Home Meal Type Salad Recipes Easy Fruit Salad

Easy Fruit Salad

By Brittany Mullins

4.42

18

Published Apr 09, 2021, Updated Feb 15, 2023

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This quick and easy fruit salad combines ripe strawberries, blueberries, grapes, kiwi, pineapple chunks and mandarin oranges with a hint of lime.

Going berry picking is such a quintessential summertime activity, but what happens when you get home and have numerous pounds of berries sitting in the kitchen waiting to be used?

If you’re like me, you eat them by the handful while frantically scanning Pinterest for new recipes to try before the berries get all wrinkly. It happens fast, doesn’t it?

This fruit salad is the perfect recipe to make when you are buried in fruit and don’t know what to make or when you need a super simple side for a cookout, backyard bbq, picnic or party!

It pairs perfectly with egg-based dishes like a frittata or quiche for brunch and works as a light dessert for baby/bridal showers and cookouts.

Easy Fruit Salad Ingredients

When making fruit salad always look for fresh and seasonal fruit for the best results. Here’s what I would recommend including:

• strawberries – when buying or picking strawberries, look for bright red berries with no mold or dark spots.
• blueberries – again, make sure there isn’t any mold! The plumper and juicer the berry, the sweeter it is.
• fresh pineapple – gently press the skin of the pineapple – if it’s ripe, it will give a bit. You can also smell the base of the pineapple. If it smells like a sweet pineapple, it’s ripe and ready!
• kiwi – gently press the kiwi skin. If it gives slightly, it is ripe. Avoid super hard kiwis – they’ll be hard and bitter!
• red or green grapes – look for plump, firm grapes. We don’t need any mushy or wrinkly grapes!
• mandarin oranges or clementines – look for oranges that have a bright orange color without dark spots or bruises.
• lime juice and zest – adding just a little lime juice and zest really helps the flavors pop in this fruit salad!
• maple syrup or honey – a touch of sweetness to bring the whole salad together.

Substitutions & Notes

All of the fruit in this recipe are just suggestions! I obviously love this combination and think it’s perfect as is, but if you have different fruit on hand or want to clean out the fridge, feel free to switch up which fruit you use!

A lot of fruit salads will also include some sort of melon like cantaloupe, honeydew or watermelon. Feel free to add some sort of melon to this recipe if you have one on hand!

Apples are also a great addition if you’re looking for a crunch. They do tend to go brown quickly so just keep that in mind.

Banana is also a common fruit seen in fruit salad and while I love bananas, they tend to go brown and slimy relatively quickly so I don’t usually put them in my fruit salad. Of course, you’re welcome to add it if you’d like!

How to Make Fruit Salad

The best part about fruit salad is how easy it is to make! Here’s the two-step process:

Toss: In a large bowl toss together strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, kiwi, grapes and mandarin oranges. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, lime zest and maple syrup.

Serve: Drizzle lime dressing over fresh fruit mixture, toss and serve immediately.

What Makes Fruit Salad Taste Even Better?

Growing up my mom used to add a sprinkle of sugar to fresh fruit salad to help the fruit release their juices and soften.

For this recipe I recommend adding a little pure maple syrup or honey to make a lime “dressing” of sorts, which takes this salad to the next level and really brightens up the flavor of the fruit.

That said, I have made this fruit salad without the maple syrup/honey and it’s still just as delicious. If you’re using seasonal, ripe fruit, the salad should be sweet enough without any added sugar.

How to Store Fruit Salad

Fruit salad is best fresh, but it will keep for a few days if you make it in advance. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

More Fruity Salads to Try:

• Watermelon Feta Salad
• Fuji Apple Salad
• Pear Salad with Walnuts
• Fruit Salad with Mint
• Waldorf Salad
• Blueberry Corn Chicken Salad
• Strawberry Kale Salad 

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4.42 from 12 votes

Easy Fruit Salad

By: Brittany Mullins

This colorful fruit salad combines ripe strawberries, blueberries, grapes, kiwi, pineapple chunks and mandarin oranges with a hint of lime.

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 lb strawberries, hulled and sliced
• ▢ 1 pint fresh blueberries
• ▢ 2 cups cubed fresh pineapple
• ▢ 3 kiwi, peeled and sliced into half moons
• ▢ 2 cups seedless red or green grapes, halved
• ▢ 3 mandarin oranges or clementines, peeled and sectioned
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon grated lime zest
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon maple syrup or honey, optional

Instructions 

• Toss: In a large bowl toss together strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, kiwi, grapes and mandarin oranges. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, lime zest and maple syrup, if using.
• Serve: Drizzle lime dressing over fresh fruit mixture, toss and serve immediately.
• Store: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

Notes

• No added sugar: feel free to skip the added maple syrup/honey if you don’t want the added sugar. If you’re using fresh, ripe fruit it will be plenty sweet!

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 of recipe | Calories: 257kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 10mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 45g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: fruit salad

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