20 Fruit Salad Recipes To Up Your Side Dish Game this season! From fresh fruit salads to creamy side dish desserts, there are 20 of the best food bloggers’ top fruit salad recipe ideas. Spring, summer, or fall, there are tons of fruits each season that should get you excited to dip into a bowl and come out with something sweet and savory.
Whip up a beautiful fruit salad to take to your weekend bbq, serve up as a side for dinner or your kid’s lunch, or put it on the table at your all-important Thanksgiving meal!
No matter what you are looking for, I have gathered 20 delicious and rainbow-colored fruit salads that will please your palate.
Fruit Salad Recipes
- Watergate Salad | Salty Side Dish: Just like grandma used to make, Watergate salad is a sweet and southern side dish paired with whipped topping and pineapple. A perfect dessert fruit salad!
- Under the Sea Mermaid Honey Lime Fruit Salad| Finding Zest: Your kids won’t think twice about diving into this naturally sweet fruit flavor. You use cookie cutters to make it look like an under the sea adventure in shaped fruit.
- Apple Pie Filling Fruit Salad| The Kitchen Is My Playground: Tenderly cooked apples, crisp fresh fruit, and lots of sweet cinnamon glaze make this fruit salad a bit different than others you might find.
- Hawaiian Cheesecake Salad| Salty Side Dish: This is a great tropical fruit salad that has a creamy cheesecake filling that makes it a creamy salad. The perfect amount of sweetness.
- Sugared Walnut Fruit Salad| Taste of Lizzy T: A sweet crunch from the walnuts just makes this fruit salad stand out from the rest. Add a dollop of whipped cream on top and you have gorgeous fruit salad to serve your guests!
- Honey Mint Orange Slices| Finding Zest: Serve this up for a brunch or dinner party for a stunning display but also you get that citrus flavor with a hint of sweet and mint for a tasty fruit side.
- Fruit Salad With Honey Lime Dressing| To Simply Inspire: Clementines, watermelon, pineapple, blueberries, with a sweet and tangy dressing is what you will find in this delicious salad. Or try a variation of this with Maple Syrup and Lime Dressing
- Ambrosia Salad| Salty Side Dish: A classic fruit salad dish that is still perfection. Fresh whipped cream, Greek Yogurt, fresh fruit, nuts and more.
- Fruit Salad Fluff with Cool Whip | Salty Side Dish: a delicious dessert side dish that you can make ahead this holiday season. Full flavors with chunks of banana, mandarin oranges and pineapples, the fun mini marshmallows brings it all together for a perfect kid friendly and family favorite fruit salad side dish.
- Fruit Salad with a Creamy Sour Cream Dressing| Today’s Creative Life: The dressing for this fruit salad takes just minutes to whip up and it gives you that perfectly sweet and tangy to make this salad come together perfectly.
- Red, White, Blue Patriotic Salad| Live Love Texas: Mix of berries with an orange vinaigrette that blends the flavors and helps bring out the natural sweetness in the fruit.
- Stone Fruit, Radicchio, and Pine Nut Salad| Pinch and Swirl: If you are looking for a fruit salad that is a little bit out of the box try this. You have a mix of fresh fruit, cabbage, pine nuts and a light dressing that helps the flavors mix perfectly with each bite.
- Peach Caprese Salad | Salty Side Dish: Whether you are serving up a small salad plate or a whole bowl, combining authentic Caprese salad recipe ingredients with fresh summer peaches is just divine.
- Hearty Fruit and Nut Salad| Two Healthy Kitchens: Crisp tart apples, fresh grapes, a Greek Yogurt sauce mixed with some cinnamon for a very refreshing fruit salad. All the textures work well together in this salad.
- Sparkling Fruit Salad| Taste of Lizzy T: This salad uses a sparkling cider as the mixture that brings all the fruit together. It is a perfect compliment to the fresh strawberries, grapes, cantaloupe and other fruit in the salad.
- Retro Pistachio Cool Whip Salad| Spaceships and Laser Beams: This is a retro style salad that your grandma might have made for your growing up. You get that green pistachio color from the pudding, crushed pineapple, shredded coconut and of course Cool Whip!
- Green Grape Cheesecake Salad| Ally’s Sweet and Savory Eats: This is a creamy, tart, sweet, and crunchy salad that is perfect to serve up to friends and family or eat as a midnight snack.
- Red, White, and Blue Salad| The Slow Roasted Italian: Bananas, strawberries, and blueberries paired with a cream cheese based dressing that is very sweet and energizing with each bite.
- Summer Fruit Salad with Cinnamon Honey Syrup| Home Cooking Memories: Fresh berries and watermelon with a little-spicedD syrup to refresh you on a hot summer day.
- Patriotic Fruit Salad with Dragon fruit| Down Redbud Drive: Here is a very simple mix of fruits like blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, and dragon fruit to create a very colorful and tasty salad.
