I love summer foods. The fresh fruits and all things grilled. This Fruit Salad is so simple to make and the perfect summer side dish.
Serve this Fruit Salad at your next summer gathering along with BBQ Chicken Kabobs and Italian Pasta Salad.
The Best Fruit Salad:
Fruit salad is one of my favorite summer side dishes. It's simple to make and is just naturally beautiful. All the colors make this the perfect easy side dish recipe.
This summer we plan on hosting and attending lots of grill-outs and summer activities and this fruit salad will be made for each one. Plus is the perfect side dish for the kids, mine eat it up!
Fruit Salad Dressing:
For this fruit salad, I made a simple vanilla orange dressing to toss my fruit in.
- orange juice
- lemon
- vanilla extract
This dressing is really simple to make and taste great. I used an orange juice for taste, lemon to help keep fruit fresh, and vanilla for taste. Once I add the juice I then add powdered sugar to sweeten the salad.
How to pick the best fruit:
During the summer it is pretty easy to get your hands on fresh fruit. Here are a few tips on how to pick the best fruit.
- The Color - The color of the fruit is a great way to tell the ripeness of fruit. Make sure your fruits are a good color without much green. For example, a banana or orange should be fully yellow and orange without green on the peel.
- The Smell - When fresh fruit should smell fresh.
- The Texture - Try squeezing your fruit to make sure it's not too soft or mushy.
Once you find the right fruit make sure to wash it well (the ones without a thick peel like bananas and kiwi) then slice for the salad. For this recipe, I would suggest using fresh or drained canned fruit only. Frozen fruit would leave the salad too soggy in my option.
How to make Fruit Salad:
Step one: Mix together all fruit in a large mixing bowl.
- Tip: You can use any fruit you like for this recipe. Add in blueberries or blackberries and skip the kiwi. It's up to you. I prefer to use fruits with a variety of colors.
Step two: In a separate bowl mix together orange juice, the juice from a lemon, and vanilla extract.
Step three: Pour juice over fruit and toss.
Step four: Add powdered sugar to fruit and toss again.
Step five: Place in the fridge to chill for 20-30 hour then serve
- Tip: If you are not serving within an hour wait to dice the bananas and add them in closer to when you will serve them.
Can I make this Fruit Salad in Advance:
When planning a party or get together I know making food in advance makes the day of so much easier. I would suggest prepping this salad the day before and then tossing it together when you are ready to serve.
Dice all your fruit expect your bananas. They usually tend to go back the fastest so I would wait until the day of for those. Seal and place your diced fruit in the fridge. You can also mix your dressing ingredients together and store in a separate container in the fridge. When you are ready to serve dice and add bananas with your fruit then toss with the dressing.
Summer Side Dishes:
Here are a few of my favorite summer side dish recipes.
- Grilled Aspargus
- Italian Spaghetti Pasta Salad
- Cheddar Bacon Ranch Potato Salad
- Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
- Classic Coleslaw
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Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 20 oz pineapple chunks (drained)
- 15 oz mandarins oranges (drained)
- 3 cups strawberries (diced)
- 3 large Kiwi (peeled and diced)
- 2 cups grapes
- 2 large bananas
- ⅔ cup orange juice
- 1 large lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Mix together all fruit in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl mix together orange juice, the juice from a lemon, and vanilla extract.
- Pour juice over fruit and toss.
- Add powdered sugar to fruit and toss again.
- Place in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes then serve.
Notes
Can I make this Fruit Salad in Advance:
When planning a party or get together I know making food in advance makes the day of so much easier. I would suggest prepping this salad the day before and then tossing it together when you are ready to serve. Dice all your fruit expect your bananas. They usually tend to go back the fastest so I would wait until the day of for those. Seal and place your diced fruit in the fridge. You can also mix your dressing ingredients together and store in a separate container in the fridge. When you are ready to serve dice and add bananas with your fruit then toss with the dressing.Nutrition
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