Fruit Salad Recipes

Fresh summer fruit, delicious fall fruits, and perfect winter fruits help create some of the best fruit salads of the season. Whether you are looking for marshmallow-filled fluff, a layered fruit casserole, or simply a sliced bowl to snack on, here are our favorite fruit salad recipes.

Ready in minutes!

Ambrosia Salad

The ambrosia salad first appeared on the menu in the 1800s and has since become a Thanksgiving side dish staple.

With an incredible amount of variations available, our version combines pineapples, maraschino cherries, marshmallows and Cool Whip, making it the old fashioned classic you will know.

Fresh Fruit Salads

Fruit salad is never more healthy than when you allow the full power of its natural flavors to shine through. Aside from cutting fruit into a bowl, here are our picks for the best ways to liven up the plate with fruit sides that need little effort.

Tip: Alter these recipes by chopping all ingredients tiny and serving as a sweet salsa or fish taco topping.

Dragon Fruit Salad

mixed berries from leftover fruit salad are a great cheesecake topping idea.

Fresh Berry Fruit Salad

Winter Fruit Salad

Pomegranate Salad with Feta Cheese

Seasonal Fruit Recipe Planning

Understanding what fruits appear at which time of year will help you alter recipes and plan for the expense.Purchasing fruits out of season can cost a bundle (have you ever tried to buy a strawberry pre-season?), but with the right prep, you can make sure all your fruit recipes don’t cost you a mortgage.

While there are 100s of options, here are the ones we see most often needed for salads.

Spring Fruits – Bananas, Blueberries, Cherries, and late spring Strawberries.
Summer Fruits – Peaches, Watermelon, Plums, and Apricots
Fall and Winter Fruits – Apples, Cranberries, and Pears

Fruit Fluff Salads

Fluff salad recipes are usually a combination of canned fruit or pie filling, whip topping, marshmallow fluff, or pudding.

These light and sweet side dishes are a welcome addition to balance out a savory plate and are a wonderful summer side kids will gobble up.

Here are some great fruit fluff salad recipes to get started with.

Cranberry Fluff Salad

Pumpkin Fluff Recipe with Cool Whip

Blueberry Lemon Fluff Salad Recipe

Apple Pie Fluff Salad

Dessert Fruit Salads

Fruit is widely considered a healthy side dish option for most people but can also be a fantastic dessert choice. If you want to check out our newest, make sure to try Orange Dreamsicle Fruit Salad or Old Fashioned Cherry Filling Fruit Salad, both great dessert-like side dish options.

Blueberry Jello Salad

GET RECIPE Blueberry Jello Salad

Hawaiian Cheesecake Salad

GET RECIPE Hawaiian Cheesecake Salad

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

GET RECIPE Strawberry Pretzel Salad

You can find a variety of layered fruit desserts like ours shown with blueberries and strawberries, but these types of dishes also come in peach, pineapple, lemon, and grape as well.

FEATURED FRUIT SALAD

Pistachio Pudding

Watergate Salad

Our favorite fluff salad is also a common side dish or dessert salad during Thanksgiving. Make sure to try WATERGATE SALAD, a pistachio pudding and pineapple mix, for a throwback that everyone over the age of 40 will get nostalgic about.

How do you make a simple fruit salad?

Want to make your own?
If none of the recipes above were quite what you were looking for or if you have a fruit you specifically want to use, making your own custom recipe is fairly simple.

Choose fruits: Seasonal fruits work best, but if available, we recommend strawberries, blueberries, bananas, apples, and grapes. This group of fruits allows for a lot of bright flavors, colors, and textures. As a side note, bananas become oxidized quite quickly, so add those right before serving for the freshest look.

a bowl of variety of fruits like strawberries, oranges, kiwi, and pineapples to make a easy side dish bowl of fruit.

Wash and slice all fruits:

Wash all fruits before cutting.
Once washed, cut fruits into bite-sized pieces, making sure the sizes are not too large or are not choking hazards.
Cut them small enough that anyone eating the salad can gather more than one piece of fruit type on the spoon. Take care to cut grapes; they are often a choking hazard when left whole.

Dressing: While it’s unnecessary to add a sweet dressing, it’s easy to add a squeeze of lemon or lime (which helps preserve fresh fruit) and a bit of granulated white sugar or honey for sweetness.

Bookmark or Pin this page to keep coming back for newly added fruit salad recipes and don’t forget to visit our vegetable side dish recipes recommendations.