Dessert doesn’t have to be complicated. Cakes and the like are great, of course, but a Simple & Easy Fruit Salad is often more than enough. Just grab some fresh fruit, chop it up a bit, and in no time at all you’ll have a delicious dessert for yourself and the whole family. Whether as the perfect ending to a dinner or a sweet snack for a picnic in the park – fruit salad is always a great option!
Let’s be honest – you don’t really need a recipe that someone has spent ages perfecting to make a simple fruit salad. It’s basically just chopped fruit and berries that you mix and then try to preserve the fruit a bit longer so it doesn’t turn brown after 10 minutes already. Unfortunately, that’s the case with many types of fruit as soon as the flesh comes into contact with oxygen.
To prevent this from happening, all you really need to do is mix the fruit with a little lemon juice to make it last longer. With that sentence, this article could actually end right here and now…
5 Tips for Making Fruit Salad
Use ripe but firm fruit.
Fruit that’s too soft quickly becomes mushy. Especially with strawberries, kiwis, or peaches, it’s worth paying attention to a good balance between ripeness and firmness. After all, you don’t want your fruit salad to turn into mushy baby food after just a few minutes.
Cut the fruit just before serving.
Many fruits lose their flavor quickly or turn brown. Freshly cut fruit salad tastes much better and looks more appetizing. Of course, this isn’t always possible, especially if you want to take the fruit salad with you somewhere. However, if you have the chance to prepare everything just before serving, you should definitely do so.
Use lemon juice to prevent fruit from browning.
Apples, pears, and bananas oxidize quickly when they come into contact with oxygen. A little lemon or lime juice keeps them fresh longer and also adds a pleasant freshness/aroma. If you want or need to let a fruit salad sit for a while, you can’t skip the extra splash of acid. Otherwise, everything will end up very brown. We already know from history class that brown isn’t a good color option for anyone…
Combine different textures.
A good fruit salad thrives on contrasts: soft fruits like mango or banana pair perfectly with crisp apples, grapes, or pomegranate seeds. If you like nuts and the like, you can also add a crunchy element to a fruit salad with them.
Use dressing sparingly.
Often, a little orange juice, honey, or mint is all you need as a dressing for a fruit salad. Too much liquid will water down the flavor and makes the salad mushy quickly. However, we also like to mix a little yogurt into the fruit. This usually helps the salad last a bit longer, and the fruit and berries are less likely to develop brown spots. But not everyone likes that…
The fruits and berries you can see here in the pictures and in the ingredient list are basically all quite easy to work with and won’t cause problems… except for the bananas. If you want to include them in a salad like this, you should definitely add them just before serving. It’s no issue at all – even if you’re sitting on the grass in the park having a picnic. Bananas come in the perfect packaging and can be sliced into the salad on the spot.
For our fruit salad, we like a mix of softer fruits (eg, ripe melons) and some crunchier ones. Something else we love to use, and which is also listed in the recipe, are hemp seeds. They not only add extra crunch but are also really healthy. Packed with protein and fiber. And no, there’s nothing intoxicating in them. Hemp seeds are also great to sprinkle on your cereal or yogurt for breakfast… in case anyone’s wondering what else you can make with them besides fruit salad.
By the way, you can also use this fruit salad to make delicious Fruit Salad Cups with Skyr. They’re great as part of breakfast or brunch, or just as a little something sweet to snack on between meals.
If you’re still looking for something for a picnic in the park, you might want to check out our Quick & Easy Strawberry Tarts. They’re ready in a flash and perfect for an outdoor party. Easy to transport and really delicious! We make them all the time… but wasps love them too, so always pack them well or cover them with something when you’re outside!
INGREDIENTS / INGREDIENTS
(3-4 servings)
1/4 honeydew melon, sliced
1 (red) apple, sliced
1 nectarine, sliced
1 small banana, sliced
3.5 oz. (100g) strawberries, sliced
3.5 oz. (100g) grapes, halved
some blueberries, raspberries, and/or blackberries
2-3 tbsp. lemon juice
1-2 tsp. hemp seeds (unpeeled)* or a few chopped nuts (optional)
(3-4 people)
1/4 honeydew melon, in pieces
1 (red) apple, in pieces
1 nectarine, in pieces
1 small banana, sliced
100g strawberries, cut into pieces
100g grapes, halved
some blueberries, raspberries and/or blackberries
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp hemp seeds (unpeeled)* or a few chopped nuts (optional)
DIRECTIONS / PREPARATION
1. Wash and dry everything that needs to be washed.
2. Peel the honeydew melon and cut the flesh into bite-sized pieces. Quarter the apple, remove the core, and cut it into small pieces. Remove the stone from the nectarine and cut it into small pieces. Peel and slice the banana. Depending on their size, half the strawberries or cut them into small pieces. Half the grapes.
3. Add the fruit to a bowl, drizzle the lemon juice on top and toss to combine. Add hemp seeds or chopped nuts to your liking (optional) and serve immediately. If you want more than just the fruit, serve it with some yogurt or vanilla custard.
1. Anything that needs to be washed, wash and dry once.
2. Remove the rind from the honeydew melon and cut into bite-sized pieces. Quarter the apple, core it and then cut it into small pieces. Remove the core of the nectarine and then cut it into small pieces. Peel the banana and cut into slices. Depending on their size, simply halve the strawberries or cut them into small pieces and halve the grapes.
3. Place the cut fruit in a bowl and mix with the lemon juice. Add a few more hemp seeds or chopped nuts if desired and serve immediately. If the fruit alone isn’t enough for you, you can also add some yogurt or vanilla pudding.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
Description
An easy fruit salad is the perfect healthy sweet treat in summer – the whole family loves this easy dessert. So easy to make and really delicious and refreshing!
1/4 honeydew melon, sliced
1 (red) apple, sliced
1 nectarine, sliced
1 small banana, sliced
3.5 oz. (100g) strawberries, sliced
3.5 oz. (100g) grapes, halved
some blueberries, raspberries, and/or blackberries
2–3 tbsp. lemon juice
1–2 tsp. hemp seeds (unpeeled)* or a few chopped nuts (optional)
1. Wash and dry everything that needs to be washed.
2. Peel the honeydew melon and cut the flesh into bite-sized pieces. Quarter the apple, remove the core, and cut it into small pieces. Remove the stone from the nectarine and cut it into small pieces. Peel and slice the banana. Depending on their size, half the strawberries or cut them into small pieces. Half the grapes.
3. Add the fruit to a bowl, drizzle the lemon juice on top and toss to combine. Add hemp seeds or chopped nuts to your liking (optional) and serve immediately. If you want more than just the fruit, serve it with some yogurt or vanilla custard.
Notes
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