This Fruit Salad features a rainbow of fresh fruits and a sweet and tangy honey lime dressing. It’s the perfect side dish for a summer BBQ, or enjoy it as a healthy dessert.
This fruit salad is one of my very favorite recipes, and every time I serve it my family asks when I can make it again. It’s my go-to side dish for our family’s 4th of July get-together, and I also love it for Easter brunch. It’s a simple, crowd-pleasing dish that’s perfect for almost any occasion! We love it with Grilled Chicken, Turkey Burgers and Easter ham. It’s also delightful served over vanilla ice cream for dessert, topped with a dollop of whipped cream. How good does that sound?!
This is a perfect balance of berries and fruit and it is so beautiful. Thank you for a really delicious and elegant fruit salad recipe!
Mimi
Fruit Salad Ingredients
I love using this combination of fruits and berries because it gives you a delicious mix of flavors and colors. Below, you’ll find suggestions for other fruits you can use. This recipe is easy to customize and make your own!
- Grapes: Grapes hold up really well in a fruit salad. I left the grapes whole, but you can halve them if serving the salad to very young children.
- Pineapple: You can purchase a fresh pineapple and chop it yourself, or buy pre-cut pineapple from the grocery store. Fresh is best, as the texture of canned pineapple is not as good.
- Strawberries: Stem and slice them.
- Blueberries: A sweet favorite! They’re easy to wash and require no other prep.
- Blackberries: A beautiful addition to a fruit salad.
- Kiwi: To prep, slice off the two ends and then peel with a small paring knife. Then cut the kiwi in half lengthwise and slice.
- Lime Zest & Lime Juice: For a touch of tartness, which balances out the sweet fruit and honey. Zest the lime whole, then cut it in half and juice it.
- Honey: Makes the fruit salad irresistibly sweet. You can substitute pure maple syrup for a vegan fruit salad.
Fruit Salad Dressing
What makes this fruit salad really special is the honey-lime dressing. It’s the perfect pairing of sweet and tart. As I was recipe testing, I found that you don’t need too much dressing on the salad, just enough to enhance the natural sweetness of the fresh fruit.
If you don’t have limes on hand, you can substitute fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. You may want to scale down the amount of lemon juice, since lemons are more tart than limes.
Pro Tip: How to Zest a Lime
- The easiest way to zest a lime is to use a microplane. You can also use a vegetable peeler to remove larger strips of the lime peel and then chop finely. Be sure to remove just the green part of the lime peel and not the white part underneath, which can be bitter.
- After zesting the lime, hold it in your hand and firmly roll it on the kitchen counter a few times to soften it up. I’ve found that you get much more juice out of limes this way.
How to Make Fruit Salad
Here’s a quick overview of how to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for the full recipe with measurements.
- Prep the fruit. Wash and dry the fruits well. Peel, core and chop the pineapple, slice the strawberries and peel and chop the kiwi. Put the fruit in a large serving bowl.
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the lime zest, lime juice and honey.
- Combine. Pour the dressing over the fruit and toss gently to mix.
Recipe Tips
- Use fruits that are in season for peak freshness and flavor.
- After washing the fruit, dry it well before adding it to your salad. Wet berries or grapes can add too much extra moisture to the salad, which will make the fruits soften faster.
- Add the dressing to the fruit right before serving. The longer the fruit sits in the dressing, the more it will start to break down and soften.
- When tossing everything together, stir very gently. Consider adding the most delicate fruits, such as blueberries, blackberries and kiwi, last.
- If you are adding fruits that brown easily, such as bananas, apples or pears, slice and add them right before serving.
- You can add a little bit of chopped fresh mint to this recipe for an extra pop of flavor.
What Other Fruits Can I Use?
Fruit salad tastes best when it’s made with ripe, in season fruit. You can adapt this recipe based on your preferences and what is in season where you live. Try:
- Spring/Summer: Peaches, nectarines, raspberries, cherries, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, mangos.
- Fall/Winter: Pears, mandarin oranges, pomegranate.
- Year Round: Bananas, apples.
