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What Is a Snickers® Salad?

A. Leverkuhn
A. Leverkuhn

Snickers® salad is a concoction that many consider a dessert, while in some cases, it could qualify as a kind of fruit salad. This dish, which is popular in some American food cultures, relies on the brand name Snickers® candy bar, which is the signature ingredient. The other most common element added to the dish is Granny Smith apples or other apple varieties, as well as whipped cream or some type of whipped topping.

Aside from apples, other fruits may be added to the salad. Some common additions are bananas or pieces of pineapple. Grapes or berries may also be added to the Snickers® salad.

A Snickers® salad usually includes some form of whipped cream product. It might also include sour cream or cream cheese. Egg products like mayonnaise may also be part of the binding for the salad.

Granny Smith apples are often added to Snickers salad.
Granny Smith apples are often added to Snickers salad.

More flavor ingredients, in addition to the fruits and dairy elements, may be added to Snickers&reg salads. These include vanilla pudding or similar vanilla flavored elements. Other popular candies might also be added into a Snickers® salad recipe. Pretzels are another possible addition to this dish.

In some parts of America, and possibly in areas where this recipe has migrated, Snickers® salads are popular as part of a potluck event where each attending individual or family brings a dish. Some of the strengths of this type of dessert salad include the idea that Snickers® salad takes minimal preparation, and stores better than some other dishes involving meat or other animal products. The taste also appeals strongly to children.

Mayonnaise can be used as a binding ingredient for Snickers® salad.
Mayonnaise can be used as a binding ingredient for Snickers® salad.

As modern cooks and food critics look at dishes like Snickers® salad, some debate arises ever the nutritional value of this dish and how it should be classified. Many tongue in cheek responses to posted recipes for this dish remark over how an item that uses primarily sweet elements could be labeled a salad. Again, many cooks and others consider it a dessert item. In some assessments, whether or not the Snickers&reg salad qualifies as a proper salad depends simply on where it is set on a potluck table, and where it can fit in with certain other dishes.

Discussion Comments

Pippinwhite

This is a dessert salad, just like strawberry pretzel salad is. It's meant to be served as a dessert in warm weather. Some people add caramel sauce as the "dressing." Sounds like a dessert to me! Just because it has apples in it doesn't mean it's a salad course, like a green salad or Greek salad. Those are generally meant to be savory.

I'd say the same thing about all those gelatin "salads" that were so popular in the 1970s. They always were sweet, and had stuff like marshmallow cream and lime flavored Jell-O. Sorry, but that's a dessert, not a main course! Even the cranberry gelatin salad we had at Christmas was more of a dessert, although we ate it with the turkey, just like we did cranberry sauce.

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    • Granny Smith apples are often added to Snickers salad.
      By: xiangdong Li
      Granny Smith apples are often added to Snickers salad.
    • Mayonnaise can be used as a binding ingredient for Snickers® salad.
      By: uckyo
      Mayonnaise can be used as a binding ingredient for Snickers® salad.