Winter Fruit Salad Recipe | Savory Nothings (2024)

20 minutes mins

| 2 Comments |

5 from 4 votes

Jump to Recipe | Updated: | by Nora

This Winter Fruit Salad is a great way to eat fresh fruit during the colder months. It makes a healthy addition to any Christmas, New Year’s or other holiday gathering.

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe | Savory Nothings (1)

Fruit salad is one of my favorite fresh and healthy side dishes/desserts/snacks/fix for anything. It can be hard to eat enough fresh fruit during winter, but with this fruit salad? You’ll eat tons.

If you’re looking for an easy way to get your kids to eat fresh fruit during the winter, this is it. And it’s so simple to make!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe | Savory Nothings (2)

Ingredient notes

  • Honey: I recommend using a runny honey with a mild taste. Maple syrup is a good substitute if you don’t want to use honey.
  • Poppy seeds: If you’re not a fan, just leave them out! The salad tastes delicious without the poppy seeds, too.
  • Fruit: Feel free to leave out any fruit you don’t enjoy. You can increase a different kind of fruit in its place, or use another winter fruit you enjoy. If you want to add banana, please make sure to only slice and add it as you’re serving the salad – otherwise it will turn mushy and brown.
  • Dressing: I go for a very simplified dressing here, it’s enough for me in this salad with so many different kinds of fresh fruit. If you want something with a little more zing, go for my Poppy Seed Fruit Salad Dressing with lemon juice.
  • Do not add dairy: If you want to use a different dressing entirely, feel free. But do not add anything dairy-based to this fruit salad – fresh kiwi fruit reacts with dairy products and yields a very bitter, metallic taste. Not pleasant! So steer clear from any yogurt, cream or pudding based dressings here.

How to make a Winter Fruit Salad

Start by cutting up all the fruit. I’ll admit, it takes a little while to prep it all. Feel free to go for canned where you can, if you need to save a little time.

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe | Savory Nothings (3)

Next, add the salad dressing ingredients to a small bowl or measuring jug and whisk to combine.

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe | Savory Nothings (4)
Winter Fruit Salad Recipe | Savory Nothings (5)

Now just add your fruit to a large salad bowl, toss with the dressing and serve!

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Recipe tips

Hold the sugar. It really doesn’t need it. Way back in the 90ies it may have been cool to add two cups of sugar to a fruit salad (no, really, I made these kinds of fruit salads) – but not in 2020.

Of course it all depends on the tartness of your fruit, but be gentle on the sweetener and let the fruit shine. You can always add sugar, but you can’t take it away if there’s too much.

Don’t add mushy fruit. You may be surprised to find there’s no banana in this salad – but apart from the fact that I’m no raw banana lover (gimme all the banana bread, but not raw please), they just really don’t do anything in a fruit salad for me. They turn brown really fast, they turn mushy and mushy banana makes everything taste terrible.

Otherwise, you also need to pay attention to use a really firm pear. They’re usually the small green ones. Don’t go for the large brownish ones for a salad – they just fall apart and turn the salad into a mess.

Be careful with the pomegranate. If you don’t want to end up with an all-red salad, you need to be careful with the pomegranate.

There are two options: Either you can just sprinkle the arils on top. Or, this is the way for patient people, you can rinse and dry them very carefully. It’s best to let them mostly air-dry, so if you want to go this route do this before you prep any other fruit.

Add them after you’ve mixed all the other fruit with the dressing and just toss them in slightly.

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe | Savory Nothings (7)

Other than that, there’s really not much to say about this – chop, dress, toss. That’s about all the remaining instructions you’ll need for this fruit salad.

More fruit salad recipes

  • Greek Yogurt Berry Fruit Salad
  • Berry Cheesecake Fruit Salad
  • Greek Yogurt Fruit Salad
  • Strawberry Fruit Salad with Mint and Pistachios

PSIf you try this recipe, please leavea review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along onPinterest,FacebookorInstagram.

