Usually Katherine helps with the Kids Can Cook column, but this month her youngest brother stepped in to help with a favorite recipe of his. Last summer, he and I were invited to an afternoon of swimming at the house of friends of ours. The mom served a lovely array of snacks, but my son’s favorite dish was Grape Salad. He asked me to get the recipe, so I did!
Grape Salad is usually made with cream cheese and sour cream, not to mention a lot of sugar. Our friend lowered the fat and sugar levels in her recipe by using yogurt, so making a dairy-free version of her Grape Salad involved simply swapping dairy-free yogurt alternative for the dairy yogurt.
She usually makes her salad with all green grapes and walnuts; we decided to use a mixture of grapes for color, and we added pecans instead of walnuts because we love pecans.
This cool and creamy Grape Salad is a quick summertime recipe that’s easy for kids to make. If you buy chopped nuts, all young chefs have to do is wash and stem the grapes and mix all of the ingredients together.
Grape Salad is best when made immediately before serving. It will last a day or two covered in the refrigerator, but the nuts may discolor the yogurt dressing.
Special Diet Notes: Dairy-Free Grape Salad
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, optionally nut-free, optionally soy-free, vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian.
- 2 pounds seedless grapes (green, red, or a combination)
- 2 5.3-ounce containers dairy-free vanilla yogurt alternative (We used Silk Dairy-Free Yogurt)
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (omit for nut free)
- ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut (can substitute unsweetened, if desired)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar or coconut sugar
- Wash the grapes and remove the stems.
- Place the grapes in a large bowl. Add the vanilla yogurt alternative and nuts (if using). Gently stir together until evenly combined.
- Add the coconut and gently stir till combined.
- Sprinkle the top of the salad with the brown sugar and gently stir to create a "ribbon" of brown sugar. Do not completely mix in the brown sugar.
- Serve immediately. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