I think you’ll also love my Berry Fruit Salad. Or, for a fun way to serve fruit salad, try these Rainbow Fruit Kabobs.
Can I Use Frozen Fruit?
I don’t recommend using frozen fruit in this recipe. When frozen fruit defrosts, it becomes much softer than fresh fruit and will not hold up well in a fruit salad. Frozen fruit also tends to release too much liquid as it thaws.
Make Ahead and Storage Tips
You can do some of the prep work ahead of time for this recipe. This is convenient if you plan to serve the fruit salad at a holiday meal or other get-together.
- Wash, dry and chop the fruit a few hours ahead of time.
- Whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- Store the dressing and fruit in the refrigerator, separately.
- Add the dressing to the salad no more than an hour before serving.
If you have leftover fruit salad, you can store it in the refrigerator for a day or two. The fruit will soften and release some of its juices, but it will still taste delicious.
More Favorite Salad Recipes
Colorful salads are one of my very favorite dishes to make (and eat!). Here are a few more that I think you’ll love:
Best Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound red grapes, or green grapes, about 3 cups
- 2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, about 2 cups sliced
- 6 ounces fresh blueberries, about 1 cup
- 6 ounces fresh blackberries, about 1 ½ cups
- 3 kiwi, peeled and sliced
For the Dressing
- zest of one lime
- 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Wash and dry the fruits well. Peel, core and chop the pineapple, slice the strawberries and peel and chop the kiwi. Combine all fruit in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lime zest, lime juice and honey. Pour over the fruit and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Make Ahead: You can wash, dry and chop the fruit a few hours ahead. You can also make the dressing ahead. Add the dressing to the fruit no more than an hour before serving.
- Leftover fruit salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a day or two. The fruit will soften and release some of its juices, but it will still taste delicious.
- Recipe Variations: Fruit salad tastes best when it’s made with ripe, in season fruit. You can adapt this recipe based on your preferences and what is in season. Try:
- Spring/Summer: Peaches, nectarines, raspberries, cherries, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, mangos.
- Fall/Winter: Pears, mandarin oranges, pomegranate.
- Year Round: Bananas, apples.
The make ahead storage tips were so helpful! I brought this to a picnic. It was a huge hit!! Love that I was able to change the serving amount and the recipe automatically changed!! Bookmarking your site!
This is a perfect balance of berries and fruit and it is so beautiful. Thank you for a really delicious and elegant fruit salad recipe!
We had this with out Easter brunch – it was delightful. I used maple syrup instead of honey to make it vegan – delicious.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
This was delicious! The dressing put it over the top! I used fresh mango in mine instead of grapes because I did not have grapes on hand and the mangos worked really well! I chopped all the fruit in the morning but kept the kiwi separate. I added the kiwi and the dressing right before serving. Worked perfectly and the colors were stunning and it tasted so good! My whole family loved it!
Can I use lemon instead of lime?
Yes, you can.
My 4th of July go to salad. It’s the best fruit salad ever!
April 29th 2024. I made Kristine’s Fruit Salad for a family gathering this past weekend and it was a hit. Most of the 15 people that were here, came up to me at some point during the evening, and told me how much they loved the fruit salad. I ommitted the strawberries bc I don’t really like them but added a bit more of the other fruits to make up for that. I also used both red & green seedless grapes. Twice I walked into a conversation about the fruit salad and someone would say “is there a glaze on this?”, or, “this salad is delicious, what’s in it?” or “can I please have the receipt”. I double double recommend trying this fruit salad. I made this receipt yesterday. A day later my husband is asking me to please make it again,SOON! 😊
I brought this to work and everybody simply loved it!
I made this according to the recipe and the blueberries and blackberries changed everything to an ugly dark blue/black/grey. It was delicious but ugly. I will not make again.
Hi Christine,
I’m sorry to hear that, I know it must have been disappointing. It sounds like maybe your blueberries and blackberries were over-ripe/too soft. It’s also important to mix gently (as the recipe says in step 2), since berries can be delicate.
This recipe is so delicious! I stumbled upon it a few months ago and have since made it several times.
Thanks for a fantastic recipe! It’s a big hit at my house.