Perfect Fruit Salad with Honey Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing

This Fruit Salad is a masterfully crafted balance of flavors and textures that has readers raving: โ€œOh, my!…this is now my FAVORITE dressing for fruit salad,โ€ โ€œI have made a lot of fruit salads in my life but this is the best. I made it twice this weekend!โ€ and โ€œI love everything about this!โ€

Unlike basic fruit salads that can turn watery or bland, this version is elevated with a luscious honey-lime poppy seed dressing to ensure every bite is vibrant, juicy, and unforgettable. Follow along for expert tips and techniques on this tried-and-true recipe, which guarantees a dazzling, crowd-pleasing dish every time.

This fruit salad post is sponsored by Walmart.  All opinions are my own.

Watch: Simple Fruit Salad Recipe

top view of best fruit salad in bowl with pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, grapes and oranges


 

The Best Fruit Salad

This recipe is a masterclass in combining simple ingredients with an expert-tested approach to create a side that feels gourmet. Here’s why you’ll love it:

  • Expertly Balanced Flavors: The honey-lime dressing enhances the natural sweetness of the fruit while adding a refreshing citrusy zing.
  • Perfect Texture Combination: Carefully selected fruits provide the ideal mix of crisp, juicy, and tender textures for a dynamic eating experience.
  • No-Watery Fruit Salad: Unlike other recipes that can become soggy, this version ensures the fruit stays fresh, vibrant, and never mushy.
  • Make-Ahead Friendly: The dressing prevents oxidation, keeping the fruit bright and fresh for hoursโ€”ideal for entertaining.
  • Versatile & Customizable: Use the suggested fruit combination or swap in seasonal favorites for a salad thatโ€™s perfect year-round.
  • Crowd-Pleasing & Refreshing: A guaranteed hit for potlucks, brunches, barbecues, or as a light and healthy dessert.
up close of fresh fruit salad in bowl with pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, grapes and oranges
ingredient icon

What are the ingredients of a fruit salad?

This easy fruit salad is perfect in its simplicity.  In this fruit salad, I have combined:

  • pineapple
  • strawberries
  • green grapes
  • mandarin oranges
  • kiwis
  • blueberries
  • bananas

I chose these fruits because of they create a beautiful symphony of flavors, textures and shapes and the โ€œperfectโ€ fruit salad in my opinion.  The key to the best fruit salad is to use ingredients that wonโ€™t turn brown (like apples and pears – bananas are my exception to this rule) or get mushy (like raspberries) or release too much moisture (like melons).

If you donโ€™t like any of the aforementioned fruits, are allergic, or simply want to use what you have on hand, then to free to swap some of them out.  I donโ€™t suggest omitting the pineapple, however, because it is both wonderfully juicy and sweet.  If you canโ€™t get a hold of fresh pineapple, then use canned packed in its juice – not in heavy syrup – OR swap it for mangos for their juicy sweetness.

How to make this Perfect Fruit Salad

Fruit Salad is pretty straightforward and comes together in less than 15 minutes!  Here’s how to make it (full recipe in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post):

1. Combine Fruit: Add the fruit to a large mixing bowl. Hold bananas if you’re not serving within 30 minutes.

2. Make the Dressing: In a small bowlwhisk together the Dressing ingredients,

3. Combine: Pour the dressing over the fruit and toss to combine.

4. Chill Salad: Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving, but two hours is ideal.

5. Add Bananas and Serve: Toss the salad just before serving to distribute the juices that have released and accumulated at the bottom. Gently stir in the bananas.

Best Fruit Salad Recipe tips and variations

Fruit Salad

  • Use ripe, SWEET fruit, especially pineapple and oranges. If your pineapple and oranges are bitter, your salad will be bitter.  If they are ripe but could be sweeter, you might want to add a little more honey to your dressing.
  • Chill your fruitโ€”chopped or wholeโ€”for at least 2 hours. Chilled fruit is the essence of a fruit salad.  You donโ€™t need to chop your fruit 2 hours in advance, but at least place the whole fruit in the refrigerator, as no one likes a lukewarm fruit salad!
  • To include berries: I prefer blueberries to both blackberries and raspberries because they hold their shape and make great leftovers. If you want to use blackberries or raspberries, I like blackberries because they hold their shape better. They are best the day of and donโ€™t make great leftovers.
  • Use clementines, not tangerines: Clementines are seedless and easier to peel.
  • Chill the salad: Allow at least 30 minutes for it to chill with the dressing in the refrigerator.

