Honey Lime Rainbow Fruit Salad

Published May 10, 2019. Updated May 20, 2023

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The BEST Fruit Salad with a sweet and bright honey lime dressing! It’s an incredibly refreshing, must have side dish that’s made with beautiful blend of delicious fruits and a simple dressing to compliment it. This is always sure to be a crowd favorite!

Fruit Salad with rainbow of colors in a large white serving bowl.

The Best Fruit Salad Recipe

I first shared this recipe 5 years ago but it’s one of my favorite recipes, so for new readers or in case you missed it I thought it needs to be revisited. Plus I thought this exactly what mom’s want on Mother’s Day for brunch paired with waffles, crepes or Eggs Benedict!

I know Skittles are good, but I’m thinking this has got to be the right way to get a taste of the rainbow. This blend of colorful fruits all come together to make a gorgeous rainbow, made with healthy ingredients!

Kids will love this this fruit salad and it is an easy way to get them to eat plenty of fruit at once.

Watch the Video!

 

Rainbow Fruit Salad

A Fruit Salad Dressing without Cream or Pudding

Plus this version is so much butter than those frozen whipped topping fruit salads.

This recipe shows you how to make fruit salad without the heavy, creamy fruit salad dressing that you’re used to seeing. It leaves plenty of room for all the flavors of the fruit to shine without drenching it in sugar and other random flavors.

Plus it doesn’t use any of those packaged pudding mixes. Why should we coat all the vibrant and incredible flavors of the fruit with an artificial flavor from a pudding mix?

Let’s not ruin a good thing like fresh fruit by coating it with packaged ingredients where we can’t even pronounce the ingredients on the label.

All it takes is a little honey and lime to really make that fresh fruit sing. 100% natural honey and lime make this fruit salad shine (literally and figuratively).

Honey lime fruit salad dressing in a small white bowl set over a wooden plate.

Ingredients for this Easy Fruit Salad

  • Strawberries – to select good strawberries it’s kind of a no brainer. They should have a nice red color, no dark spots, no mold, and check out the leaves – those green tops should look vibrant and fresh.
  • Pineapple – to pick a good pineapple smell the bottom, it should have that sweet pineapple scent. To know when it’s ripe the skin should be turning yellow and it should have some give when pressed.
  • Blueberries – I like those plump juicy blueberries here. They tend to be sweeter.
  • Red grapes – to choose good grapes squeeze a couple of them, they should be firm and plump, they should also look tight and intact to the stems (not loose) and they should have a nice color.
  • Kiwi – to select kiwi look for some that are fairly soft when pressed. Those that are firm are sour and unripe. Small or large size won’t matter.
  • Mandarin oranges – I used to use canned mandarins here but I prefer fresh now. Either will work great. Mangoes work well as a substitute for the oranges.
  • Bananas – these are optional. If you do add them just use yellow bananas. No green peel (not sweet enough) and no brown (too mushy).
  • Honey – I don’t recommend substitutions for this unless there’s an allergy (if so I’d maybe try maple syrup or brown rice syrup).
  • Limes – in a pinch lemons would work too.

Fresh strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries, and grapes in sections in a large white serving bowl.

How to Make Fruit Salad

  • Prepare fruit: chop fruits (except blueberries) and add to a large mixing bowl.
  • Make dressing: in a small mixing bowl, whisk together they honey, lime zest and lime juice.
  • Toss fruit with dressing: pour dressing over fruit just before serving and toss to evenly coat.
  • Easy as that!

Fresh strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries, and grapes in sections in a large white serving bowl.

Can I Use Frozen Fruit in this Recipe?

For best results only use fresh fruit, not frozen in this fruit salad. Frozen fruit is mushy once thawed and watery so it won’t work the same here unfortunately. Keep in mind though that you can use other fruits that are in season, it’s a versatile recipe.

Can I Make it in Advance?

If I happen to haven any left of course I still eat it the next day but it’s not quite as good as it was the first day.

What I recommend is to chop the fruits up to 1 day in advance (except bananas) and make the dressing a day in advance. Refrigerate then the following day let dressing rest at room temp 20 minutes. Toss fruit and dressing together when you’re ready to serve it.

Close up image of fruit salad.

Tips for Perfect Fruit Salad:

  • Use a variety of fruit. Just about any fresh fruit will work here but use a blend to add a variety of flavor and eye catching color.
  • Use ripened fruit. As in you may need to plan ahead and buy the pineapple and kiwi nearly a week in advance because they take time to ripen.
  • Wait to add the bananas, or even hold the bananas. These will brown if not served shortly after preparing.
  • Don’t zest the lime with a cheese grater. Chances are you’ll end up with some white pith of the lime peel which will make the fruit salad taste bitter. Use a zester and use light pressure.

Fruit Salad with chopped fresh fruit in a large salad bowl set over a marble surface.

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Rainbow Fruit Salad
4.96 from 73 votes

Honey Lime Rainbow Fruit Salad

My favorite fruit salad! Perfectly right and refreshing with a beautiful combination of colors. This is the perfect summer side dish for cookouts or holiday parties. You can switch of the fruits listed here for others you may have on hand.
Servings: 10 servings
Prep20 minutes
Ready in: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 lb fresh strawberries, chopped
  • 1 lb chopped fresh pineapple,
  • 12 oz fresh blueberries
  • 12 oz red grapes, sliced into halves
  • 4 kiwis, peeled and chopped
  • 3 mandarin oranges*
  • 2 bananas, sliced (optional)

Honey Lime Dressing

Instructions

  • Add all fruit to a large mixing bowl. 
  • In a small mixing bowl, whisk together they honey, lime zest and lime juice. 
  • Pour over fruit and toss to evenly coat, serve immediately**.

Notes

  • *1 (15 oz) can mandarin oranges in juice or light syrup, drained well will work here too (which was what was previously listed, I just now prefer the fresh).
  • **Fruit can be chopped 1 day in advance (except banana) and dressing can be made 1 day in advance and kept separate and chilled, toss together just before serving.
  • Recipe originally shared June 2014, photos have been updated.
Nutrition Facts
Honey Lime Rainbow Fruit Salad
Amount Per Serving
Calories 163
% Daily Value*
Sodium 4mg0%
Potassium 456mg13%
Carbohydrates 41g14%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 31g34%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 300IU6%
Vitamin C 96.4mg117%
Calcium 42mg4%
Iron 0.8mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.