This recipe is one of the most versatile of all the breakfast fruit ideas. Serve it by itself for a healthy, light breakfast, or serve it with my Fruit Yogurt Dip on the side for a tantalizingly creamy dish perfect for a beautiful brunch spread. You can even use your fruit mix to top off or incorporate it into your morning oatmeal (hello, Yogurt Overnight Oats)for a satisfying morning meal.
Table of Contents
Ingredients You’ll Need for Fruit Breakfast Salad
You only need two sets of simple ingredients for this breakfast fruit salad recipe: the fruits and the fruit salad dressing.
Breakfast fruits: Wondering what ingredients to include when you make fruit for breakfast? This classic mix of colorful produce will brighten your table with nutritious, brilliant flavors.
- Pineapple: Pick out a ripe pineapple that is juicy and sweet.
- Grapes: You can use both red and yellow grapes in this recipe. However, I would recommend getting the seedless variety.
- Berries: Nearly any berry will make this simple morning dish full of ripe, juicy flavors. My favorite fresh berries include strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries.
- Oranges
- Kiwis
- Banana: I adore the creamy, sweet taste of fresh bananas. However, you can omit this ingredient if you’re not a fan of the fruit or preparing this recipe beforehand.
Fruit salad dressing:
- Orange juice and orange zest: Be sure to use fresh orange juice and orange zest when you make fruit dishes for breakfast. Fresh oranges will give your recipe a delectable balance of tartness and sweetness guaranteed to satisfy your cravings.
- Lime juice and lime zest: Fresh lime juice is the secret ingredient to giving this dish its zesty, bright flavor—and keeping your fruit fresh for longer! If you don’t have any limes, you can substitute this ingredient for lemon juice and zest.
- Vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon
- Sweetener: Because this dish gets natural sweetness from fruits, adding an extra sweetener is optional. If you want to enhance the sweetness of your fresh fruit breakfast, add a bit of honey (or honey syrup), maple syrup, or agave. You could also use my Honey Lime Dressing as a citrus-sweet alternative to this classic fruit dressing.
Optional Add-Ins
- Fresh mint: Amongst all fresh herbs, I think mint is the most flavorful addition to a fruit salad. Adding a few fresh leaves will enliven every bite of your breakfast fruit recipes while adding a garden-green color.
- Shredded coconut flakes: I love using unsweetened coconut flakes as a healthy, no added sugar topping for this sweet spread. Not only do their sweet, nutty flavors complement this simple mix, but they also add an irresistibly crunchy texture.
- Spices: To add a warm, gourmet spice to your fruit bowl recipe, you can substitute a sprinkle of cardamom, nutmeg, or poppy seeds in place of cinnamon.
Variations Based on Season and Dietary Restrictions
The best fruits for a fruit salad match the time of year. If you want to transform this easy dish into a seasonal treat or satisfy a dietary need, you’ll love this collection of tasty fruits to use.
- Summer: Looking to fill your morning fruit bowl with a mixture of sunny, summer-ready produce? I recommend making your summer salad with peaches, plums, raspberries, nectarines, cantaloupe, honeydew, papayas, and mango.
- Fall: Fall produce makes some of my favorite fruit breakfasts. To make an autumn fruit salad, use apples, figs, pears, and pomegranate seeds for a dish perfect for the holiday season.
- Winter: To make a winter fruit salad perfect for special occasions, I recommend adding tart, warm-colored fruits like Mandarin oranges, blood oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, and bananas.
- Spring: When jumping into the garden-fresh spring season, you’ll want these fruits in your breakfast spread. Apricots and strawberries are some of the most spring-forward fruits in the produce aisle.
- Low-sugar fruit salad: If you are in need of a healthy fruit salad recipe that has low quantities of sugar, I recommend using low-sugar fruits (as recommended by Healthline), like raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, kiwis, and grapefruit.
- Low-calorie fruit salad: Want to cut down on your morning calorie intake? No problem! Some of the lowest-calorie fresh fruits for breakfast include apples, berries, grapefruit, passion fruit, and stone fruits (e.g., peaches, nectarines, and apricots).
Hot to Make Fruit Salad for Breakfast?
You don’t need a home garden to make a healthy breakfast. While it takes a bit of time to chop all the fruit, once you have them ready, you can prepare a breakfast or brunch fruit salad in just four simple steps:
- Add the fruit: Take out a large bowl, and add the fresh strawberries, pineapple, grapes, blueberries, blackberries, cut oranges, and kiwis. Add the banana if you plan to serve this dish immediately. If you’re making this dish ahead, wait to add the banana just before serving.
