Fruit salad with a sweet homemade syrup is amazing and you will adore this recipe. If you love dishing up a spoonful of fresh fruit, this is the fruit salad recipe (covered in a syrup-lime dressing) for you!
In my house we eat all kinds of fruit. From apples to bananas, pears to cantaloupe, I have a local farmers market that keeps me stocked weekly for all my fruit side dish recipes.
But what I love to make outside of grabbing a piece of raw fruit is a creating a deliciously easy fruit salad. This recipe is such a fantastic side dish and the best fruit salad combination that you can enjoy for breakfast, lunch or dinner or really just to eat as a sweet treat that both you and your kids can get behind.
I can’t say smothering your fruit in more sugar is healthy, but i’ts fun for an occasion and totally acceptable and loved at a potluck or party. This type of fruit salad can be easily altered to contain other fruits, just be careful that if you add fruits like bananas, they tend to get brown quickly, so you must serve and eat asap.
Many people consider this combination of fruits to be a winter fruit salad, but its all rainbow fruit salad to me! And while you can keep for a few hours, the lime and syrup will eventually combine with your fruits and cause a sweet sticky mess, so it won’t keep for a few days.
If you need more ideas, make sure you check out this retro watergate salad and this ambrosia salad, both of which are great dessert salads!
Additionally, this Hawaiian Fruit Salad with cheesecake makes an awesome dessert (must try!)
Fruit Salad
- 2 red apples
- 2 pears
- 4 mandarin oranges
- 3 kiwis
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Optional: Like a little crunch in your salad? Try chopped pecans!
Other fruit options: Cutting up grapes in half, blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries
Tip: Do not love pomegranate seeds? Leave them out and instead mix in a bit of the pomegranate juice in your syrup to bring in the flavor without the texture.
Preparation for your fruit salad
- Dice your apples and pears
- Peel your oranges and separate.
- Peel your kiwi and cut into quarters
How to make Fruit Salad
In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup and lime juice.
You can choose to use honey if you prefer a honey-lime dressing or even try it with agave (but I find that a bit too sweet for my taste) I think experimenting can be loads of fun when finding the right flavor combination for your own palette. We use a honey lemon over here on this Tropical Fruit Salad if you want to see how to get started.
In a large serving bowl, combine the fruit and fold gently with a spatula until you have the fruit all mixed. No one likes to get just a spoon of one fruit!
Gently pour on your homemade dressing, mixing with a spatula or spoon as you go, making sure salad is completely coated.
Continue to toss gently to really get the maple-lime dressing on all sides of your fruit.
Serve your fruit salad immediately.
Fruit Salad with Sweet Homemade Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 red apples
- 2 pears
- 4 mandarin oranges
- 3 kiwi fruit
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans optional
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup and lime juice.
- In a large serving bowl, combine the fruit and pour on the dressing.
- Toss gently to coat the salad with the maple-lime dressing.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I adore side dishes and if you are looking for something special for a home cooked meal or want to just whip up a bowl of something delicious, please come check out everything I have to offer on my recipe index!