- Creamy Fruit Salad| Simply Stacie: This is a very sweet but tangy salad that has a whipped cream and sour cream base with fresh crisp fruit inside.
- Snicker Apple Salad | Salty Side Dish: Snicker apple salad is a fluffy dessert salad that is just PERFECT for picnics and potlucks. With sweet and tart green apples, whipped topping and hoards of Snickers candy bars, the kids are gonna be tackling each other to get a taste of this amazingly fluffy and so, so good, dessert Snicker salad.
- Creamy Mango Salad| Taste of Lizzy T: Here is a unique treat to serve up. You use mango pulp and a few other ingredients to make an extra creamy base and then toss in ripe and fresh fruit. It is one amazing dessert to serve up.
- Blueberry Jello Salad | Salty Side Dish: Old fashioned Jell-o Salad gets an upgrade with delicious blueberry pie filling and a homemade cream cheese frosting. Perfect for potluck, picnics, and BBQs – a unique Blueberry Jell-O dessert salad!
FAQ’s
Fruit salads need to be kept refrigerated until serving time. The best way to store them is by keeping them covered in plastic wrap so they don’t dry out. There’s no harm in leaving them in the refrigerator overnight but please note that depending on the fruit used (bananas as an example) they can get mushy or soft at a point. While they should taste fine for a day or two, the shelf life of a fruit salad side is usually only 1-2 days.
You can add any number of things to a fruit salad such as chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, raisins, etc. If adding these items will change the texture of the fruit salad it may not be appropriate. For instance, if using bananas, apples, pears, oranges, grapefruit, melons, kiwi, etc., there are many ways to prepare them without changing their flavor profile.
Freezing fruit salads isn’t highly recommended but can be a great way to keep the fruit for future smoothies. When freezing fruit salads, try to avoid placing too much liquid into the containers because once frozen, the juices separate, making it hard to reincorporate back into the mixture. Instead, simply lay down the fruit pieces directly onto your freezer bags and fill them with juice/water to submerge all the fruit. Seal tightly and label well.
Yes! Refrigerating fruit salads helps prevent bacteria growth which could cause spoilage.
There aren’t any specific steps needed when preparing fruit salads. Just remember to wash the fruit thoroughly before cutting and chopping. Also, always cut off the peel first and remove pits where possible.
No. Sugar doesn’t have any effect on the storage life of fruit. However, some people prefer sweeter fruit while others enjoy more tart flavors. So feel free to experiment with different types of fruit and see what works best for you.
When fruits like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, plums, apricots, nectarines, peaches, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, figs, mangos, papayas, avocados, etc. are exposed to air moisture evaporates quickly causing the surface of the fruit to become moist. This causes oxidation reactions resulting in discoloration.
The easiest solution would be to store the fruit in sealed containers inside the fridge. Another option would be to place the fruit in a bowl over ice cubes. The ice keeps the fruit cold enough to slow down evaporation, allowing the fruit to absorb less moisture.
Sorta. Fruit salads can easily be made ahead of time by storing them in an airtight container or bag in the refrigerator up until ready to serve. However, they are best made SAME DAY to avoid extra moisture or browning fruit.
A basic fruit salad is just that: A mix of fresh seasonal fruit tossed together with a little lemon juice and maybe a bit of sugar. You don’t even necessarily need to add dressing. It’s easy to customize this recipe however you’d like. Feel free to use whatever type of fruit you want; berries, citrus, stone fruits, tropical fruits, etc. If you’re looking for inspiration check out our favorite fruit salads below.
Is fruit salad recipe healthy?
Fruit salads tend to contain lots of fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients, polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, phenolic compounds, dietary fibers, essential fatty acids, amino acids, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, sugars, electrolytes, enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, B complex vitamins, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and zinc.
List of most common fruits used in fruit salad sides
- Apples
- Bananas
- Blueberries
- Cherries
- Cranberries
- Grapes
- Kiwis
- Mangoes
- Nectarine
- Pears
- Pineapple
- Plums
- Strawberries
- Watermelon
How do I Make Classic Fruit Salad?
You need only 5 basic ingredients to make a delicious fruit salad. These include;
- 1 cup of chopped apples
- 2 cups of sliced peaches
- 3/4 cup of cubed melons
- 1 cup of diced bananas
- 1 cup of seedless red grapes
You may add more fruits if desired. The amount of sugar added depends upon how sweet you want the final product to be. If you prefer sweeter flavors, add less sugar.
Related Recipes
- Top 10 Fruit Salad Recipes – These best-loved fruit salads are bright, beautiful and bursting with fruity flavor. (tasteofhome.com)
- 28 Healthy and Refreshing Fruit Recipes – Healthy does not = boring. (tasteofhome.com)
- 19 Fruit Salads That Are Anything but Boring – These fantastic fruit salad recipes include peach-and-fennel slaw, spicy green mangoes and caramelized watermelon. (foodandwine.com)
Comments & Reviews
Kim Demmon says
Thank you for including my recipe!