Name: Fall and Winter Fruit Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 lemon; 2 large Spanish persimmons or 4 Fuyu persimmons; 3-4 clementines; 5-6 kiwis; 1 pomegranate; 2 pears; 2 bananas; 2 apples; 1 orange; 2 Tbsp poppy seeds

This Fall and Winter Fruit Salad makes a perfect easy dessert for Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas brunch. It’s also great as a simple healthy snack that you can add to just about anything.

Made with juicy and sweet fruits available in late fall and winter; this healthy recipe doesn’t include any added sweeteners.

This refreshing Fall and Winter Fruit Salad is an explosion of flavor and color.

Whether you are looking for a healthy dessert for a dinner party or a new way to include fruits in your diet, this recipe won’t disappoint.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

Here are six reasons why this recipe is a keeper:

What’s not to love about a delicious and colorful dessert full of fiber and good-for-you nutrients?
This winter fruit salad recipe is very easy to make. All you need to do is peel and slice the fruits, make the dressing, and toss everything together.
This delicious fruit salad makes a light dessert for any festive gathering.
A great way to get kids to eat some fruit.
This salad is perfect for bringing to a potluck dinner party.
Feel free to customize the recipe by adding your favorite fruits to the salad.

Ingredient Notes

Here is a quick overview of the ingredients you will need to make this healthy fruit salad:

The Main Ingredients:

Kiwi: Choose slightly soft kiwis and avoid hard ones. Soft kiwis are ripe, sweet, and juicy. Hard kiwis are sour and hard to peel.
Persimmons: Only use non-astringent persimmons that are still firm when ripe such as Spanish or Fuyu persimmons.
Pomegranate: Don’t be afraid to seed a pomegranate. It’s easier than you think. Just make sure to protect your clothing because it can get messy. Keep in mind that pomegranate juice may stain fabrics.
Bananas: Choose bananas that are ripe but still firm. Soft bananas won’t hold their shape in the salad and will start going bad fast.
Clementines: Clementines are usually seedless, which makes them perfect for a fruit salad. If your clementines do have some seeds, try to remove them before adding to the salad.
Apples: Choose crisp, sweet, and colorful apples. Apple varieties that are great for a fruit salad are, for example, Red Delicious, Gala, Honeycrisp, and Golden Delicious.
Pears: You can use any type of pears for this fruit salad. Just make sure they are ripe and sweet but still firm. Avoid over-ripe and bruised pears.

Ingredients for the Dressing:

Lemon
Orange
Poppy seeds

How To Make Fall and Winter Fruit Salad

Here are the step-by-step instructions on how to make this recipe:

Prep the lemon: Zest the lemon and press out the lemon juice. Set the lemon zest and juice aside.
Prep the fruits: Wash and pat dry all the fruits. Segment the clementines and place them into a large bowl. Peel the kiwis. Slice them into bite-size pieces and add them to the bowl. Seed the pomegranate and place the pomegranate seeds into the bowl. Slice the pears, persimmons, and bananas into bite-size pieces and add them to the bowl.
Prep the apples: Cut the apples into bite-size pieces. Place the apple slices into a bowl and pour the fresh lemon juice over them. Toss the apple pieces making sure they are covered with lemon juice. Transfer the apples together with the lemon juice into the main bowl.
Make the dressing: Press out the orange. Add the lemon zest and the poppy seeds to the orange juice and mix.
Toss the fruit salad with the dressing: Pour the dressing over the fruits and toss to combine.
Chill and serve: Place the fruit salad into the refrigerator for about 20 to 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve cold.

Recipe Tips

Fruit salads are very easy to make. All you have to do is wash and cut the fruits, mix the dressing, pour the dressing over the fruits and toss to combine.

But there are still a few things to keep in mind when making this fruit salad:

Use only fresh and crisp fruit. Skip the fruits with bruised skin, over-ripe fruits, and fruits that started to dry out.
Use only ripe sweet fruit. This salad is prepared without any added sweeteners, so ensure all fruits you are using are sweet.
Thoroughly wash and dry the fruit. You don’t want to add extra liquid to the salad. The water will also dilute the dressing, so make sure to pat dry all the fruit.
Use fresh poppy seeds. Due to their high oil content, poppy seeds go bad quite fast. Bad poppy seeds taste bitter and will spoil the whole salad, so make sure to taste them before using them.

