If you’re new to the wonderful world of creamy fruit “salads”, welcome! I’m relatively new here myself, as I was raised eating salads with lettuce or some other type of leafy green. Sometimes my parents got adventurous and made chicken salad, egg salad, or bean salad, but a creamy grape salad? Not once. A Midwestern staple – the birthplace of both my parents – this makes zero sense. Sheltered from so much of my Midwest heritage, it wasn’t until a small family reunion in Iowa several years ago that I learned about this other, much sweeter, type of salad.
Prepare the cream cheese dressing: Use an electric mixer to mix together the softened cream cheese, sour cream, granulated sugar, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract. If the cream cheese is not thoroughly softened before mixing, the cream cheese dressing will turn out lumpy.
Thoroughly wash and dry the grapes – I like to soak my grapes in a large bowl of cold water with 1-2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar for 5 minutes then drain and rinse with fresh water.
Combine: Add the grapes to the prepared cream cheese mixture and gently toss to coat. Transfer to a large bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Serve: Just before serving, sprinkle with brown sugar and chopped pecans. Serve and enjoy.