Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

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Summer fruit sparkles with a hint of lime so brighten up your summer fruit salad with this easy honey lime dressing. Add your favorite fruits depending on what’s in season and what you can find at your market and you’ll have the perfect side dish for any meal or cook-out.

A spoonful of fruit with a honey lime dressing poured over it.

While I love to make complicated recipes that require measuring and several steps, when doing so, I want something simple that takes no effort to go with it. This is one of my go to sides for when I’m having guests or taking a side dish to a potluck.

It seems too easy to need a recipe, but sometimes you just need an idea and that’s what this is more than a recipe.

I’m always making fruit salads in the summer with whatever is in season and then I just add some tropical fruit like bananas and kiwi to round out the flavors. It ends up different every time.

Regardless of what fruit you choose, honey and lime zest perk up the flavors and create a fruit salad that everyone comes back for. It’s so refreshing on hot summer days and won’t weigh you down. If you’re going to an outdoor event or picnic, it will hit the spot and you don’t have to worry about it spoiling in the heat.

A glass bowl of summer fruit salad with a spoon.

If you want more complex flavors, then a spicy dressing or one with tequila are amazing, but this will be your simple go-to dressing to drizzle over summer fruit.

Why you’ll love it

You can use whatever fruit is in season
Kids and adults will love the flavors
Perfect for cook-outs or potlucks
Freeze the left overs for smoothies
So simple you don’t even need a recipe

What you’ll need

Seasonal fruit – all types of berries, peaches/nectaries, plums, cherries, apples and pears.
Tropical fruits – pineapple, kiwi, bananas
Lime zest – it’s crazy how just a little lime zest can add so much flavor
Honey – some fruit if not quite ripe needs just a little sweetness and honey works well with fruit.

Easy steps for making a summer fruit salad

Step 1: Choose the fruit that you want to use. If you’re adding bananas or kiwi, you’ll want to add them at the end so they don’t get mushy. If you’re adding apples or pears, then sprinkle them with a little lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. I like to have a mixture of textures and flavors. My favorite combination is peaches, cherries, blueberries and kiwi.

Step 2: For the fruit salad dressing, ¼ cup honey and 1 lime will be enough for about 8 cups of fruit. You can easily adjust up or down, and it doesn’t need to be exact. To prevent the dressing from being bitter, use a lemon/lime zester for the lime zest and avoid getting any of the white part of the lime in the dressing. Add honey and lime juice to the zest and pour it over the cut fruit.

fruit salad with honey lime dressing in a bowl with cherries in the background.

You can serve this right away or refrigerate for an hour to let the flavors soak into the fruit.

FAQs and tips

Can you use frozen fruit in a fruit salad?

Frozen fruit does not do well in a fruit salad. It will just be too mushy. One exception is that you could add frozen blueberries which tend to keep their shape and texture when frozen, but fresh will still be better.

Can you make a fruit salad a day ahead?

If you make a fruit salad a day ahead, some of the fruit will get soft. You can make it a few hours ahead of time but I would not suggest letting it sit overnight. If making this ahead of time, make sure to add the softer fruit right before serving.

How long does a fresh fruit salad last?

A fruit salad with honey lime dressing is best served the day you make it. It will still taste wonderful the next day but some of the fruit will start to get soft. You can freeze the leftovers to use in smoothies.