It goes by many names…
My Mom usually referred to this dessert as “The Weight Watchers dessert” since that is where she got the recipe from back in the early 80’s. I’ve also heard it referred to as “Orange Delight” or “The Orange Jell-o Dessert.” Whatever you call it – it is good! I know this has a 3 points value on the Weight Watchers points scale. I don’t actually adhere to a Weight Watchers diet but I still gobble this stuff up! We loved it as kids but I always wished my Mom would put more mandarin oranges in it. I make it the way I like it these days with nuts and a large can of mandarin oranges!
Lots of folks know of this recipe so I’m sure it won’t be a new recipe for many of you. But for some of you, it might be a novel idea. If you’ve never eaten this, you really have to give it a try. I don’t think of it as a diet dessert at all. It is light, refreshing and it satisfies any sweet tooth. I can eat it before bed and I don’t feel like a pot-bellied pig all night. I, like my Mom, carry this with me to many potlucks and folks really enjoy it. I always come home with an empty bowl.
And don’t let the list of ingredients deter you. I know lots of folks gag at the thought of cottage cheese being in this. Most folks don’t taste the cottage cheese as a separate ingredient in this. Unless they know it’s in there, a lot of people can’t really put their finger on what is different about this. It just blends together with the other flavors to create a slightly textured dessert – if that makes sense. But if you just absolutely cannot stand the thought of putting it in there – by all means, just leave it out.
Ingredients:
1 container 16 oz. small-curd cottage cheese
1 box orange Jell-O
1 can (15 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained
1 (8 oz.) tub COOL WHIP, thawed
2 cups mini marshmallows
½ cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 container 16 oz. small-curd cottage cheese
1 box orange Jell-O
1 can (15 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained
1 (8 oz.) tub COOL WHIP, thawed
2 cups mini marshmallows
½ cup chopped pecans (optional)
Directions:
Combine container of cottage cheese with the orange jell-o packet. Stir until well mixed. Add in the well-drained can of mandarin oranges and the tub of Cool Whip. Stir. Now stir in the marshmallows and pecans. Store in the refrigerator and allow to get nice and cool. If you were to eat it right away, it would taste grainy from the Jell-O. But give it at least a couple of hours and the flavors will really come together and blend nicely. This is definitely a dessert you can make the day before you need it.
Enjoy!
Weight Watchers Orange Fluff
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 10
Calories 86 kcal
Ingredients
- 1 16 oz container small-curd cottage cheese
- 1 box orange Jell-O
- 1 15 oz can mandarin oranges drained
- 1 8 oz tub whipped topping (COOL WHIP) thawed
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
- ½ cup chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Combine container of cottage cheese with the orange jell-o packet.
- Stir until well mixed.
- Add in the well-drained can of mandarin oranges and the tub of Cool Whip.
- Stir.
- Now stir in the marshmallows and pecans.
- Store in the refrigerator and allow to get nice and cool.
- If you were to eat it right away, it would taste grainy from the Jell-O.
- But give it at least a couple of hours and the flavors will really come together and blend nicely.
Recipe Notes
This is definitely a dessert you can make the day before you need it. Weight Watchers Points: 3
Nutrition Facts
Weight Watchers Orange Fluff
Amount Per Serving
Calories 86 Calories from Fat 27
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g 5%
Sodium 12mg 1%
Potassium 22mg 1%
Total Carbohydrates 13g 4%
Sugars 8g
Calcium 0.4%
Iron 1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This is so good, I usually make it for part of our Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks for sharing this great treat, I think a lot of folks will enjoy it.
This sounds and looks so good. I love a good light dessert. Yummy!
I've definitely heard of it before but never seen a recipe. Plus, your picture makes it all the more mouth-watering. 🙂 Thanks!
Like Sydney, I've heard of it, seen it, but have never seen a recipe for it. Looks like a nice light one to have at the ready. Thanks for posting.
Mmmmm Brandie this looks so refreshing! Yummo!
It's funny. This is a bit like what my Scottish family used to make when I was a kid and they called it "Jelly Whip" but there was no cottage cheese, marshmallows, pecans… OK I'll start again. Never seen anything like this before and it looks fabulous, Brandie!
