Pudding Fruit Salad

Simple Strawberry Banana Cheesecake Salad recipe comes together with just 6 ingredients. Rich and creamy cheesecake filling is folded into luscious strawberries and sweet banana to create the most amazing, glorious fruit salad ever! The flavor has been punched up with a secret ingredient and you are going to go nuts over this recipe! The king of the potluck table has arrived.

A few months back I put together this Summer Berry Cheesecake Salad. Well, needless to say it has gone completely crazy on our site. It is already the #2 recipe of all time.

Our readers have enjoyed it so much that I though it was time to whip up a twist on the über popular recipe. I have been on a pudding kick lately. I tell you I have been testing several recipes with pudding as a surprise ingredient.

It is crazy how much pudding mix amps up the flavor of a recipe. So, when I was thinking of ways to twist up the cheesecake salad, I knew I needed to use pudding. It really kicks it up a notch.

INGREDIENTS
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant cheesecake pudding, unprepared
1/4 cups Simply Pure Vanilla Coffee Creamer
2 pounds strawberries, hulled and sliced
3 medium bananas, cut into coins
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS
In a medium tall bowl, using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese until it becomes smooth. It may bind up in the beaters, but continue as is and it will loosen up. Add dry pudding mix. Beat until well combined.
With mixer running slowly add creamer to the cream cheese mix. Add it about a tablespoon at a time and then mix until it becomes a smooth mixture and all of the creamer has combined into the cream cheese. Continue until all of the creamer has been added to the cream cheese. Whip until smooth.
In a large bowl, combine sliced strawberries, banana coins and lemon juice. Stir until all the fruit is coated with lemon juice. Add cheesecake mixture to fruit. Gently fold cheesecake mixture into fruit.
Chill until ready to serve or serve immediately.

DONNA’S NOTES
Do not pour all of the creamer into the cream cheese at once. It will get clumpy and no matter how long you beat it, it will stay that way. Trust me on this one.
If you have to substitute for the creamer, use 1 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
To make this ahead: prepare the cheesecake mixture and refrigerate it in a bowl. Mix all of the fruit in a large bowl and refrigerate. Before serving, drain any excess liquid from the fruit and then fold the cheesecake filling into the fruit. Serve and enjoy!