Fruit Salad Dressing

  • The Honey Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing is the secret ingredient that makes everything pop.  There are many variations of this combination for fruit saladsโ€”because it’s magic! However, I find the ratio to be off in other recipes.
  • The perfect ratio is less honey and lime juice, with the addition of lime zest instead of more lime juice, providing the ideal balance so the fruit salad doesnโ€™t become too liquidy. 
  • The dressing mixes with the juices from the pineapple and orange juice to create a sweet and tangy citrus dressing that enhances the chilled fruit.
  • If you find your fruit is on the tart side, you may want to add more honey. Sample your salad first and adjust accordingly. This fruit salad is very forgiving this way, but of course, aim for sweet, ripe fruit. 
  • The poppy seeds are optional, but they add something special to the salad.
healthy fruit salad in bowl with pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, grapes and oranges

Tips for making the Best Fruit Salad ahead of time

  • Chop the Fruit: Except for the bananas, you can chop all the fruit a couple of days in advance and store it in airtight containers in the refrigerator. You can also peel and segment the oranges and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  • Make the Dressing: Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a separate bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.  When ready to serve, let your dressing sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or so until it is pourable. Drain any excess liquid from the fruit, then add the dressing and toss.
  • Chill the Salad: The fruit salad is best if allowed to chill for at least 30 minutes after adding the dressing and served within 2 hours. However, it remains delicious if allowed to chill for longer.
top view of best fruit salad in bowl with pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, grapes and oranges

Tips for Fruit Salad Leftovers

  • Remove juices: Juices will accumulate from the fruit as it sits in the refrigerator for extended periods. Toss the fruit in the juices, then use a slotted spoon to serve.
  • Add granola. I had chocolate granola on hand, so I added it to the fruit salad for breakfast, and it was incredible.
  • Create parfaits by layering vanilla yogurt or fruit yogurt with leftover fruit and granolaโ€”mmm!
  • Freeze the fruit for smoothies. Divide any leftovers into individual sandwich bags, seal them, and freeze them for later.  Combine with vanilla yogurt, ice/or frozen banana, orange juice, and sugar to taste.
  • Create an instant slushy by adding your leftover fruit salad to a blender, along with ice and a drizzle of honey or sugar.
  • Make popsicles! Puree the fruit salad, add honey/sugar if desired to taste and pour into popsicle molds
healthy fruit salad in bowl with pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, grapes and oranges

FAQs

HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES THIS FRUIT SALAD SERVE?

โ€ข This fruit salad makes enough for 14 people to have a one cup serving. I loooove this salad, however, and could easily eat 3x that for my serving, so take into account how much you think everyone will eat and what else you are serving with it.
โ€ข You can also halve this fruit salad recipe or double this recipe depending on the amount of people you want to serve. And, as you can see by the section below, I love leftovers of this fruit salad!

HOW Much does this FRUIT SALAD MAKE?

There a few variables such as how large your pineapple is, etc. but this fruit salad makes approximately 14 cups.

a gold spoon in a white bowl of easy fruit salad with pineapple, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, oranges, pineapple

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top view of best fruit salad in bowl with pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, grapes and oranges

Best Fruit Salad Recipe

This Perfect Fruit Salad is bursting with a rainbow of vibrant, seasonal fruit and drizzled with tantalizing Honey Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing for an easy, fresh side that takes minutes to make and goes with everything!
Servings: 14 -16 servings
Total Time: 15 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients

Fruit Salad

  • 1 fresh pineapple chopped
  • 1 lb. fresh strawberries chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups green seedless grapes
  • 4 mandarin oranges/clementines peeled, segmented
  • 3 kiwis sliced
  • 6 oz. . fresh blueberries
  • 2 ripe bananas sliced

Honey Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing

  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Lime zest (zest of one lime)
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds (optional)

Instructions

  • Add all fruit to a large mixing bowl. Hold bananas if not serving within 30 minutes.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together all of the Dressing ingredients. Pour over fruit 30 minutes- 2 hours before serving, toss and chill in the refrigerator. Toss again before serving to distribute the juices that release and accumulate at the bottom. Gently stir in bananas.
  • You can assemble and refrigerate the salad longer than two hours in advance but the longer it sits, the more the dressing will macerate/soften the berries and the pineapple and oranges will release their juices – still delicious, just not peak freshness. You can also make it partially ahead of time days up to days in advance by chopping the fruit and preparing the dressing (tips below) for super quick assembly.

Notes

Don’t miss the “how to make” recipe video at the top of the post!

