A refreshing & simple watermelon fruit salad for hot summer days! Fresh juicy watermelon, strawberries, and grapes get tossed in a citrus lime dressing. Perfect for backyard barbecues or potlucks.
Watermelon Strawberry Salad:
Summer is almost here! And with it, peak-season watermelon. Bright red, super juicy, nectarously sweet watermelon! It's a thing of beauty.
My favorite way to enjoy watermelon is to devour it plain! But my second favorite way is in this watermelon fruit salad.
It's super simple and fresh, how all summer recipes should be! I like to bring it to the pool for the kiddos as a healthy snack, but it's great for BBQ's and potlucks too! (This summer fruit salsa is great for picnics too!)
Key Ingredients:
The best time to make this fruit salad is during the summer when watermelon and strawberries are in peak-season!
During this time, the fruits will be naturally sweeter with a brighter hue.
- Watermelon - You can buy pre-cut chunks or cut it yourself. The flesh should look bright pinkish red, not pale. If you buy a whole watermelon, look for one with a bright yellow field patch.
- Grapes - Look for grapes that are firm, but juicy and sweet. I try one before I buy them to make sure.
- Strawberries - You can find strawberries all year, but they're the BEST in May and June!
- Citrus - A navel orange and a lime for a bright pop of citrus!
- Honey - For extra sweetness!
- Mint - Mint pairs so well with watermelon, honey, and berries!
How to Make Fruit Salad:
Fruit salad is so dang simple to make. There's nothing to it!
- Step 1: Combine the fruit in a large bowl. I prefer big pieces of fruit in this one so they don't soften too much. You can cut them as big or small as you like!
- Step 2: Make the citrus dressing. In a jar, combine the orange juice, lime juice, honey, mint, and orange zest. Seal with a lid and give it a vigorous shake until there's no honey left on the bottom of the jar.
- Step 3: Pour the dressing over the fruit and use a large spoon to gently toss the fruit so it's coated with the dressing.
- Step 4: Serve immediately or chill for an hour or two. You want to make this fruit salad close to the time you plan to serve it so the fruit is crisp and fresh!
Variations:
The great thing about fruit salad is how easy it is to customize! The citrus dressing tastes great on ALL kinds of fruit:
- Fruit: Swap any of the fruit with cantaloupe chunks, blueberries, pineapple, kiwi, bananas, oranges, apples, or raspberries.
- Herbs: Swap the mint with fresh basil or cilantro. Or if you don't like fresh herbs, leave the mint out.
- Sweetener: Swap the honey with maple syrup or brown sugar. If you like food extra-sweet, increase the amount by a tablespoon.
Storage:
Watermelon fruit salad is best enjoyed fresh or within 24 hours after you make it. That being said, it will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator before you need to throw it out.
Don't waste the leftover juice! Use it to make a cocktail, mocktail, or smoothie.
More Summer Recipes:
- Pineapple Popsicles [100% Fruit]
- Fresh Cantaloupe Juice
- Pineapple Mango Salsa Recipe
- Watermelon Banana Smoothie
- Mango Cucumber Salad
- Strawberry Cucumber Salad
- Strawberry Passion Fruit Granita
Watermelon Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing
Equipment
- Jar with a lid
Ingredients
- 4 cups seedless watermelon chunks
- 1 quart strawberries hulled and halved
- 2 cups red seedless grapes
For the citrus dressing:
- 1 navel orange juiced
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 teaspoon finely minced mint leaves
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- In a large bowl. combine the grapes, watermelon, and strawberries.
- In a mason jar, combine the orange juice, lime juice, honey, mint, and the zest of half the orange. Shake well until combined.
- Pour the dressing onto the fruit and use a large spoon to stir until well coated. Serve immediately or chill for 1 hour and then serve.
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