Recipes & Cooking Dinner & Meal Ideas Salads Fruit Salad Midwesterners Are Obsessed with This Creamy Grape Salad Recipe Be the first to rate & review! You'll see it on the menu at holidays, picnics, and more. By Sarah Martens Sarah Martens Sarah Martens is the Senior Editor overseeing food at Better Homes & Gardens digital. She has been with the BHG brand for more than 10 years. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Published on March 4, 2024 Recipe tested by Juliana Hale Recipe tested by Juliana Hale Juliana Hale is a senior culinary specialist in the test kitchen with 20 years of experience in recipe testing and development. She works closely with AllRecipes, Forks Over Knives, Midwest Living, and Traditional Home overseeing testing in the test kitchen for those titles. Juli is an expert in all fields of cooking, but is particularly geeky about mixology and has taught her class, Fun with Sours, to internal staff. Learn more about the Better Homes & Gardens Test Kitchen Rate PRINT Share Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Jake Sternquist Total Time: 20 mins Servings: 24 Yield: 12 cups Jump to Nutrition Facts If you live in the Midwest, chances are you've had grape salad at least once. It's a tangy combination of grapes, apples, and glazed pecans covered with a sweet sauce. It can be made in advance and goes well with any number of main dishes. Here's how to make grape salad, including our Test Kitchen's secret to the creamiest texture. Grape Salad Ingredients Here's what you'll need to make this creamy grape salad recipe. Cream Cheese: Let your cream cheese soften before adding it to the sauce mixture. If it's too cold, it won't completely mix. Sour Cream: A cup of sour cream adds the perfect tang to balance the sweetness of the sugar and grapes in this fruit salad. Sugar: Using brown sugar gives the dish a light almost caramel-like taste. Flavorings: Vanilla and cinnamon add flavor to the grape salad recipe. Grapes: For color and flavor, our Test Kitchen likes to use both red and green grapes. Apples: A chopped apple adds texture to the finished salad. You can choose a sweet apple, like a Honeycrisp, or a tart apple, like a Granny Smith, for this recipe. Pecans: Our taste testers preferred the salad with homemade glazed pecans. You can also use toasted pecans if you'd prefer. How to Store Grapes So They Stay Crisp, According to Test Kitchen Experts How to Make Grape Salad Making this grape salad with cream cheese is quite easy. Here's a quick look at how to assemble it. Make the Sauce: Blend the cream cheese, sour cream, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon into a thick sauce. Add the Fruit: Add the grapes and chopped apple to the sauce mixture. Finish: Top the finished grape salad with toasted pecans and serve. How to Store Grape Salad Transfer salad, without pecans, to an airtight container and chill for up to 3 days. Top with pecans just before serving. 14 Modern Fruit Salad Recipes to Sweeten Up Your Menu Ingredients 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 cup sour cream 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 pounds seedless green grapes, halved 2 pounds seedless red grapes, halved 1 tart sweet apple, cored and chopped 1 cup glazed pecans or toasted pecans, chopped Directions In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium to high speed 30 seconds. Add sour cream, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon; beat until combined. In a serving bowl, combine grapes and apple. Add cream cheese mixture; toss to combine. Top with pecans before serving. Glazed Pecans Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13x9-inch baking pan. In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Add 1 cup pecan halves, stirring to coat. Spread nuts into prepared pan. Bake about 12 minutes or until nuts are browned and syrup is bubbly, stirring once. Pour out onto a lightly greased baking sheet, separating into single nuts. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 1 cup nuts. Rate It Print Nutrition Facts (per serving) 131 Calories 7g Fat 18g Carbs 2g Protein Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label Nutrition Facts Servings Per Recipe 24 Calories 131.4 % Daily Value * Total Fat 6.8g 9% Saturated Fat 3.1g 15% Cholesterol 15.2mg 5% Sodium 34.8mg 2% Total Carbohydrate 17.9g 7% Dietary Fiber 1.1g 4% Total Sugars 15.1g Protein 1.6g 3% Vitamin D 0mcg 0% Vitamin C 2.9mg 3% Calcium 30.3mg 2% Iron 0.4mg 2% Potassium 189mg 4% Fatty acids, total trans 0.1g Vitamin D 0IU Alanine 0.1g Arginine 0.2g Ash 0.6g Aspartic acid 0.1g Caffeine 0mg Carotene, alpha 0.9mcg Choline, total 9.8mg Copper, Cu 0.1mg Cystine 0g Energy 549.7kJ Fluoride, F 6.4mcg Folate, total 3.7mcg Glutamic acid 0.3g Glycine 0g Histidine 0g Isoleucine 0.1g Leucine 0.1g Lysine 0.1g Methionine 0g Magnesium, Mg 10.3mg Manganese, Mn 0.2mg Niacin 0.2mg Phosphorus, P 39.5mg Pantothenic acid 0.2mg Phenylalanine 0.1g Phytosterols 3.9mg Proline 0.2g Retinol 40.2mcg Selenium, Se 1.3mcg Serine 0.1g Starch 0g Theobromine 0mg Threonine 0.1g Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 0.3mg Tryptophan 0g Tyrosine 0.1g Valine 0.1g Vitamin A, IU 203.1IU Vitamin A, RAE 43.6mcg Vitamin B-12 0mcg Vitamin B-6 0.1mg Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 11.6mcg Water 79.6g Zinc, Zn 0.2mg *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.