Simple Fruit Salad for the table

This simple fruit salad is simple to make and delivers tasty fresh flavors. This is a bright and light side dish to serve at any gathering, but especially at picnics, barbecues, and potlucks!

When We was growing up, the mom always made fruit salads. Granted, she also always made "jello salads," and we don't need those to come back in style. But fruit salads always stuck with me as a tasty, simple, fast, healthy option to bring to and serve at any gathering.

What We love about this simple fruit salad is that it's quick to make, a great make-ahead dish for parties and gatherings, and it's so versatile and forgiving. It's a great clean-out-the-fridge recipe.

Some of the favorite fruits to use in fruit salad:

Strawberries
Blueberries
Pineapples
Apples
Grapes
Mango
Mandarin oranges
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Honey Dew

But it's a little more than simply tossing together your favorite fruit. There are three other ingredients that truly make this simple fruit salad sensational.

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🍓 Ingredient notes

Let's start with the specific fruit that We prefer to use in this dish. For an always tasty combination, try these ingredients together.

Berries – We love using a mix of strawberries and blueberries. On occasion, We'll also use raspberries and/or blackberries if we have them. However, if you are using raspberries, blackberries, or marionberries, keep in mind that they are more tender and can get smushed easily in fruit salads. They will also bleed color more than blueberries.
Grapes – green or red grapes add some nice sweetness and color. You can choose to cut grapes in half or leave them whole.
Tropical fruit – pineapple is always in the fruit salad. We love the bright fresh tropical flavor, color, and texture it adds! But you can also use mango or papaya.
Once you've gathered your fruit, three next three ingredients are KEY to taking a fruit salad from simple to sensational.
Orange juice – this helps keep the fruit from turning brown faster, and also adds some nice citrus flavor to the salad. You could also use lemon juice or pineapple juice.
Honey – Honey helps coat the fruit with a floral layer of sweetness. It also helps bind ingredients together a bit so it's easier to get forkfuls of fruit at once.
Mint – a few finely chopped fresh mint leaves adds brightness to the fruit salad.

✅ Step-by-step instructions

All you need to make this fruit recipe in terms of tools and equipment are:

A large bowl. We like to serve fruit salad in either a large wooden serving bowl or a large white porcelain serving bowl.
A large wooden spoon, tongs, or salad servers to toss together the ingredients.

Simply add each of the ingredients to the bowl together and toss to coat.

That's it! So simple!

🍽 What to serve with fruit salad

This dish is tasty on its own as a healthy summer snack. It also goes well as a side dish for almost any meal! It's especially tasty with these summery main courses:

Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Scallops
Asian Burgers
Filipino Pork BBQ Skewers
15 Family-Friendly Pressure-cooker Recipes
Citrus & Berry-Glazed Game Hens
Air Fryer Paprika Chicken

🎉 Simple Make-Ahead Party Dish

You can make this dish the night before a party, road trip, or barbecue. Simply toss gently together before serving.

To Store: Fruit salad is best served within 3 days. However, you can refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

🥂 Wine pairings for fruit salad

Pour a glass of bubbly or rosé – or sparkling rosé! – to enjoy with this bright and fresh fruit salad.

🫐 Recipe FAQs

How do you keep fruit salad from turning brown?

The addition of almost any acidic juice – such as the orange juice in the recipe, lemon juice, pineapple juice, or lime juice – helps prevent fruits such as apples and grapes from turning brown.

How long will fruit salad last in the fridge?

If kept in an airtight container, your fruit salad should last for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

🍉 More tasty fruit recipes

Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you truly loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!