Printable recipe

Printable Recipe Card

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe | Savory Nothings (12)

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Winter Fruit Salad

This Winter Fruit Salad is a great way to eat fresh fruit during the colder months. It makes a healthy addition to any Christmas, New Year’s or other holiday gathering.

Recipe by Nora from Savory Nothings

made it? tap the stars to add your rating!

5 from 4 votes

Recipe details

Prep 20 minutes mins

Total 20 minutes mins

Servings 6 servings

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

Dressing

  • ½ cup orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Salad

  • 2 crisp apples diced
  • 2 small firm pears diced
  • 1 large orange peeled and filleted, fillets cut bite-sized
  • 2 mandarin oranges peeled and segmented, cut segments in half if you prefer
  • 2 firm but ripe kiwis peeled and sliced
  • 1 firm persimmon diced
  • ½ pomegranate arils only

Instructions

  • Make the dressing: Add all dressing ingredients to a small jam jar, screw on the lid and shake well. Set aside until ready to use.

  • Make the salad: Place all ingredients in a large bowl (or arrange on a platter if you have enough time on your hands!). Mix with the dressing and serve immediately.

  • If you need to make this ahead of time, toss the apples and pear with lemon juice right after cutting. Keep the fruit in separate containers until ready to mix. Add the dressing just before serving.

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Notes

Ingredient notes

  • Honey: I recommend using a runny honey with a mild taste. Maple syrup is a good substitute if you don’t want to use honey.
  • Poppy seeds: If you’re not a fan, just leave them out.
  • Fruit: Feel free to leave out any fruit you don’t enjoy. You can increase a different kind of fruit in its place, or use another winter fruit you enjoy. If you absolutely want to add banana, please make sure to only slice and add it as you’re serving the salad – otherwise it will turn mushy and brown.
  • Dressing: I go for a very simplified dressing here, it’s enough for me in this salad with so many different kinds of fresh fruit. If you want something with a little more zing, go for my Poppy Seed Fruit Salad Dressing with lemon juice.
  • Do not add dairy: If you want to use a different dressing entirely, feel free. But do not add anything dairy-based to this fruit salad – fresh kiwi fruit reacts with dairy products and yields a very bitter, metallic taste. Not pleasant! So steer clear from any yogurt, cream or pudding based dressings here.

Recipe tips

  • Hold the sugar/honey. It all depends on the tartness of your fruit, but be gentle on the sweetener and let the fruit shine. You can always add sugar or increase the honey, but you can’t take it away if there’s too much.
  • Don’t add mushy fruit.Use firm, crisp fruit for salad. Else, the entire thing turns mushy.
  • Be careful with the pomegranate, or your salad will be pink.Either you can just sprinkle the arils on top. Or, this is the way for patient people, you can rinse and dry them very carefully. It’s best to let them mostly air-dry, so if you want to go this route do this before you prep any other fruit. Add them after you’ve mixed all the other fruit with the dressing and just toss them in slightly.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 188kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 2gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 4mgPotassium: 457mgFiber: 7gSugar: 34gVitamin A: 822IUVitamin C: 68mgCalcium: 60mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition is an estimate.

More recipe information

Course: Dessert, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Traditional

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe | Savory Nothings (13)
About Nora
When I got married to my professional chef husband, I realized I had to step up my game in the kitchen. Now I share my favorite foolproof family recipes here on Savory Nothings: Chef-approved, kid-vetted and easy enough for everyday home cooks like you and me! Learn more.

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Comments

  1. Trudi says

    YUM !! thank you!

    Reply

    • Nora says

      Thank you for your comment, Trudi!

      Reply

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe | Savory Nothings (2024)

FAQs

What fruits can you not put in a fruit salad? ›

Fruit salad is beautiful, vibrant, and relatively affordable because of the ingredients. Other less common ingredients are raspberries, bananas, kiwi, and blackberries. Most recommend refraining from including apples and bananas because they can brown and darken the vibrancy of fruit salad! Enjoy!