FRUIT SALAD TIPS AND TRICKSย 

  • Use ripe, SWEET fruit โ€“ especially pineapple and oranges. If your pineapple and oranges are bitter, your salad will be bitter.ย  If they are ripe but could be sweeter, you might want to add a little more honey to your dressing.
  • Chill your fruit โ€“ chopped or whole โ€“ for at least 2 hours. Chilled fruit is everything in a fruit salad!ย  You donโ€™t need to chop your fruit 2 hours in advance, but at least place your whole fruit in the refrigerator.ย  No one likes luke-warm fruit salad
  • Aside from the bananas, this fruit salad doesnโ€™t contain any fruit that will turn brown. If you want to include apples or pears, however, you donโ€™t need to worry about them turning brown because the dressing has lime in it which will keep them browning.ย  If you wanted to chop your apples and pears in advance, however, toss them with a little of the dressing OR toss them with pineapple juice. ย You can also use canned or bottled lime or lemon juice, but I prefer pineapple juice because it is far less tart.
  • I prefer blueberries to both blackberries and raspberries because they hold their shape and make great leftovers. If you want to use blackberries or raspberries, I prefer blackberries because they hold their shape better. ย They are also best the day of and donโ€™t make great leftovers.
  • Mandarin oranges are a class of orange of which contains both tangerines and clementines.ย  We want clementines in our fruit salad as they are seedless and super easy to peel.
  • I donโ€™t recommend canned mandarin oranges because they tend to fall apart easily when tossed. If you loooove them though, then feel free to use them.ย  I would suggest refrigerating your canned mandarin oranges first so they tasted refreshingly chilled.
  • Slice your bananas on the thicker side, that way they donโ€™t get mushy. Choose bananas that are ripe but not soft.ย  I looooove bananas in my fruit salads and want them in every bite, so if you arenโ€™t sure you want bananas in your fruit salad โ€“ try it!
  • This fruit salad tastes best chilled, so I would allow at least 30 minutes for it to chill with the dressing in the refrigerator and donโ€™t let it sit out at room temperature more than 2 hours.
  • If storing leftovers of this fruit salad, remove the bananas and store in an airtight container. This salad stores well for 3-5 days in the refrigerator.

HOW TO MAKE AHEAD OF TIME

  • The most time consuming part of a fruit salad is chopping the fruit BUT this can be done whenever you have time. With the exception of the bananas, you can chop all of your fruit a couple in advance and store them in airtight containers in the refrigerator.ย  You can also peel and segment your oranges and store them in airtight containers/bags in the refrigerator.
  • Next, whisk your Honey Citrus Dressing ingredients together in a separate bowls and refrigerate separately.ย  When ready to serve, let your dressing sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or so until pourable. Drain any excess liquid from the fruit, add Dressing and evenly toss with fruit.
  • The fruit salad is best if allowed to chill at least 30 minutes after you add the dressing then served within 2 hours.
 

Fruit Salad Leftovers

  • If storing leftovers of this fruit salad, remove the bananas and store in an airtight container. This salad stores well for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. The longer it sits, the softer the berries will get.
  • I like to add freshly sliced bananas to my new servings of fruit salad.
  • Juices will accumulate from the fruit the longer it sits in the refrigerator. Toss the fruit in the juices then you can use a slotted spoon if you prefer to serve your fruit.
  • I love adding granola to my fruit salad and eating it for breakfast! I actually had a chocolate granola on hand I added to it the fruit salad the next day and it was incredible.
  • Leftover fruit salad is also is delicious with vanilla yogurt and/or granola โ€“ mmm!
  • Whenever I canโ€™t use fruit in time, I freeze it later for smoothies. For this fruit salad, divide any leftovers into individual sandwich bags, seal and freeze for later.ย  Combine with vanilla yogurt, ice/or frozen banana, orange juice and sugar to taste.
  • You can also create an immediate slushy by adding your leftover fruit salad to your blender along with ice and some honey or sugar.
  • You can even make popsicles! Puree the fruit salad, add honey/sugar if desired to taste and pour into popsicle molds

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12 Comments

  1. Sheryl Pincus says

    another typo — see if you can now spot it: “I donโ€™t recommend lime (separate from the dressing) or lemon juice is it adds additional tartness).”

  2. deb says

    I love everything about this! Your photos are beautiful! Happy summer : )

    • Jen says

      Thank you so much Deb! I hope you are having a wonderful summer as well!

  3. Wendy says

    I’ m like you Jen. Figure one cup of fruit per person and I could easily eat say three or four cups!! This salad lacks nothing and loving the addition of the yogurt and granola. Yum!! Will be making this soonโ˜บ

    • Jen says

      Yes! I can just inhale fruit salad in the summer! Thanks Wendy, I hope you absolutely love this salad!

  4. Emma Warner says

    The fruit combination is stand-alone delicious, but the Honey Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing is the secret ingredient that makes everything pop.

    • Jen says

      Agreed! Thanks so much Emma!

  5. Bobbi D says

    Oh, my! I made this salad a couple of days ago and this is now my FAVORITE dressing for fruit salad. For some time, Iโ€™ve been looking for a new dressing for fruit salad that was not too sweet but also was bright and fresh. This one is it! THANK YOU!!!
    Now, Iโ€™m eager to try a few other recipes from you (especially the cowboy pasta salad and the Asian salad.

    • Jen says

      YAY! I’m so happy this is your new favorite, thanks Bobbi! I hope you love the Cowboy Salad and Asian Salad just as much. Welcome to my site, happy exploring!

  6. Cindy Orley says

    I have made a lot of fruit salads in my life but this is the best. I made it twice this weekend!

    • Jen says

      That is the ultimate compliment, thank you so much Cindy!