The Easy Ingredient Swaps To Make Your Watergate Salad Vegan

Watergate Salad was a trendy dessert first enjoyed in the 70s thanks to Jello's release of its new pistachio-flavored pudding mix. The fruity treat is similar to the crowd-favorite Ambrosia salad and is a perfect dessert for a potluck brunch or a weekend cookout. Watergate salad is a delightful mix of pineapple, whipped cream, nuts, and miniature marshmallows, with the pistachio pudding giving it its signature green hue. 

These are all pretty readily available ingredients and the recipe is simple to whip up. That is, unless, you or someone dining on your dessert follows a vegan diet. This means obtaining from all animal-based products and by-products. So, the typical whipped cream and miniature marshmallows make this dish a no-go.

But don't count out this pretty pastel treat just yet. There are some easy swaps that can make this tasty dessert vegan with all of the original creaminess. So, if you are following a plant-based lifestyle or you're navigating a dairy allergy, here are some simple substitutions.

Making a Watergate Salad vegan-friendly actually isn't too complicated, considering that the bulk of the ingredients consists of chopped fruit and nuts. The first problem you may run into is that the whipped topping, which gives the salad its creamy texture, isn't vegan. Most store-bought whipped toppings are made with dairy products. Fortunately, there are some convenient vegan-friendly substitutes available. So Delicious makes a light and fluffy option with an organic coconut oil base. And TruWhip makes a vegan version of its whipped topping that you can often find in the freezer section.

If you're unable to find vegan-friendly whipped topping at your local grocer or you'd simply like to make your own, you can use coconut cream. Unlike coconut milk, coconut cream has a higher coconut-to-water ratio, making it much thicker. Thanks to this thicker texture, it's an ideal plant-based substitute for heavy cream. So, using a classic recipe for whipped cream, just sub coconut cream for the heavy cream and whip it up with powdered sugar and vanilla. The result is a quick and easy whipped topping substitute for your fresh Watergate salad.

Traditionally, marshmallows get their unique texture from the addition of gelatin. Gelatin is made from items like animal bones and other tissues, meaning it's neither vegan nor vegetarian. Fortunately, there are a number of animal-free marshmallow options that can be purchased at your local grocer or ordered online. 

Trader Joe's and Dandie's are two of the companies that offer a vegan-friendly version of the sweet treat. These are both produced with tapioca syrup, tapioca starch, and carrageenan to mimic the soft and squishy texture that gelatin provides. Both come in both large and small sizes, but Trader Joe's only stocks their mini version seasonally. However, the large version can be easily cut into the perfect bite-sized chunks to mix into your Watergate salad. Simply take your kitchen scissors or knife, dip it in warm water, and then slice each marshmallow into bite-sized pieces. The warm water will allow the blade of your scissors or knife will cut through the marshmallows easily without sticking to them.