Aunt Cathie’s Southern Grape Salad
This quick and easy Southern grape salad recipe includes pecans and grapes covered in a sweet yet creamy dressing. The combination of sweet and savory flavor and texture make this the best grape salad I’ve had… EVER!
Today, I’m sharing a recipe for Aunt Cathie’s Southern grape salad from our friend Shannon. I’m gonna tell you now, this is the best grape salad I have ever had IN MY LIFE. Seriously, folks, this grape salad recipe must have been blessed and prayed over at countless church suppers because that is the only logical explanation for how one dish can taste so good.
Aunt Cathie’s Southern grape salad is perfect for a springtime brunch, bridal or baby shower, or just simply as a treat for yourself or anyone else you love enough to serve this earthly manna to. Make sure you save this recipe, print it off, share it on your Facebook wall, or pin it to your Pinterest boards.
Now, this is a deliciously creamy grape salad. We coat our grapes and pecans in both cream cheese and sour cream. Then we add a little sweetness with vanilla, white sugar, and brown sugar. These ingredients are so simple, so staple, and so normal. But when combined, they become something so wonderful! It’s a little sweet, a little savory, and a lot creamy. The pecans also add a lovely texture. Is it obvious yet that I can’t get enough of this grape salad’s flavor? Did I also mention it takes 10 minutes to whip it up? Yep, the best grape salad ever!
Recipe Ingredients
- Cream cheese (check out my easy homemade cream cheese recipe)
- Pecans (optional)
- Sour cream
- Vanilla
- Seedless grapes (I prefer red grapes for color)
- White sugar
- Brown sugar
How to Make Southern Grape Salad
Take your softened cream cheese and put it in a mixing bowl along with the white sugar, sour cream, and vanilla extract.
Beat that with an electric mixer until it accepts its fate of becoming the wondrous dressing for this salad.
Sometimes bad situations transform us into better things, as has just happened to that cream cheese here. #creamcheeselifelessons
Take a large spoon and stir in your whole grapes.
Hopefully, you remembered to wash them. If not, consider this a boon to your immunity!
To anyone freaking out after reading that last sentence: Hey there, friend! It’s gonna be okay. We used to eat dirt as kids. It’s all good. For reals. Exhale.
When you’re done, sprinkle the top with a little brown sugar and some chopped pecans if you’d like.
Now step back, look at it, and smile.
Awww! Such a pretty dish.
Okay, admiring time is over. ENJOY this Southern grape salad today!
Storage
Store leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. I don’t recommend freezing it.
Recipe Notes
- If you like, use a combination of red grapes and green grapes.
- For extra crunch, add a cup of chopped celery and/or diced apples.
- Substitute the chopped pecans for chopped walnuts or omit them completely. Toast the nuts briefly in the oven for extra flavor.
- You can also sprinkle coconut flakes on top for a different kind of taste and texture.
- If you don’t like sour cream, substitute it for Greek yogurt.
- Substitute the vanilla extract for almond extract if you like.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make my grape salad in advance?
Absolutely! In fact, I think it tastes even better when chilled overnight, so you can definitely make it up to 24 hours in advance.
What do you serve with grape salad?
Grape salad is a popular appetizer to take to a potluck, barbecue, or holiday party. But you can also serve it as a side dish with your favorite main meal. This might be fried chicken, grilled chicken tenders, or Southern fried catfish.
You might also enjoy these fantastic fruit salad recipes:
Ideas For Fruit Salad – Festive Holiday Fruit Salad
Fresh Fruit Salad with Lemon Honey Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 pounds seedless grapes
- 8 ounces sour cream
- 16 ounces cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- chopped pecans, optional
Instructions
- Allow the cream cheese to come to room temp by leaving it on the counter overnight. In a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla, and granulated sugar. Beat until well blended and smooth.8 ounces sour cream, 16 ounces cream cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ cup white sugar
- Stir in grapes to coat.2 pounds seedless grapes
- Move to a serving dish and sprinkle the top of your salad with brown sugar and pecans.2 tablespoons brown sugar, chopped pecans, optional
Nutrition
Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.
~Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Mom always had a good dinner for Daddy when he came home at midday. He was a mail man and walked his entire route. She knew he needed hearty but not overwhelming. They’d farmed before moving to town. Suppertime and especially Sunday suppers were just like yours even though we are in Kansas. Meat, potato of some kind, veggie and either a sweet or “sour, as Mom would say, salad. It could be an apple salad, jello salad, coleslaw, or some other concoction. Often during the week, a jello was dessert. Sunday dinners would have even more of the sides and a cake or pie for dessert. I started out doing this but have backed off as well. I still try to make Sunday dinners more like Mom’s.
