You can’t beat this easy fruit salad recipe! This summertime classic is a simple combination of seasonal fruit drizzled with a bright honey lime dressing. It’s deliciously sweet, refreshing on hot days, and a must-have for picnics, potlucks, and beach days!
Why This is the Best Fruit Salad
This fruit salad is easily one of my most requested side dishes at family get-togethers and holidays. The mix of fruit feels perfect for summer days, with a beautiful rainbow of color that includes strawberries, pineapple, grapes, blueberries, kiwis, mandarin oranges, and mangoes. But it’s the zesty honey lime dressing that really amplifies the bright, juicy flavor of all those fruits! Now, truth be told, I used to buy store-bought fruit salads for parties and potlucks. But once you make this fresh fruit salad at home, there’s really no going back. The flavor is just all-around more delicious! I also love that:
- It’s perfect for summer. I’m a big fan of seasonal fruit salads, like my stone fruit salad in the fall and my Waldorf salad in the winter. But this is my go-to for sunny summer days!
- It’s endlessly customizable. You can easily swap in more of your favorite fruits.
- It’s a great make-ahead side dish. I often slice and prep all the fruit the day before, which makes assembling everything quick and effortless the day of a party.
I love highlighting seasonal fruit in vibrant shades of red, blue, orange, yellow, and green. But truly, use the fruits you love most.
- Strawberries: Look for juicy, bright red strawberries without blemishes. They should be easy to find in the summer!
- Pineapple: Don’t be intimidated to buy a whole pineapple and slice it yourself—it’s really easy to do! And I walk you through it step-by-step in the video below.
- Grapes: Red or green grapes both work beautifully. Just be sure to grab seedless.
- Blueberries: I love using plump, sweet blueberries, but blackberries are a great swap. You can even do a half-and-half mix!
- Kiwis: Their bright green color adds so much visual pop. Choose kiwis that are slightly soft to the touch so you know they’re ripe and sweet.
- Mandarin oranges: I usually grab a bag of mandarin oranges (like Cuties) because they’re easy to peel and segment. You can also use regular oranges. If you do, I recommend supreming them by slicing between the white membranes to remove clean segments.
- Mangoes: I am a big fan of mango! Their creamy, sweet flavor is such a nice contrast to the juicier fruits. If you don’t have mangoes, bananas can give you a similar creamy texture, but be sure to read my tips below before adding them.
- Fruit salad dressing: It’s a simple mix of lime zest, fresh lime juice, and honey. The bright, zingy flavor of lime complements the fresh fruit perfectly!
First, prep the fruit. Wash the strawberries, grapes, and blueberries, then peel the pineapple, oranges, and mangoes. Once everything is cleaned and ready, chop it into bite-sized pieces and add it to a large mixing bowl.
Next, make the dressing by whisking together the lime zest, lime juice, and honey in a small bowl until well combined. Then, drizzle the honey lime dressing over the fruit and gently toss everything together until evenly coated. That’s it!
Don’t Skip These Tips!
- While some people love bananas in their fruit salad, they can quickly brown and become mushy. I only recommend adding a banana if you plan on serving the fruit salad immediately after making it! The same applies to apples (they’ll brown) and raspberries (they’ll go mushy).
- Don’t use frozen fruit! As it thaws, it releases too much liquid and will make the salad watery and mushy. Fresh fruit is definitely the way to go here.
- Speaking of water…make sure to thoroughly dry any fruit after washing it. You don’t want excess moisture pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
- Make sure all the fruit you select is ripe. Pineapple and mangoes are often sold slightly underripe, so I like to buy them a couple of days ahead of time and let them ripen on the counter. If you need to speed things up, place them in a brown paper bag to help them ripen faster.
- If you’re serving this outdoors on a hot day, place the salad bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice or use a chilled serving bowl or ice mat underneath to keep it nice and cool.
Ingredients
Fruit Salad
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- ½ fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cubed (approx 2 ½ cups cubed)
- 2 cups grapes
- 2 cups blueberries
- 4 kiwis, peeled and sliced
- 3 mandarin oranges, peeled and segmented
- 2 mangoes, peeled and diced
- Slice all the fruit. Wash and dry all the strawberries, grapes, blueberries. Then peel the pineapple, oranges, and mangoes. Slice all the fruit into bite-sized pieces and place in a large mixing bowl
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the lime zest, lime juice, and honey.
