Frog eye salad is a sweet contradiction. Definitely not made of frog eyes, and not your average lettuce-based salad, this sweet, creamy side dish is a beloved treat in the United States’ Rocky Mountain region. A particular favorite among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, frog eye salad is a staple of Mormon potlucks, cookouts, funerals, and holidays. It’s especially beloved on Thanksgiving, claiming the top spotin online Thanksgiving recipe searches in Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah in 2014.
So if it’s made of neither frogs nor lettuce, what exactly is this salad? The crucial ingredients are a small pasta, normally acini de pepe, an egg custard, whipped cream or Cool Whip, and canned fruits. Cooks beat the egg and heat it with pineapple juice, sugar, salt, and flour until it begins to thicken. The resulting custard is combined with the cooked pasta, refrigerated until thick, and mixed with whipped cream and canned fruit. The pudding then gets topped with marshmallows and shredded coconut. While the exact origin of the dish’s unorthodox name is unknown, the most popular theory is that the tiny spheres of the acini de pepe pasta resembled frogs’ eyes to a creative early proponent of the dish.
While it’s tempting to characterize this dish as a dessert akin to rice pudding, its true categorization in any meal depends—like its sister sweet, snickers salad—on its placement on the buffet table. In fact, classifying frog eye as a side salad may just be a clever strategy to get more dessert bang for your potluck buck. While frog eye salad may be the most originally named of the bunch, it’s one of many sweet side salads to grace the American potluck table, including cookie salad, pretzel salad, and glorified rice.
FAQs
This frog eye salad is made with acini di pepe (or couscous) pasta, coconut, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and marshmallows for a sweet, chilled dessert.
What is frog eye salad made of? ›
This frog eye salad is made with acini di pepe (or couscous) pasta, coconut, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and marshmallows for a sweet, chilled dessert.
Why is it called frog eye? ›
The humorous name refers to the pasta looking like frog's eyes.
What is ambrosia salad made of? ›
Ambrosia Fruit Salad
The best Ambrosia Salad recipe is made with pineapple, mandarin oranges, yogurt, mini marshmallows, coconut and whipped cream. This easy side dish has a delicious tropical sweetness and is always a crowd favorite!
Who invented candle salad? ›
The recipe for candle salad was published in the 1950 edition of A Child's First Cook Book by Alma S. Lach, one of the first cookbooks written for children. It is also in the 1957 edition of the Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls with the description, "It's better than a real candle because you can eat it."
What are frog eyes good for? ›
The bulging eyes of most frogs allow them to see in front, to the sides, and partially behind them. When a frog swallows food, it pulls its eyes down into the roof of its mouth. The eyes help push the food down its throat.
What is the difference between frog eyes and toad eyes? ›
Frogs usually have big, bulging eyes, while toads' eyes are more subtle in appearance. One of the biggest physical differences between frogs and toads is their skin. While frogs have smooth or slimy skin that is moist, toads have thicker, bumpy skin that is usually dry.
What are frog eyes in slang? ›
(ˈfrɒɡˌaɪd ) adjective. 1. US informal. (of a person) having a bulging eye or bulging eyes.
What is not an ingredient in the Utah and Idaho specialty known as frog eye salad? ›
Most folks add the classic standbys like canned mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, and Cool Whip folded into the custard, but it's easy to customize with banana slices, mini-marshmallows, coconut flakes, and maraschino cherries. There is no lettuce, and definitely no frogs, required to enjoy this salad.
What is special about the frog's eyes? ›
Frogs have a much larger field of view than humans, due to the placement of their eyes. The eyes, situated on the top and sides of the head, allow them to see almost 360 degrees around them (which helps for a species that can't turn its head).
Caesar Salad
It is a popular choice in many American restaurants and is often served as a side dish or a main course.
What is Waldorf salad made of? ›
A Waldorf salad is a fruit and nut salad generally made of celery, fresh apples, walnuts, and grapes, dressed in mayonnaise, and traditionally served on a bed of lettuce as an appetizer or a light meal. The apples, celery, and grapes can all be green, which harmonizes the color palette of the dish.
Where did the Jennifer Aniston salad come from? ›
By now we all know the famous Jennifer Aniston Salad – the viral recipe from almost two years ago – was actually not the salad that the actress ate every single day on the set of Friends. Instead, it was something she once shared on Instagram – and listed the ingredients and called it her perfect salad.
Who invented the chef salad? ›
While food historians acknowledge his recipe, they do not appear to be convinced he originated the dish, which is more popularly attributed to either chef Victor Seydoux at the Hotel Buffalo, a Statler Hotel in Buffalo, New York or to chef Jacques Roser at the Statler Hotel in Buffalo, New York and later at the Hotel ...
Who invented eating salads? ›
Ancient Roots:
The ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans were known to consume mixed greens with a combination of salt, oil and vinegar. These early salads were often made with ingredients like lettuce, celery, radishes, and onions, which were considered beneficial for digestion and overall health.
What is a frog's eye? ›
noun. frog·eye ˈfrȯg-ˌī ˈfräg- : any of various fungal leaf diseases characterized by concentric rings about the diseased spots.
What are frog eyes covered with? ›
Apart from the eyelid, a transparent membrane called the nictitating membrane is present in amphibians such as frogs. It helps in protecting the eyes of the amphibians from water and mud while swimming in water. It also helps in keeping the eyes moist when the frog is on land.
What is Acini de Pepe made of? ›
Acini di pepe is a tiny pasta made with semolina flour (milled durum wheat). The pasta comes by its name honestly. In Italian, acini di pepe means “seeds of pepper,” or peppercorns—a reference to its tiny, round shape.
How do frogs end up in salads? ›
As for how the frogs get into plastic bags of salad, or cans of green beans or whatever, Hughes isn't quite sure yet, but he suggests that it could be a combination of the conversion of previously 'wild' land into agricultural land, the increased use of automated farming methods, or the all-around industrialization of ...