- Make the dressing: In a small bowl or mason jar, mix the orange juice, orange zest, lime juice, lime zest, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Either whisk or vigorously shake everything until combined thoroughly. If you are using honey, be sure also to whisk that into the dressing.
- Add the dressing: Drizzle the dressing over the fruit salad and gently toss to combine.
- Serve: If using, garnish the fruit salad with fresh mint leaves and serve.
How To Make Ahead, Meal Prep, and Store?
It doesn’t matter whether you want a make fruit salad ahead for a crowd or an easy recipe for everyday meal prep. This simple guide will show you how to keep your salad fresh for a few additional days.
- Make ahead: This recipe is one of the greatest brunch fruit ideas because it’s so easy to make ahead of time. Simply cut up your fruits and place them in a large mixing bowl. Then, just before serving, add the banana and drizzle the fruit with your prepared dressing.
- Meal prep: Looking for easy breakfast fruit cup ideas? Divide the prepared fruit mixture into individual airtight cups or mason jars (or Weck Jars (affiliate link) as I did in the photo below), and store them in the fridge until ready to eat. Then, add the bananas right before serving and keep the dressing on the side. As long as they are stored in airtight containers, they should be fresh for up to 3 days.
- Storage: You can store this sugar-free fruit salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Remember that the salad will get watery after the second day but still taste delicious.
What to Serve with Fruit Salad for Breakfast?
Want to serve fruit for a brunch buffet or make a delicious fruit bowl for breakfast? When you make this easy recipe, you’ll discover countless ways to transform seasonal produce into a filling meal.
- Add protein: Add a dollop of my Vanilla Yogurt or Chunky Granola on top of the finished dish for the perfect breakfast fruit bowl. You could also serve your fruit salad with a side of Greek Yogurt Fruit Dip to make one of my favorite fruit brunch ideas.
- With your favorite cereal: One of my favorite ways to enjoy this simple salad is to mix it into my favorite cereals, like my Homemade Museli.
- Weekday breakfast: There’s no reason why you can’t enjoy healthy breakfast ideas with fruit every day of the week. Serve this simple salad alongside simple, tasty recipes like Salmon Avocado Toast, Oatmeal with Chia Seeds, and Steel Cut Overnight Oats (with a dollop of peanut butter on top) for a breakfast that will keep you satisfied for hours.
- Pancakes and waffles: If you want a fruit-based breakfast with a delectably filling base, I recommend serving it with my Almond Flour Waffles, Overnight Yeasted Waffles, or Lemon Ricotta Pancakes.
Expert Tips
It doesn’t matter whether you’re serving this fruit salad for lunch or want to make a kid-friendly fruit salad your children will love. The below tips will ensure your salad is as fresh and flavorful on your first try.
- Choose fresh fruits: The key to any good fruit breakfast is selecting high-quality fruits. Ensure your produce isn’t bruised or moldy, and try to choose adequately ripe fruit. However, avoid overly ripe fruit, as these ingredients likely won’t hold their shape and become mushy in your salad mixture.
- Visual interest: To make the best fruit salad for a special event, I recommend using fruits in a variety of colors—red, yellow, green, and beyond! This way, it will look appetizing and add a nice pop of color to your tablescape.
- Proper cutting: I recommend cutting your fruit into equal bite-sized pieces to ensure your salad is easy to eat. If you’re serving this recipe as a breakfast fruit plate, you can slice your larger fruits, arrange them on a plate, fill the empty spaces with strawberries, and top the spread with blueberries.
- Wash and dry your fruit properly: It’s essential to ensure your fruit is clean and safe to eat before incorporating it into your homemade fruit salad. However, remember that some fruits bruise easily, and washing berries requires particular gentleness. Be sure to be equal parts thorough and light when washing your produce.
- Do not skip on the lime juice or lime zest: Because of its preservational properties, a little lime or lemon juice is a great way to prevent your fruit from browning. Plus, this addition enhances the taste of the salad by balancing its sweet flavors with an irresistible tanginess.
- Adding banana: Some people think banana has no place as seasonal fruit for summer. However, they add a creamy, mild taste to any fresh fruit salad, and they pack tons of Vitamin C and potassium to fuel you through your day. Still, you can easily omit it if you are not a fan.
- Dress it right before serving: I recommend dressing the salad right before serving. If you drizzle on the dressing too far in advance, your salad may become overly juicy and soggy.
- Make it kid-friendly: The below recipe as written, is a great fruit salad for kids due to its bright color, nutritious ingredients, and sweet taste. However, depending on your kids’ age, you may want to cut your fruit into smaller or bite-sized pieces.