How to make fruit salad without the fruit turning brown? ›

A quick dunk in a combination of acid and water keeps the fruit from turning brown without changing its flavor profile. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of water with 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice (or 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar).

How long does homemade fruit salad last in the refrigerator? ›

How long does fruit salad stay fresh? Fruit salad will last 3-5 days if you prepare your fruit properly, add something acidic like lemon juice or a dressing, and store the fruit salad covered in the fridge until ready to serve.

What not to mix in fruit salad? ›

Avoid acidic fruits with sweet fruits. To have a nice balance in your fruit salad, it's best to keep acidic and sub-acidic fruits separate. What are the ingredients in fruit salad? You can entirely make fruit salad your own, or use what is in season.

What are the rules for fruit salad? ›

In the simplest form of the game, each person is assigned a fruit name: apple, orange, pear, banana, etc. 3. The player in the middle calls out the name of one of the chosen fruits, and each person assigned to that fruit jumps up and rushes around like a headless chicken trying to find an empty seat to sit in.

What is a creamy fruit salad made of? ›

Beat cream cheese and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Mix in whipped topping on high speed until incorporated. Fold in pineapple, fruit co*cktail, bananas, apple, coconut, pecans, raisins, and cherries. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover, and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

What to put on fruit salad to stop it going brown? ›

One of the most effective and used solutions for preventing the fruits from turning brown is lemon juice as it works wonders in keeping the fruits fresh. Mix lemon juice with water in accordance with the number and quantity of fruits, so that the solution is enough to completely submerge the fruits.

What ingredient could you add to a fruit salad to keep the fruit from oxidizing? ›

To prevent the effects of oxidation, fruit needs citric acid, and lemons are full of it. As a natural antioxidant, lemon juice can help prolong the life of fruit salad (as well as its visual appeal) by inactivating the enzyme polyphenol oxidase, which is responsible for the browning.

Why do you put lemon juice in fruit salad? ›

To prevent fruit salad from turning brown, you can toss the fruits in a mixture of citrus juice (like lemon or orange juice) before combining them, as the citric acid in the juice helps inhibit enzymatic browning by reducing the fruits' exposure to oxygen,” she says.

How do restaurants keep apples from turning brown? ›

Packaged apples found at McDonalds or in your local produce section are usually treated with a solution of calcium ascorbate (a blend of calcium and vitamin C) or citric acid (found in citrus fruit) to maintain freshness and color. Both are very safe to use on fruit that will be consumed.

Should fruit salad be served cold or room temperature? ›

You can serve the fruit salad cold or at room temperature.

How do you cut oranges for fruit salad? ›

To cut the orange into segments, hold the peeled orange firmly in one hand and use the knife to slice alongside the membranes on both sides of each segment. This technique, known as “supreme” or “segmenting,” will result in neat and juicy orange slices for your fruit salad.

What fruit should not be in a fruit bowl? ›

The fruits that produce ethylene, including peaches, bananas, apples, and honeydew melons shouldn't be kept in the same place as avocados, grapes, lemons, onions and other fruit and vegetables intolerant to this chemical.

What fruits should you not put together in a fruit bowl? ›

Avoid mixing your watermelons, muskmelons, cantaloupe and honeydews with other fruits. Try not to mix acidic fruits, such as grapefruits and strawberries, or sub-acidic foods such as apples, pomegranates and peaches, with sweet fruits, such as bananas and raisins for a better digestion.

Which fruits should not be used in a molded salad and why? ›

Don't use fresh or frozen pineapple, figs, kiwi, guava, or papaya in your molded salads. They contain an enzyme that will dissolve the gelatin protein molecules and your salad will never set.

What fruits and vegetables Cannot be eaten together? ›

Starchy fruits and protein-rich fruits and vegetables: starchy fruits, such as plantains and green bananas, should not be eaten with protein-rich fruits and vegetables, such as guavas, broccoli, and spinach.

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