Creamy Grape Salad is a classic fruit salad dessert made with green and red grapes that are coated in a sweet and creamy sauce, topped with chopped toasted pecan and a sprinkling of light brown sugar!
Place grapes in a colander and gently rinse with cold water. Remove from stems and pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
Use an electric mixer to beat together softened cream cheese, sour cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract until completely smooth. You can also mix by hand.
Fold the grapes into the creamy dressing mixture and toss to coat all the grapes.
Transfer to a serving bowl if desired.
Just before serving, sprinkle brown sugar and toasted pecan pieces over the grape salad.
Notes
To store: cover with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Please note that grape salad tastes best eaten the same day. The brown sugar will dissolve into the cream mixture after 30 minutes or so. The pecans will become soft after being refrigerated.Greek yogurt makes an excellent substitute for sour cream and might appeal to the more health-conscious. You can even use vanilla greek yogurt. The yogurt may be a bit thinner than sour cream, but the creamy sauce is thick and rich and I found no need to strain the yogurt further when substituting.A reduced-fat cream cheese can be substituted for regular cream cheese.You can use up to 5 pounds of grapes for this amount of cream base - it coats the grapes well.Be sure the grapes are dried off well so that extra water doesn’t thin out the creamy dressing.Toasted pecans add some extra crunch and flavor. Spread pecans in a shallow baking dish and bake in a 350°F oven for 3-5 minutes until they become fragrant and begin to look toasted. Cool completely before sprinkling over the grape salad.