Variations

I think this easy fruit salad is perfect as is, but it’s just me!

Feel free to experiment with the dressing ingredients by using lemon or lime juice instead of orange juice. You can also use a different combination of fruits or try adding other seasonal winter fruit.

Serving Suggestions

This winter fruit salad is very versatile. Here are a few different ways you can serve it:

serve it as a healthy dessert at a dinner party;
add it to your yogurt parfait;
add it to granola or muesli;
have it as a healthy snack;
serve it as a topping with ice cream.

Storage

Unfortunately, fruit salads don’t last long because they are made with raw fruits that start going bad when you cut them.

But you can still make this salad last a bit longer if you follow these three rules:

Only use fresh, crisp fruits to make a fruit salad. If the fruit is bruised, has started to turn brown, or has dry, wrinkly skin, it has already begun to go bad and will spoil even faster when you cut it. So make sure never to add such fruits to a fruit salad.
Add lemon and orange juice to the dressing to prevent the fruits from turning brown. Citrus juice contains ascorbic acid, which protects cut fruits, especially apples, from oxidizing.
Store leftover fruit salad in the fridge in a glass container with a tight lid for up to 2 days. I am going to say it anyway, sliced fruits should always be kept in the fridge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a few related questions about making fruit salad:

How Can I Make this Fruit Salad Sweeter?

This fruit salad is made without any added sweeteners. If you use only sweet ripe fruit to make it, no added sweeteners are needed. The fruit has enough flavor on its own.

But if you still want to make this fruit salad sweeter, add about 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup to the dressing.

How do you keep fruit salad from turning brown?

Apples usually turn brown very fast. That’s why we toss apple slices with lemon juice before adding them to the salad.

For the other fruits, it should be enough to toss them with the dressing. The orange juice in the dressing should prevent them from going brown.

Can I add grapefruit to this fruit salad?

Absolutely! Grapefruit would be a great addition to this fruit salad. Make sure to remove the white pith and membranes from grapefruit segments, as they are very bitter.

More Healthy Dessert Recipes

Here are a few other fruit-based dessert recipes for fall and winter:

Fall and Winter Fruit Salad

Yield: 6 to 8 portions

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

This fresh fruit salad is perfect for special occasions and also makes for a delicious healthy snack. Made without added sweeteners.

Ingredients

1 lemon
2 large Spanish persimmons or 4 Fuyu persimmons
3-4 clementines
5-6 kiwis
1 pomegranate
2 pears
2 bananas
2 apples
1 orange
2 Tbsp poppy seeds

Instructions

Wash and pat dry all the fruits.
Zest the lemon and press out the lemon juice. Set the lemon zest and juice aside.
Cut the persimmons into bite-size pieces and place them into a large bowl.
Segment the clementines and add them to the bowl.
Peel the kiwis. Slice them into bite-size pieces and add them to the bowl.
Seed the pomegranate and place the seeds into the bowl.
Slice the pears and bananas into bite-size pieces and add them to the bowl.
Cut the apples into bite-size pieces. Place the apple slices into a small bowl and pour the lemon juice over them. Toss the apple pieces making sure they are covered with the lemon juice. Transfer the apples together with the lemon juice into the main bowl.
Press out the orange. Add the lemon zest and the poppy seeds to the orange juice and mix.
Pour the dressing over the fruits and toss to combine.
Place the fruit salad into the refrigerator for about 20 to 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve cold.

Notes

Only use ripe, fresh, and crisp fruits. Avoid fruits that are bruised, have started to brown or dry out. Also, make sure that the poppy seeds are fresh.
Store in the fridge in a glass container with a tight lid.
Consume within 24 hours.

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Nutrition Information

Yield 8 Serving Size 1/8 of recipe
Amount Per Serving Calories 200Total Fat 2gSaturated Fat 0.2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1.8gCholesterol 0mgSodium 5mgCarbohydrates 48gFiber 8.5gSugar 32.1gProtein 3g

Nutrition facts provided on this website are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a qualified health care provider for personalized diet advice and make sure that each of the ingredients is allowed in your diet.