Classic Fruit Salad

May 29, 2021 CX3 0 Comments classic, Fruit, Salad

You can’t beat this easy fruit salad recipe! This summertime classic is a simple combination of juicy seasonal fruit drizzled with a bright honey lime dressing. It’s deliciously sweet, refreshing on hot days, and a must-have for picnics, potlocks, and beach days!

A large white bowl of classic fruit salad.

The best fruit salads are homemade fruit salads. Sure, you can buy a fruit salad pre-made at the supermarket already chopped and ready-to-go. But I promise you this – if you take just a few minutes to make this recipe at home you’ll be rewarded with a fruit salad tastier than anything you’ve ever bought. The flavor is so much brighter, fresher, juicier, and all around more delicious!

The beauty of fruit salads is that they’re endlessly customizable. I’ve previously shown you how to make a stone fruit salad (with peaches, nectarines, and plums), but this classic fruit salad is a beautiful rainbow of colors from the strawberries, pineapple, grapes, blueberries, kiwis, mandarin oranges, and mangoes. It’s enough to brighten up any table and cool you off on a hot day!

Ingredients for a classic fruit salad on a table.

Fruit Salad Ingredients

Wondering what to put in your fruit salad? Think color! Choose fruits with hues of reds, blues, oranges, yellows, and greens.

Strawberries: Juicy, fresh strawberries should be easy to find in the summer. Look for ones that are vibrant and ripe, without blemishes.
Pineapple: Don’t be intimidated to buy a whole pineapple and slice it yourself – it’s easy! And I walk you through it on the video below.
Grapes: You can use red or green grapes. The key is to snag the seedless variety.
Blueberries: I love plump blueberries in my fruit salad, but you could also swap these with blackberries. Or do a 50/50 mix of both!
Kiwis: Bright green kiwi is loaded with vitamin C and complements the other colors so well. Make sure you grab kiwis that are ever-so-slightly soft, to ensure they’re ripe and sweet.
Mandarin Oranges: I always opt for mandarin oranges (those bags of Cuties!) as they’re easy to peel and segment. You can slice oranges as well. If you opt for the latter I recommend you supreme the orange, which means you’ll slice between the white membrane to remove the individual orange segments.
Mangoes: You know I’m a mango lover! This creamy, sweet fruit is a personal favorite of mine in fruit salads. If you don’t have mango, you can swap in banana for a similar creamy texture, but make sure to read my tips below.

And for the dressing… it’s a syrupy sweet blend of lime zest, lime juice, and honey. The bright, zingy flavor of lime complements the fresh fruit perfectly!

Mixing a fruit salad in a large glass bowl.

How to Make Fruit Salad

Prepare the fruit: wash (and dry) the strawberries, grapes, and blueberries, and peel the pineapple, oranges, and mangoes. Then slice everything up into bite-sized pieces and place in a large mixing bowl.
Make the dressing: whisk the lime zest, lime juice, and honey together in a small bowl.
Toss the salad: drizzle the honey lime dressing on the fruit salad and gently toss it all together. Voila – fruit salad!

Tips for the Best Fruit Salad

While some people love banana in their fruit salad, it can quickly brown and become mushy. I only recommend adding 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! Frozen fruit will become soft, mushy, and watery as soon as it thaws. Definitely stick to fresh fruit here.
Speaking of water… make sure to thoroughly dry any fruit you wash. You don’t want to introduce extra water into the salad (it’ll just pool at the bottom of the bowl).
Make sure ALL fruit is ripe. This can be difficult as pineapple and mangoes are often green when you buy them from the supermarket. So plan ahead and grab those two a couple of days before you plan on making the fruit salad, then let them ripen at home. You can also place them in a brown paper bag to expedite ripening!

How Do You Keep Fruit Salad Fresh

Fruit salad is really best when it’s made up to 4 hours before serving. But what you can do is slice and dice all of the fruit and place it in a covered bowl up to 24 hours ahead of time in the fridge, then toss with the dressing right before serving.

How To Store

If you have leftovers of this fruit salad after a party (it happens), just store it in the fridge for up to 3-4 days in a sealed container. If you notice the fruit really starting to soften after that point I have a tasty solution – turn leftovers into a fruit smoothie!

A large bowl of fruit salad with a spoon.

More Summer Salad Recipes

For the many summer outings ahead, fresh and easy salads are a must-have. These recipes are some of my favorites because they’re so darn easy and tasty. But you can get tons more inspiration in my list of easy and healthy salads.

Fruit Salad Recipe Video

Want to see how easy this fruit salad comes together? Watch the video below!

If you make this classic fruit salad, let me know how it turned out! I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.