Oh wow this looks so good. It sounds so fresh and delightful 🙂
Well this one is new to me, you got that right, and it looks really good!
I will have to try it because I love all those sweet flavors!:)
My MIL makes a salad with apricot jello, cool whip and crushed pineapple. I probably would have ignored the recipe if I'd seen it, but after trying it, I became a huge fan. I know I'd feel the same after eating yours…and the more fruit the better!!!!
I love this! We usually don't have many family gatherings without this as part of the meal! Thanks for sharing!
Valerie
That looks really delicious! YUM
what a great confection! orangey joy. thanks for sharing!
-meg
@ http://clutzycooking.blogspot.com/
I LOVE this dessert!! I will now add some pecans and enjoy every bite. My taste buds are telling me this is the dish for today. 🙂
I make a similar dessert with lime jello, pineapple, marshmallows, and Cool whip. I'll have to try your gorgeous version. Great pics.
I am with Siggy Spice not a fan of cottage cheese. I will have to try it. If it is yummy and low calorie, I will be making it all the time.
This looks so pretty and also very tempting! My family would really like this. I may even try that pineapple version 🙂
What a great alternative to ice cream!
Adam's mother absolutely LOVES this desert and also calls it the Weight Watchers dessert. We get it for her at our local grocery store but it's much more fun, and probably tastier, too, to make it at home. Thanks for this my MIL will be thrilled.
Brandie, I've not come across this recipe so thank you for sharing. Love the lower calorie content, the color AND the light-behind-the-glass angle of your shot! So sherbet-like I can taste the mandarins now…
I LOVE love love this dessert! The only time I've ever had it was when I went to church functions. My mom never knew how. Now I'll be able to make it myself. Many thanks!
i tried it once but never thought it's so easy to make and contains cottage cheese
thanks for sharing Brandie
My mom makes something similar for our Easter dinner with ham, but funny how i have never thought of it as a dessert. I will certainly suggest this recipe to her as I'm sure she'd love it!
I love cottage cheese! Never had this before. I love mandarin oranges, so I can imagine I'd like this. I like recipes that travel well too. Hope you are having a great week!
-Gina-
This looks delicious! Love the color too. Yum!
Mmm, what a refreshing sounding dessert.
Surprisingly, I've never heard of this…but I want some now! Anything with jello, marshmallows and cool whip is good in my book!
I love how this looks creamy instead of molded. For some reason it just seems more palatable.
The picture on Facebook for this did NOT do your recipe justice. I couldn't see it very well so I came here and NOW I know what you're talking about. I'm glad to finally have this recipe! Something like this was a family favorite for our holiday gatherings. I think this would be great to introduce to my son!
My in law family makes this, the first I had ever had it was with them, except they call it pink stuff. She uses pink jello and both pineapple and mandarin oranges, yours looks so much more appetizing… Lol!
You done and did it again Brandie…..I could eat that whole dish full!!!!
This look absolutely amazing and delicious! nice recipe!! I could eat all this! OMY! gloria
This is a new one on me! I think that I have some orange Jello on my cupboard right now! I love that you can make this as light or heavy as you want too!
I'm telling ya – I take this to potlucks and when folks ask me for the recipe – they are always so shocked when I say it has cottage cheese in it. They never would have guessed. Also, I ate this a lot as a kid and never had any idea it was in there. My Mom – sneaky, sneaky! I don't eat cottage cheese on it's own – ever. 🙂
This sounds really yummy and it looks delicious!
This is such a light and refreshing dessert. I'd love to have this at the end of a large meal. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Really delightfull and satifying! Thank you for sharing 🙂
This yummy dessert bring back such fond memories for me from the seventies. It was popular back then, as it is now. Just love it. Thanks for sharing!
Oh this brings back good memories. I remember my mom making this. Yum I need to make it for my kids.
I haven't had a Jell-o fluff salad in years! This one sounds so good, I'm bookmarking to make for my son…and myself of course:)
My mom makes this (without the nuts!) She adds a little bit of sour cream too. Makes a yummy difference! She also makes a variety with frozen, sweetened sliced strawberries and bananas. SO GOOD.
This desert is a bomb! Love it!
