Winter Fruit Salad with Honey-Citrus Dressing
This easy-to-make winter fruit salad is bursting with flavor and made with seasonal apples, kiwi, pears, pomegranates, grapes, and clementines. It’s tossed with a delicious honey and citrus dressing and garnished with fresh mint. Make it for holidays, brunch, or any time at all!
The Best Winter Fruit Salad
Don’t skip this delicious winter-inspired fruit salad! It’s perfect to enjoy on its own, complement other winter dishes at brunch, or even serve as a healthy dessert.
This salad’s combination of vibrant, fresh fruit flavors and textures is unmatched! Crisp apples and pears are paired with bright kiwis, sweet clementines and a burst of tart pomegranates and mellow grapes. It’s all balanced with the rich honey dressing and fragrant mint.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Here’s why you’ll love it:
- Fresh, seasonal ingredients: During the winter months, citrus fruits, pomegranate, kiwi, and pears are all at their peak! That means the taste of this salad will feature the best, most delicious ingredients available.
- Good for you: This fruit salad is incredibly healthy, featuring not one, but two superfoods: pomegranate and kiwi! The other ingredients are also packed with important vitamins like vitamins C, B, and K, plus minerals like copper and potassium, and of course lots of fiber to boost your health and wellbeing. This recipe is also naturally Paleo and gluten-free friendly!
- Easy to make: You just need one bowl and a bit of prep time to wash and cut the fruit, and you’re in business! There’s no cooking and no complicated steps involved.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to grab at the grocery store to make this recipe:
- Red apples: Use snacking apples like gala, fuji, or Honeycrisp.
- Kiwis: Choose a kiwi that is slightly soft to the touch but not mushy, indicating it’s ripe and sweet.
- Pears: Use your favorite pear. Bartlett, Anjou, Bosc and Asian are all great!
- Pomegranate seeds: Learn the fastest way to properly cut and deseed a pomegranate, or you can buy pomegranate seeds and save yourself a few minutes of prep work.
- Grapes: You can use red or green grapes here.
- Clementines: Use clementines or mandarins interchangeably in this recipe.
- Mint leaves: Fresh mint leaves add so much delicious flavor. But you could also use other winter herbs like rosemary, sage or thyme. Just be sure to chop them finely.
- Honey: Make it Vegan-friendly by substituting maple syrup or agave for the honey.
- Orange juice: Either buy store-bought orange juice or juice a few oranges by hand for the dressing.
- Limes: Fresh juice is ideal but I get it if you want to use the store-bought stuff!
- Optional: Feel free to add 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts for crunch, and/or 1-2 cups of any other winter fruits that you enjoy!
Honey Citrus Dressing
First, let’s make the honey citrus dressing! It’s so easy, and delicious on all kinds of other salads like spinach, blue cheese and bacon salad.
Grab a large glass bowl and add the honey, orange juice, and lime juice. Use a whisk to mix it together until it’s smooth. If your honey is very thick and tough to whisk, gently warm the mixture for 10-15 seconds in the microwave so it can more easily be mixed.
Taste the dressing and make sure you like the flavor. If it’s too tart, add more honey. If it’s too sweet, add a little extra lime juice. The citrus juice in the dressing works to prevent browning in the apples and pears!
Instructions
Here’s how to make this easy winter citrus salad recipe:
Wash the fruit well. Core and thinly slice the apples and pears. Cut the grapes into halves. Peel and segment the clementines. Peel and slice the kiwi into rounds. De-seed the pomegranates. Transfer all the fruit directly into the large bowl with the dressing.
Be sure to cut the fruit to uniform, bite-sized pieces. This will make it easier to eat later and ensure every bite will have a few different fruits in it!
Toss all the fruit in the dressing using large salad servers to evenly coat each piece. Now it's ready! You can enjoy it now, or cover and store in the fridge until you're ready to serve.
Store fruit salad covered in the refrigerator and use it within 3-4 days. However, for the best taste and texture, eat fruit salad the same day as you make it.
Tips for Success
Here are some tips and tricks for making this recipe:
Choose the freshest produce. Choose firm kiwis and pears that give a little when squeezed, heavy, brightly colored pomegranates, crisp, fragrant apples and plump, firm grapes. Avoid any produce that's shriveled or has mushy spots.
Use a big bowl: Choose a bowl twice the size of the amount of fruit you have. This will make tossing the fruit salad in the dressing a lot easier!
Customize to taste: Feel free to omit or substitute any fruits that you prefer! This is all about making a dish you love.
Chill before serving: Let the fruit salad sit covered in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving. This helps the flavors meld and will chill the fruit a bit, making it extra refreshing!
Serve it fresh: Fruit salads are best enjoyed when freshly made because the fruit will change in texture over time. Try to plan to serve it within a few hours once you make it.
Make it in advance: You can prep the fruit salad up to a day in advance. Simply wait until just before serving to add the dressing and cut the apples and pears.
Yes, you can prepare the fruit up to a day in advance, but it’s best to add the dressing and mint just before serving to keep it fresh and vibrant.
Store fruit salad covered in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Use it within 3-4 days. However, for the best taste and texture, eat fruit salad the same day as you make it.
You can substitute apples with pears, kiwis with mangoes, or pomegranate seeds with dried cranberries or cherries for a similar festive touch.
What to Serve with Fruit Salad
Serve it with a strawberry milk tea for even more delicious fruit flavors, or try one of these recipes:
I'd love to hear about your experience making this recipe!
Please leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram @cookathomemom.
Winter Fruit Salad with Honey-Citrus Dressing
Ingredients
Winter Fruit Salad
- 2 medium to large red apples Use snacking apples like Gala, Fuji or Honeycrisp
- 2 whole kiwis peeled
- 2 large pears
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds about 1 pomegranate
- 1 cup grapes red or green
- 4 medium clementines or 2 large navel oranges
- 12-15 mint leaves for garnish
Citrus-Honey Dressing
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup orange juice preferably freshly squeezed
- 4 tablespoons lime juice about 2 limes
Instructions
- Add the honey, orange juice, and lime juice to a large bowl. Whisk until fully combined.
- If necessary, warm the mixture in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to make the honey easier to whisk. Taste the dressing and adjust the flavor as necessary.
- Wash all the fruit well. Core and thinly slice the apples and pears. Cut the grapes into halves. Peel and segment the clementines. Peel and slice the kiwi into rounds. De-seed the pomegranates.
- Add all the fruit to the large bowl with the dressing in it. Toss the fruit salad together to ensure all the pieces are evenly coated with dressing.
- Store the fruit salad covered in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve it. Garnish with fresh mint leaves just before serving.
