Fruit Salad with Citrus-Mint Dressing

This easy fruit salad is made with fresh berries and a zingy citrus-mint dressing. It’s a fresh no-cook side dish that goes with all the summer dishes whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner.

A few months ago I made a graduation brunch for 15ish people that included three different make-ahead breakfast casseroles and a fruit salad, the ingredients of which I hastily scribbled on a post-it note before I tossed the salad together. I thought I may want to share this on zee blog, but in the joyous melee otherwise known as a family brunch the scrubby note went missing and it wasn’t until last week that I sat down and scribbled it out again. So, here we are.

At the time, I wanted something zingy and fresh to cut through the richness of the casseroles, so I took some of my favorite smoothie ingredients (without the milk or yogurt) and served them up the old fashioned way, like our ancestors in the days before blenders might have done.

What I like best about this salad is that serves as a side dish for all sorts of meals including lunch and dinner. It’s not overly sweet so it pairs well with savory dinner dishes, but it’s fruity (obviously) so it goes well with breakfast or dessert, too.

Fruit Salad Ingredients

Fruit salad, like many other dishes, is so versatile and there about a bazillion fruit salad recipes to choose from. My version has a light citrus-mint dressing (more about that in a minute) and plump juicy berries. Here are the amounts you need of each:

• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup sliced strawberries
• 6 ounces blackberries
• 1 large banana

This fruit salad serves four to six, but you can easily double all of the ingredients to serve more.

Citrus-Mint Dressing

I’ve seen a lot of fruit salad dressing recipes some of which include pudding mix or whipped cream or another creamy component. I’ve also seen recipes that instruct you to cook the dressing first to turn it into more of a glaze. My fruit salad dressing recipe is a simple no-cook affair with no pudding or whipped cream required:

• Lemon juice
• Lime juice
• Honey
• Fresh mint

It’s as simple as mixing all of the ingredients for the dressing together in a bowl and tossing it with the fruit. So it is, at most, a ten-minute recipe that can be made just minutes before you’re ready to serve it.

Tips for Making Fruit Salad

• I spoke to several people (well, actually one person and she knows who she is) about this recipe and got mixed feelings about the banana. Some love it, some don’t so you should know it’s totally optional. I happen to like the texture of the bananas in contrast with the berries, so I’m definitely team banana.
• If you go banana-less, which sounds sort of scandalous to me, you may want to add more of the other fruit to make up for it.
• And about the banana: It’s best to add them just before you want to serve the fruit salad. They will hold up quite well for a while, but they do have a tendency to brown, so be aware.
• This recipe is so easy you can easily make it just before you want to serve it. That said, you can make it a few hours ahead of when you want to serve it. Just know that as the fruit sits in the lemon-lime dressing it will start to break down and release its juices. So it might be a little juicer when you serve it and the fruit will not be as pretty, not that I’m judging. Fruit is pretty for what is, not what it looks like.
• If you make it ahead, leave the bananas out and add them just before serving because, you know, it has browning issues.
• This fruit salad is a great side dish that goes with so many dishes beyond breakfast. I’ve included a bunch of recipe links below the recipe card, so take a browse if you want some inspiration!

Happy fruit salad-making 🍓

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What can I serve with a fruit salad?

Fruit salad at breakfast is a no-brainer – top it with granola, spoon it over yogurt, or serve it alongside a breakfast casserole.

• White Chocolate Granola
• Nutty Butterscotch Granola.
• Easy Cinnamon Buns
• Blueberry Breakfast Casserole
• Holiday Spiced Baked French Toast
• Denver Egg Casserole

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The nutrition information in this recipe is an estimate only and was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.