Festive Holiday Fruit Salad Recipes (2024)

Credit: Melina Hammer; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham

Winter citrus adds a splash of color to your holiday table whether served as a salad, side, or dessert. These salads simplify dinner, too—many are make-ahead.

Chicken and Waffles with Kicky Syrup

Ginger-Lime Fruit Salad Recipe

Just a little lime and ginger help to macerate the fresh fruits so they can release their juices. Grapes, diced nectarines, or blackberries would also be delicious.

Winter Fruit Salad

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe

Combine colorful winter citrus fruits with pineapple and kiwi and top with pomegranate seeds to make it special.

Red and Black Fruit Salad

Red and Black Fruit Salad Recipe

This sweet fruit salad is a fresh and flavorful favorite for summer.

Winter Jeweled Fruit Salad

Winter Jeweled Fruit Salad Recipe

'Tis the season for juicy citrus, so take advantage by adding a colorful fruit salad to your holiday table. In Mexico, copas de frutas (fruit cups) are popular street food. They typically consist of fresh fruit sprinkled with lime juice and chili powder and are the inspiration for this jewel-colored fruit salad.

Strawberry-Marmalade Salad

Strawberry-Marmalade Salad Recipe

This recipe packs a zing—and with only four ingredients. It would be a flavorful addition to favorite Christmas side dishes. You can prepare it up to four hours in advance, which also makes it a natural side for your lunch bag.

Sparkling White-Sangria Salad

Sparkling White-Sangria Salad Recipe

To many families, it isn't a holiday dinner without a gelatin salad. This rendition uses Riesling, but for a nonalcoholic version, substitute sparkling white grape juice. Either packs the crisp, refreshing taste of tropical Sangría.

Strawberry-Orange Salad

Strawberry-Orange Salad Recipe

Add a burst of color to your holiday table with a refreshing fruit salad made with strawberries and navel oranges. Drizzle the fruit with a cool basil syrup, made from leaves steeped in water with sugar, and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Rum-Spiked Winter Compote

Rum-Spiked Winter Compote Recipe

This warm-and-lovely compote sings with the tart flavors of winter fruit. Try it spooned over vanilla ice cream or pound cake, or use it as a novel substitute for cranberry sauce

Tropical Fruit Salad

Tropical Fruit Salad Recipe

This golden salad was inspired by the flavors of West Africa, where it often doubles as a dessert. As a side, it works well with a smoky grilled fish or a spicy pork tenderloin.

Layered Fruit Congealed Salad

Layered Fruit Congealed Salad Recipe

Not your grandmother's congealed salad, this elegant update forgoes the mini-marshmallows and canned fruit for beautiful, ripe raspberries and sweet, fresh oranges.

Citrus Salad with Balsamic Honey and Pistachios

Citrus Salad with Balsamic Honey and Pistachios Recipe

Blood oranges are a little bit tart; navels are sweeter--try a mix of the two for a colorful, tasty combo.

Moroccan-Spiced Oranges

Moroccan-Spiced Oranges Recipe

This simple salad is a light and refreshing way to end a heavy holiday meal, and the aroma of citrus and cinnamon evokes the scents of the season.

Rhubarb, Pear, and Apple Compote

Rhubarb, Pear, and Apple Compote Recipe

Though rhubarb is the star of this sauce, sweet apples and pears help cut its characteristically sour flavor. Use this compote as an accompaniment to savory entrées, such as pork or poultry. Or serve it as a dessert with a dollop of whipped topping.

Gingered Ambrosia

Gingered Ambrosia Recipe

Our tangy recipe breathes new life into a centuries-old Southern favorite. Fresh ginger and mint leaves add loads of flavor without a gram of fat.

Ambrosia with Chantilly Cream

Ambrosia with Chantilly Cream Recipe

The original ambrosia recipe is simply a layering of orange slices, sugar, and toasted unsweetened coconut. Over the years, folks began to add pineapple, maraschino cherries, and whipped cream to create more of a fruit salad, but the name stuck.

Fresh Fruit With Lemon-Mint Sauce

Fresh Fruit with Lemon-Mint Sauce Recipe

This refreshing breakfast or dessert salad has a secret—it's perfect for cold-and-flu season. Oranges, grapefruits, and lemons are packed with vitamin C, the antioxidant that helps boost the immune system, fight infection, and protect the body against influenza.

Francie's Fruit Salad

Francie's Fruit Salad Recipe

You can make this simple fruit salad with whatever fruit is in season. The flavor secret is the candied ginger syrup.

Melon and Plum Salad

Melon and Plum Salad Recipe

Fruit Salad with Citrus-Basil Syrup

Fruit Salad with Citrus-Basil Syrup Recipe

Fruit Salad with Citrus-Basil Syrup incorporates a medley of juicy flavors like peaches, plums, and apricots. The zesty syrup makes a perfect finish to the Fruit Salad.