Fruit salads provide a colourful option for healthy eating and are always a crowd favourite. Full of fibre, vitamins, and antioxidants, they offer a nutritious yet sweet bowl of goodness. There are more varieties, combinations, and tricks to making delicious fruit salads than you may have imagined!
We’ve put together a list of some of our favourite recipes, broken down by category, along with a few tips to get you started:
Berry Fruit Salads
- Summer Cherry-Berry uses mint, lime, cinnamon, and cardamom for a unique flavouring.
- The Berry Salad in Honey Mascarpone envelopes these berries in a sweet, tangy, and creamy sauce.
- This Berry Quinoa Salad is a bit heartier and is combined with a delicious citrus dressing.
Peach Salads
- For a salad where peach is the star of the show, try the Honey Lime Basil Peach Fruit Salad. Blackberries, blueberries, and of course juicy peach make a beautifully coloured salad, and the honey and lime really bring out the flavours.
- Grilled peaches are irresistible, and we think the combination in this Grilled Peach and Watermelon Burrata Salad is hard to beat.
Citrus Salads
Prefer citrus fruits? Sliced oranges and grapefruits make for a beautiful and tangy salad combination.
- Chef Kathy’s Citrus Salad with Basil Vinaigrette is topped with avocados and toasted pistachios.
- This Citrus Caprese Salad combines grapefruits, mandarins, and blood oranges with basil, fresh mozzarella, and a honey balsamic vinaigrette.
- Tahini dressing gives this Herbed Citrus Salad a unique, nutty flavour.
Spicy Salads
- Like a little heat? Try this Spicy Mango Pineapple Salad with a bit of onion, cilantro, and Thai chili pepper.
- This Mexican Fruit Salad recipe with melons, pineapple, and mango adds jicama and cucumber for an extra crunch. The vinaigrette combines tangy lime with sweet honey and spicy chili pepper.
Most Impressive
Most fruit salads are appealing to the eye - however, we found a few that really stand out:
- The dragonfruit in this Summer Salad makes this one a stunning piece of food art. As a bonus, it’s drizzled with maple syrup for an extra bit of sweetness.
- We think it might be the fig along with the interesting colour combinations that make this Tomato Fig Peach Prosciutto and Burrata Salad so enchanting.
- Adding edible flowers is a guaranteed way to create a beautiful salad. Here is a Magical Rainbow Salad that uses herb-infused oils. Pansies, violets, lavender, and lilacs are a few of the flowers that can be used as garnishes. For additional information, check out this guide to edible flowers.
Classics
- Waldorf Salads may bring back memories of grandma's house, but that doesn’t mean that the classic combination of grapes and crunchy walnuts and celery can’t be updated! This recipe offers healthier substitutions like Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream and interesting addition ideas like chicken and craisins.
- Want a healthier version of another classic? This Easy and Healthy Ambrosia Salad uses coconut milk instead of traditional sour and heavy cream. We also love the added touch of toasted coconut sprinkled on top.
It’s hard to go wrong when putting together a fruit salad, but here are a few tips to help you create beautiful and tasty combinations:
- Use fruits that are in season.
- Add lemon juice to keep fruits from browning.
- Add soft fruits like bananas at the last minute.
- Toppings that go well with fruit salads include nuts, seeds, cheeses, toasted coconut, basil, mint, spinach, arugula, or avocado.
- A homemade dressing can bring out even more flavour in the fruit. Try various combinations of olive oil, lime, lemon, vanilla, honey, maple syrup, balsamic, orange juice, basil, and mint.
- You can add quinoa, croutons, yogurt, or granola to create a heartier salad.
- Putting your salad in a fancy glass, a beautiful bowl, or displayed elegantly on a platter can make it perfect for a special occasion.
Now take these recipes and have some fun making your own fruit salad!