I agree with your comment above….this recipe is sneaky!! I have eaten something like it before without knowing about the cottage chesse….I despise cottage cheese!! But, not in this recipe, it turns out. 🙂 So I have to tell everyone who turns their nose up at cottage cheese – DON’T. Trust that it works in this!
So pretty for a Springtime get-together too! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
This looks so good. I wonder if I didn't tell my family about the cottage cheese if they would eat it, probably. Thanks for sharing!
This was perfect! We all loved it and my boys had NO clue about the cottage cheese. But I like that I am getting some protein in with the cottage cheese.
This is amazing! I used to make it with pineapple added. It was a bit too much. I like this version much better!
love, love, LOVE this! it's always a special treat when my mom makes "Orange Salad." I've never known anyone else that's ever heard of this, and had no idea it's so popular. We use pineapple instead of marshmallows and walnuts instead of pecans. Needless to say there's always a fight over who gets to take home the leftovers 🙂
I can't believe how many people have heard of this stuff!!!
In my family, it is made with lime jello (sugar free), pineapple,cottage cheese and cool whip. No nuts. It's called "The Green Stuff".
I am going to try this version, not only because I LOVE mandarin oranges but the marshmallows certainly sound like a nice addition. 🙂
I made this dish last night. I will add pecans the next time and know it will be even better. It is quite true that one does not even notice the cottage cheese.
We use pineapple drained instead of the mandarin oranges…love it!!
In our family my husband loves this dish and refers to it as "fluff".
Ours is made differently,
1 box instant pistachio jello pudding
1 can crushed pineapple- do not drain
1 8oz tub of cool whip
1/3 bag mini marshmellows
Mix pudding mix into crushed pineapple, add everything else and mix well, refridgerate before serving. Oh and you can add finely chopped nuts too, sometimes I do sometimes I don't
We know it as "Orange Love Affair", don't know why…. but I also switch it up by using different flavors…. Strawberries with strawberry jello, Cherries with cherry jello, pineapples with lime or lemon jello etc.. It is awesome!!!
If you use cooked and cooled rice instead of cottage cheese you have Glorified Rice. I learned to make it from my boss when I was a waitress at the ripe old age of 16. She made it for every Sunday buffet.
I hate cottage cheese but I love this recipe. My grandmother has made this for every holiday since I can remember, 30+ years. We don't put marshmallows in it though. We do put crushed pineapples(well-drained) and we make it with and without pecans, to please all family members. She has always called it Orange Conjealed Salad.
I use lime jello with crushed pineapple and pecans or Strawberry with fruit cocktail which is yummy too.
This sounds really good. Have tried something similar. For low carvers and diabetics out there:
Small container of heavy whipping cream, any flavor of sugar free jello, splenda, you can add cottage cheese if you like. Whip up whipping cream and jello until fluffy, adding splenda to taste. Good stuff! Easy too!
One more addition makes this perfect . . . well-drained, halved maraschino cherries . . . yummmm!
I have never tried this until tonight for the first time–loved the recipe! I did add a small can of "CHUNKED" pineapple not crushed, amazing, other than that followed everything else to a T. I've been on my weightloss journey since the middle of January and am super glad I found this recipe because it definately will curb the sweet tooth and taste like I'm being naughty not healthy! LOL.
My mom who is a southern lady from Alabama has been making this since I was a boy 40 years ago. She sometimes used lime jello and that is just as good. Also a little coconut in it is good.
Does anyone know the point plus for this dish. I just made this for the first time today. I love it!
I Love this! I always add Pineapple to. I have never tried the orange though. I always use Strawberry Jello. Will have to try the Orange. Thanks! :o)
I recently made something similar to this for the first time. I used orange jello, crushed pineapple, cream cheese (because im not a fan of the texture of cottage cheese ) and cool whip. It is so yummy! Ive been meaning to try a cherry version with some kind of nuts. I think it will be awesome.
Just made this recently and carried it to a friend who had just had surgery (along with broccoli and cheese soup). She had been saying that she wasn't up to heavy meals and she was thrilled with this. I also add the 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple and chopped pecans. This recipe makes a lot and with the cottage cheese addition it gives you a good amount of protein as well.
I love this recipe! I actually use strawberry jello and frozen strawberries!!