Growing up, 5 kids and mom & dad sat together for a meal of meat and 2 veggies or meat, veggie, bread. Dessert was once a week and for special things. Best times were had at the dinner table.
When we started our family I kept up the same until my children started working and dinner wasn’t always the whole family, so I changed our family meal to breakfast. Put a little stress on me as I worked also, but it was worth it and now that they are grown and out, I don’t regret it at all!
Meat, starch, vegetable. In my mind that is the perfect meal. In fact last night we had that (rare in our house as my husband is the cook and doesn’t really prize that style as much as I do). I declared “now this is a proper dinner!” I could eat that way pretty much every day and I think it’s why I get bored of one pot meals or pasta. I like a variety on my plate. A Southern meat and three restaurant is pretty much my favorite thing ever. Speaking of which have you ever been to Mary Mac’s in Atlanta? Lord. Have. Mercy.
I digress.
You really stirred up my Southern roots in this post and I love it. Loved it so much I sent it to my Mom. Now about that grape salad, I’ve never had it or heard of it and I want some right now, please!
This sounds delightful – okay to make day before serving?
I have made this many times the day before. I actually like it better. The flavors have time to marry. Just make sure your grapes are well drained or it will be kind of soupy. Just wait until right. Encore serving to add the pecans and brown sugar.
I have made the grape salad many of times! I lay the grapes on paper towels and pat them before putting them in the mixture. Also my recipe has walnuts instead of the pecans. YUM
What do you think about adding a shreded rotisserie chicken to this grape salad?
It’s rather a sweet salad but as I wrap my head around the idea I find that I am entirely on board with it! lol
I love grape salad, although it seems more like a dessert to me.
Growing up, we usually had a meat, starch, 2 veggies and bread for dinner. A salad might show up 2 or 3 times a week. If it was summertime with lots of fresh produce, we sometimes had 3 or more veggies. Desserts were usually reserved for Sunday dinner or special occasions, until I got old enough to start baking. Then we had them once or twice a week.
We were a family of 6 and everyone liked to eat, so my mother cooked hearty meals. It was normal for her to peel a 5 pound bag of potatoes for each meal. Then she’d mash them, fry them or boil them and serve with potatoes and parsley. Those were considered fancy potatoes. LOL
Occasionally we’d get a really fancy meal… like Cchicken Cacciatore or Beef Wellington, recipes that my mother would find in a magazine. But most of the time we had our favorite meals, like fried round steak, mashed potatoes, or meatloaf and macaroni and cheese. Or the family staple of ham and beans.
Not many of my friends had meals like this, either. I’d hear of them having tacos or pizza for dinner and was just amazed. Those were rare treats for us and certainly weren’t considered dinner food. I was always amazed at families in which they all just fended for themselves. I couldn’t fathom what they ate if no one cooked. Did they live on sandwiches and take out food all the time? Hearing that someone might just have a bowl of cereal for supper seemed like blasphemy to me. LOL
I had one friend whose family had a platter of sandwiches each night. But they would still sit down to eat them together so that is a plus 🙂 Sounds like a wondrous table set at your home!!!!!!
Re: the salad thing, Southerners love to make dessert and call it a salad, so we don’t have to wait til the end of the meal to eat it 😉 Just part of our charm, lol.
My Mama cooked a delicious balanced meal every day. Daddy arrived home from his office at 5:15 and we sat down to eat at 5:30. If Mom was running a little late, she would tell me to get the table all set before he came in, so he wouldn’t know supper wasn’t quite ready!! LOL!!
What a wonderful vignette you just shared! I mentally sat down at your table beside you, I hope that’s okay 😉 I’m sure I took someone’s seat!
I Love, Love, Love Grape Salad. This Looks Delicious & Cant Wait To Try This. My Friend Makes This & Also Put One Pack Of Grape Koolade In It, Its Delicious. Thank You Ms Christy & God Bless You.
I made this grape salad yesterday. DELICIOUS is not the word. So simple to make and can be made in record time. Awaiting a church dinner where I can “show it off”!! Ruth in Hoosierland
That is the perfect place to show this dish off Ruth, because it sure is heavenly 🙂 !!!