tag me @deepsouthdish on Instagram!
Unable to view the printable above on your device? Tap/click here for a backup printable.
Images and Full Post Content including Recipe ©Deep South Dish. Recipes are offered for your own personal use only and while pinning and sharing links is welcomed and encouraged, please do not copy and paste post or recipe text to repost or republish elsewhere such as other Facebook pages, blogs, websites, or forums without explicit prior permission. All rights reserved.
Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.
.