Hey Brandie, thanks for the smiles when viewing today's recipe. Back in the day, my mom got on a jag where she made this jello salad once or twice a week and would change up the jello flavor and corresponding fruit so the color would coordinate with entree colors. My brother and I ate it so much we got to calling it "medley" because it was always just a medley of this and that in a jello salad. (This is being written by a boomer who ate fancy family dinners under a color changing satelite style chandelier, so we were definitely a stylish family many decades ago!)Also enjoyed this with jello pistachio pudding as Watergate salad….thanks for the smiles!
I tend to be a dessert snob, but I decided to try this because it sounded similar to something my grandma used to make. I used fat free cool whip, fat free cottage cheese, sugar free jello, and fresh mandarin oranges (because I have a huge bag of them). I left out the marshmallows since I just didn't have any. This is delicious! Tastes just like a Dreamsicle and the fresh mandarin oranges are really good in it. I'll be making this again! Thanks!
Will have to try this. I make about the same thing with lime jello, crushed pineapple drained, cool whip, and cottage cheese. So refreshing.
I made this twice this week. I forgot about the marshmallows but had some peeps left from Easter. Gave it a nice sugary crunch. Thank you for all the great recipes. 🙂
Just wondering what could be used as a substitute for Cool Whip as we don't get that in NZ. Looks yummy I can't wait to try it.
I make a version of this all the time, but I don't usually put the marshmallows and nuts in mine. I make it with a variety of fruits and flavors of gelatin! We love it!!
I do it with 2 containers of cottage cheese–choice of any flavor of jello powder (strawberry is very popular around my house)and fruit cocktail or choice of other fruit, NO cool whip, marshmallow or nuts. If using sugar-free jello, it's VERY diet friendly!
My grandfather grew up on a dairy farm & HATED cottage cheese but LOVED this. Grandma thought he was going out of his way to be polite when he ate the 1st helping (At this point, I knew he had grown up on a dairy farm but did not know he had developed a hatred of cottage cheeses as a result!) When he asked for 2nd Grandma was beside herself & spoke up "But Les, you HATE cottage cheese!" Grandpa's reply was "I know it is cottage cheese, but this does not TASTE like cottage cheese–this is GOOD!"
I promise, even without the cool whip &/or marshmallows, it is a sweet treat! And you could probably process it in a blender to give it a creamier texture if you need to sneak it pass a picky eater who would otherwise refuse to taste it.
I've been making this (without the cottage cheese) for about 4 years now. I LOVE it and can eat the whole bowl by myself, easily.
The best part is the mandarin oranges. Who ever thought this up should be award a star!! Sue
I love this recipe and always make some variation or other with it. I am not a fan of cool whip so I just make my own whipped cream. The gelatin helps to stabilize it so it doesn't separate. Have you used ricotta instead of the cottage cheese?
I used flavored yogurt instead of the cool whip.
I have used black cherry jello and marching cherries. very good
Debi: May I ask what are “marching” cherries
In our house we call it Sunshine Salad. So good and satisfies my sweet tooth without binging!
This is the best desert my mom ever made and trust me she has made many many many different types of deserts before but this one has always been my favorite!
I make my orange fluff with orange jello mix, drained Mandarin oranges, cool whip. Marshmallows I'll have to try with.
I love this stuff. I grew up with it called 'fluff', and would usually eat so much of it that I got sick…lol. Only differences are that I add pineapple and use strawberry jello instead of orange.
Our family has made this for years, as salad that could be a desert. The only difference is we have never put in marshmallow or walnuts. We mix the cool whip the cottage cheese together then add the jello then the mandarin oranges. We sometimes add pineapple into the dish but most folks seem to eat more of it when I leave it out.
I just came across your recipe through Pinterest. I would like to know if it would affect the recipe if I used low-fat cottage cheese and a sugar free jell-o? Please advise. Thank you
P.S.
I am still making this either way, it looks so refreshing. Thank you
I hope I am not repeating this but I used sugar free Jello and sugar free whipped cream and fat free cottage cheese and I think I saved some calories and the flavors were still GREAT!
Thank you,
Margot
Could someone please tell me if this requires a large or small box of orange jello? Thank you!
Stephanie, it’s the smaller sized box 🙂
Thank you, Brandie! 🙂