FAQs
Yes! Fruit salad makes one of the healthiest options for a quick morning meal due to its high vitamin and mineral content. Plus, depending on which fruits you add, you can kick-start your day with other nutrients, such as potassium, that may help maintain healthy blood pressure, reduce your risk of diabetes, and promote immunity. With that being said, it is important to consume fruit in moderation.
Definitely! Doctors recommend that people eat at least 400 grams of fruit per day (or five servings of 80 grams), so eating fruit salad as a snack will help you reach your dietary goals while reducing your risk of disease, aiding weight loss, and enhancing your body’s store of essential nutrients. However, it is always best to consult your doctor and get the best advice for your dietary requirements.
Peeling your fruit is a personal choice for this breakfast fruit bowl recipe. However, I recommend peeling off any skins that are hard to digest, such as orange, kiwi, and banana peels.
Yes, but ensure your fruits are fully thawed (room temperature is best) before adding them to your mixture.
Other Fruit Breakfast Recipes
No one can resist a sweet bowl of fruit for breakfast. If you want other ingenious ways to incorporate nutritious fruit into your morning, you’ll love these simple dishes.
- Yogurt Parfait: If you want a recipe incorporating healthy breakfast fruit with creamy, light Greek yogurt, this dish is precisely what you need.
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal: Pack all the fresh, crisp flavors of the orchard into your morning bowl with this 15-minute recipe.
- Instant Pot Quinoa Breakfast Bowl: This vegan, gluten-free breakfast recipe comes together in less than 20 minutes and is the perfect make-ahead dish.
- Peach Galette: Search no more for a healthy dessert. This sophisticated recipe makes for the perfect brunch dessert—especially when served with my fan favorite Honey Vanilla Ice Cream.
- Can’t get enough? Check out all our fruity desserts.
If you try this Breakfast Fruit Salad recipe or any other recipe on Foolproof Living, please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It is a great help to others who are thinking of making the recipe. And if you took some pictures, be sure to share them on Instagram using #foolproofeats so I can share them on my stories.
Breakfast Fruit Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For The Fruit Salad
- 2 cups pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup grapes, rinsed and halved
- 1 cup strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered
- 1 cup blueberries, rinsed
- 1 cup blackberries, rinsed
- 1 orange, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 Kiwis, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 banana, peeled and sliced – optional
For The Salad Dressing
- ¼ cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 2 teaspoons lime zest
- 4 tablespoons lime juice, from approximately 2 limes
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped – Optional
Instructions
- Place the pineapple, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cut orange, and kiwi in a large bowl. If you are serving it right away, add the banana, but if you are making it ahead of time, we recommend adding the banana right before serving.
- To make the fruit salad dressing, combine the orange juice, orange zest, lime juice, lime zest, vanilla extract, and cinnamon* in a small bowl or mason jar. Whisk or shake vigorously to incorporate.
- Drizzle the fruit salad with the dressing and gently toss to combine.
- If using, garnish with fresh mint leaves and serve.
Notes
- Yields: This recipe yields approximately 8-9 cups of breakfast fruit salad. The nutritional values below are for 1 serving.
- Sweetener*: As we were working on this recipe, we wanted it to be a healthy no-sugar-added breakfast option. However, if preferred, you can add a tablespoon (or more) of honey (or honey simple syrup) to the dressing. Honey-sweetened fruit salad is slightly sweeter but has a subtle (but welcome) honey flavor.
- Make ahead: If you want to make it ahead, simply cut up the fruit (except the banana) and prepare the dressing. Store them in separate airtight containers. Then, just before serving, add the banana and drizzle the fruit with the prepared dressing.
- Meal prep: Divide the prepared fruit mixture into individual airtight cups, mason, or weck jars, and store them in the fridge until ready to eat. Then, add the bananas right before serving and keep the dressing on the side. As long as they are stored in airtight containers, they should be fresh for up to 3 days.
- Storage: The leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Remember that the salad will get watery after the second day but still taste delicious.
- Making it for a crowd? Feel free to multiply the recipe as many times as you need.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I make a large fruit salad with 2 or 3 kinds of berries, apples, grapes and, in winter, a can of pineapple or perhaps peaches. I use 1 cup of apple cider plus 1 cup of water or the juice from the canned fruit. I heat this and thicken it with tapioca or agar agar or kuzu. I pour the hot, thick liquid over the fruit and mix it all up and store it in two 8-cup glass containers with lids. It will keep for 10 days or 2 weeks … I have 1 cup every morning with a large glass of hot water with protein supplement. The thickened liquid allows it to last for a long time (don’t add bananas).
Hello Coleen,
Thanks for sharing your expertise with us. I like the addition of agar agar flakes. It’s a nice way to thicken the fruit salad.
Cheers!