Perfect Summer Fruit Salad
This fantastic fruit salad combines pineapple, kiwi, bananas, oranges, grapes, and berries in a sweet citrusy sauce for a colorful summer dessert.
- 210 min
- Serves 10
- 13 ingredients
Steps
- Gather the ingredients.
- To make the sauce: Bring orange juice, lemon juice, brown sugar, orange zest, and lemon zest to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Set aside to cool.
- Layer fruit in a large, clear glass bowl in this order: pineapple, strawberries, kiwi fruit, bananas, oranges, grapes, and blueberries. Pour cooled sauce over fruit; cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours before serving.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make this fruit salad the night before?
Yes, and it needs a head start anyway — the fruit has to sit under the sauce in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours before serving. A full night is fine, though the bananas soften and the berries bleed a little into the sauce. If you want it looking its sharpest, assemble everything except the bananas ahead and fold those in an hour before it goes on the table.
How do I keep the bananas from turning brown?
The orange and lemon juice in the sauce is what protects them, so slice the bananas straight into the bowl and pour the cooled sauce over so every piece is coated. Cut them last, once the other fruit is already layered, and keep the bowl covered in the fridge. Bananas left exposed above the sauce line will still darken.
Can I use canned or frozen fruit instead of fresh?
Canned pineapple and mandarin oranges work if you drain them well, since extra syrup thins the sauce. Frozen berries are best avoided: they release a lot of water as they thaw and go soft in the bowl. Keep the bananas, kiwi and strawberries fresh, as those are the ones that suffer most.
Why do I need to cook the sauce first?
Boiling the juice with the brown sugar and zest dissolves the sugar and simmers the mixture down for about 5 minutes so it thickens slightly and clings to the fruit instead of pooling. The vanilla goes in off the heat so its flavour is not cooked away. Let the sauce cool completely before pouring it over, or it will soften the fruit.
How long does fruit salad keep in the fridge?
Keep it covered and eat it within a day or two — this is a salad that is at its best the day it is made. The bananas darken and the softer fruit starts to break down after that, even though the citrus sauce slows it. Serve it cold, straight from the fridge.
Can I use less sugar in the sauce?
Yes, you can cut the 1/3 cup of packed brown sugar down by about half and the sauce still works, though it will be thinner and less glossy. Ripe summer fruit carries a lot of sweetness on its own, so taste the cooled sauce before you commit. This quantity dresses enough fruit for 10 servings, so the sugar is spread further than it looks.