Ice Cream Pudding Dessert

This old-fashioned Ice Cream Pudding Dessert (or Ice Cream Salad as it's known in my family) is an easy-to-make dessert recipe comprised of a salty Ritz cracker crust and creamy toasted coconut ice cream pudding filling. I know you're going to love it.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword coconut, ice cream, pudding, ritz crackers

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Chilling Time 1 hour

Servings

Calories 536kcal

Ingredients

65 Ritz Crackers
1 stick unsalted butter melted
2 tablespoons sugar
2 boxes instant coconut pudding
1 cup milk
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup toasted coconut divided

Instructions

Start by removing your ice cream from the freezer to allow it to soften. (Do not let it melt.) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Crush the Ritz crackers with a blender or food processor, or in a plastic baggie to a fine crumb.
In a bowl, add the crushed Ritz crackers, melted butter, and sugar. Mix to combine. Press this mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
Bake for 10 minutes, then allow to cool completely.
In a large bowl, add the two boxes of instant coconut pudding and the milk. Use a hand mixer to combine. Once smooth, add in the softened ice cream and mix again until smooth. Add about 2 tablespoons of the toasted coconut and stir to combine.
Pour this mixture into the cooled prepared crust. Top with the remaining toasted coconut.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours or until ready to serve.

Notes

Our family enjoys this dessert refrigerated. I've seen similar recipes where it's frozen. Either method would be fine.

You can create variations of this recipe by using different flavors of pudding and/or ice cream.

How to Toast Coconut:
Preheat your oven to 325ºF. Spread out 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut on a large baking sheet. Put the baking sheet on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 3 minutes. Watch carefully as the coconut can go from toasted to burnt in an instant.

Nutrition