15 Best Fruit Salad Recipes to Brighten Your Table All Year Long
These colorful and delicious recipes think beyond the bowl.
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When it comes to fruit salad recipes, the options go so far beyond a bowl of chopped melon and grapes. Sure, there's always the classics (and they're as refreshing as ever!), but there are plenty of unexpected ideas, too. Some feel like pure dessert, piled high with cream or frosting, while others are light and fresh enough to pass for a healthy breakfast. A few even blur the lines of what actually counts as "fruit salad," like fruit pizzas topped with colorful berries or a sweet-and-savory salad that sneaks watermelon into the dinner rotation.
That's just the beauty of fruit! It can play the star in a fruit dessert recipe or act as the secret ingredient in a summer salad that's not really sweet at all. One minute you're biting into a forkful of mango drizzled with lime, the next you're scooping a fluffy bite of ambrosia that tastes straight out of a church potluck. There are salads in hollowed-out pineapple bowls, rainbow skewers for breakfast, and even Grandma-approved desserts like grape salad and Watergate salad that will have you feeling nostalgic in the best way.
Fruit also happens to be one of the easiest things to dress up. A simple syrup made with herbs or citrus takes minutes, but it can completely change the flavor. And because fruit already brings natural sweetness, it's just as happy paired with feta and mint as it is with whipped cream and vanilla. Whether you're hosting brunch, packing a picnic, or ending the day with something colorful and cold, these fruit salad recipes make it easy to put nature's candy in the spotlight.
Fruit Salad with Grapefruit-Vanilla Syrup
The grapefruit brings a tart brightness, the vanilla adds a soft sweetness, and together they make the fruit taste like it's wearing its Sunday best. The addition of the fancy-ish syrup makes a simple bowl of fruit feel like a planned event.
Red-and-Green Fruit Salad with Mint Syrup
You could call this a Christmas salad, but that would mean only enjoying it once a year, and that would be a tragedy. The mint syrup is so fresh and cool it practically begs for a sunny porch and an empty plate.
Sunrise Fruit Salad
It's called sunrise for the colors, but it's also the way it perks you up. Pineapple, watermelon, oranges—the lineup is bright enough to make mornings feel a little less impossible.
Get Ree's Sunrise Fruit Salad recipe.
Watermelon Feta Salad
Everyone loves watermelon on its own, but here it gets a salty sidekick in the form of feta. That little surprise is what makes it just as welcome next to grilled chicken as it is on the potluck table.
Get Ree's Watermelon Feta Salad recipe.
Mango Salad
You've likely had melon-heavy salads, berry-packed salads, citrus-forward salads...but a mango salad? Now we're talking about sweet, juicy, golden bites that could hold their own in a bowl with just about anything.
Get the Mango Salad recipe.
Ambrosia Salad
You've seen it at picnics, at family reunions, at the edge of church buffet tables—the creamy, fluffy, coconutty mix that never really goes out of style. Some call it retro, but you can also just call it dependable.
Get the Ambrosia Salad recipe.
Grape Salad
We can all agree grapes don’t usually steal the show, but when they're covered in a cool, creamy blanket and sprinkled with sweet crunch on top, the spotlight is all theirs.
Get the Grape Salad recipe.
Watergate Salad
We're not here to explain how pistachio pudding, pineapple, and marshmallows wound up together in a pastel-green cloud. We're just here to say it works—and we're not going to question it!
Get the Watergate Salad recipe.
Rainbow Fruit Breakfast Skewers
Take fruit salad from a bowl to a skewer with this fun recipe. They're cheerful, easy to grab, and they make even the most ordinary meal feel like a celebration.
Strawberry Spinach Salad
Sweet strawberries and tender spinach aren't an obvious match, but somehow they click. A little tang from the dressing ties them together so well you'll forget you ever doubted the pairing.
Get the Strawberry Spinach Salad recipe.
Watermelon Pizza
A thick, juicy slice of watermelon makes a surprisingly sturdy "crust" for all kinds of toppings. Pile on berries, kiwi, and some coconut shavings and suddenly it's a salad you can eat like a slice of pie.
Get Ree's Watermelon Pizza recipe.
Fruit Tart
Here's another example of just how far you can take fruit from its salad origins. A crisp pastry shell, smooth cream filling, and a rainbow of fruit on top makes this recipe look like it came straight from the bakery.
Get the Fruit Tart recipe.
Pretty, Yummy Fruit Salad
The orange-vanilla syrup on this classic fruit salad will make you want to stand over the bowl and slurp up every single bite, which won't leave any for your brunch guests. Logic would probably tell you not not to make it, but Ree thinks you should go ahead and chance it!
Get Ree's Pretty, Yummy Fruit Salad recipe.
Fruit Pizza
Underneath the colorful crown of fruit is a sugar cookie base and creamy frosting. It's cheerful, easy to assemble, and always disappears first from the table.
Get Ree's Fruit Pizza recipe.
Pineapple Fruit Bowls
Hollowed-out pineapples make instant serving bowls for whatever mix of fruit is on hand. They're festive and a little over the top, which is exactly why you'll love 'em!
Get Ree's Pineapple Fruit Bowls recipe.
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