This fruit salad has the perfect variety of fruit for a dish that looks great and tastes amazing. The orange honey dressing makes it even more irresistible!
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Pin RecipeYes, you read that correctly. This fruit salad has dressing on it! But no, we’re not talking ranch or Caesar dressing here.
Salad dressing is not just for salads made with lettuce. In fact, it’s what really makes a fruit salad spectacular rather than boring and basic. My honey orange dressing is the ideal blend of sweet and tart that ties this whole fruit salad together.
Best Fruit Salad Recipe
This easy fruit salad recipe is very simple to make. I have two extra steps in my recipe that you may not see in other fruit salad recipes, so I wanted to talk about them a little bit.
First, I cook my fruit salad dressing on the stovetop, letting it simmer for about 5 minutes. Other dressing recipes may just be whisked together in a bowl rather than cooked. I like cooking the dressing because it makes it thick and sticky. It really coats every piece of fruit when you make it this way!
Once the fruit salad is all mixed together, I let it chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. This really lets all the flavors of the fruit marinate in the dressing and develop. Sitting in the dressing also helps extract the juices from the fruit. You can definitely eat the fruit salad right after mixing, but trust me, it is best when slightly chilled and extra juicy!
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Ingredients for Fruit Salad
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Orange juice – I like to use orange juice with pulp, as it has a more natural texture. You can use no-pulp orange juice or go the extra mile and squeeze your own fresh juice.
- Honey
- Orange zest – You will need 1-2 oranges to get a tablespoon of zest.
- Vanilla
- Oranges – Use seedless oranges so you don’t have to worry about taking seeds out of the fruit salad.
- Kiwi – I like to cut my kiwi in half then use a spoon to scoop each half out of the peel. This is the easiest way I have found to peel a kiwi.
- Bananas – Ripe bananas with brown spots on the peel are best! The more brown the skin of the banana is, the sweeter it will be.
- Strawberries
- Apples – I like Honeycrisp apples which are crisp, tart, and juicy.
- Pineapple chunks
- Blueberries
Variations
- Use fresh pineapple rather than canned pineapple.
- Replace the apples with crunchy pears.
- Use the pineapple juice from the can of pineapple chunks to make the dressing. Replace the orange juice with the pineapple juice for a whole new take on the fruit salad dressing.
- Skip the bananas if you plan to make the fruit salad in advance. The bananas tend to turn brown after a day and you want your fruit salad to look as fresh as possible!
How to Make Fruit Salad
- Make the dressing: Add the orange juice, honey, and orange zest to a small pot and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. The dressing will look thick and shiny. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the vanilla, then let the dressing chill.
- Cut the fruit: Cut all of the fruit into small, bite-sized pieces. I aim for pieces that are one-inch by one-inch in size.
- Mix the salad: Add all the chopped fruit to a large bowl, then pour the cold dressing over the fruit. Toss everything together, mixing up the fruit and coating everything in the dressing.
- Chill: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the salad chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Then, scoop the fruit salad into bowls and enjoy!
Quick Tip
Use a serrated knife when cutting your oranges. It’s best to use a sawing motion, rather than pressing down on the orange pieces, which will squeeze out the juice. By gently cutting back and forth with a serrated knife, you will be able to make small pieces without losing all that tasty juice!
How to Store Fruit Salad
Fruit salad should be kept in the fridge inside an airtight container. You can store the fruit salad in a large mixing bowl, just make sure the plastic wrap on top of the bowl is nice and tight so the fruit does not dry out. The fruit salad will stay fresh for about 3-5 days.
The bananas in the fruit salad may start to turn brown after one or two days. It is still safe to eat, but be aware that the color will change. Omit the bananas if you plan to eat the fruit salad over the course of a few days. It will just look more appetizing!
FAQs
I like to avoid very strong-tasting fruits like grapefruits. They tend to overpower the salad and make it hard to taste the other, more subtle fruits. I also avoid very soft berries, like raspberries, which get mashed when mixed into the fruit salad.
First, I cut off the stem of the strawberries. Then, I place the flat, cut side down on a cutting board so the strawberry is standing up. I cut the strawberry straight down two times, making an X and dividing the berry into four pieces.
Yes! You can definitely make this fruit salad in advance. In fact, it tastes even better when allowed to sit and marinate overnight. I do recommend adding the banana right before serving so it does not turn brown.
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Fruit Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- ¾ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fruit Mix
- 2 oranges, peeled
- 3 kiwi, peeled
- 2 bananas, peeled
- 2 cups strawberries, stemmed
- 2 apples, peeled, cored (honeycrisp or other crisp, tart variaties)
- 1 20 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained
- 1 ½ cups blueberries
Instructions
- In a small pot over medium high heat, add the orange juice, honey and orange zest. Whisk together and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook for another 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla, then let cool to room temperature while preparing the fruit mixture.
- Cut the oranges, kiwis, bananas, strawberries and apples into bite sized pieces and add to a large serving bowl. Stir in the pineapple chunks and blueberries. Once the dressing has cooled, drizzle over the fruit and gently stir together. Cover and chill for 2 to 3 hours or overnight before serving.
