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Top down view of white bowl with grapes, blueberries, pears, kiwi, oranges and pomegranate seeds for easy winter fresh fruit salad.

Easy Winter Fresh Fruit Salad

Yield: 6 Servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Fruit:

  • *Fruit is adaptable; see note below*
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1 cup peeled and diced kiwi fruit
  • 1 cup mandarin oranges, drained, or fresh mandarin/navel orange segments
  • 1 cup diced apples or pears
  • 1 cup halved grapes
  • ½ cup pomegranate seeds

Dressing:

  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice, see note for lemon variation
  • Light pinch of cinnamon

Instructions 

  • Place the fruit in a serving bowl. (If using pears, because they sometimes darken faster than apples, I like to toss them with a light squeeze of lemon juice before adding to the salad.)
  • Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the fruit and toss to combine.
  • The fruit salad can be made a couple hours ahead of time - keep in mind that depending on what type of fruit is used, the colors may seep into each other as the salad sits.

Notes

Fruit: as noted above, the fruit is very adaptable to what is in season and what you prefer. You'll want about 5-6 cups total fruit (not including the pomegranate seeds). The lineup listed above is my favorite (I use pears when I can find delicious, ripe ones).
Pomegranate Seeds: I personally think the pomegranate seeds are essential for this fruit salad - for color, texture, flavor and prettiness. I haven't had great luck with the cups of pomegranate seeds you can buy at various stores (they are often mushy and have a weird texture), so I prefer digging the seeds out of a pomegranate myself. TIPS: you can either halve and peel apart the pomegranate and gently pound the skin side with a wooden spoon, letting the seeds fall out into a bowl OR quarter the pomegranate and submerge the pomegranate quarters in a bowl of water pulling apart the pieces and letting the seeds fall to the bottom (the skin and white parts of the pomegranate will float to the top).
Dressing: my favorite way to make the dressing is to use 1 tablespoon orange juice and 1 tablespoon lemon juice (both freshly squeezed, if you can, especially the lemon juice). I love the tangy freshness from the lemon. But if you want it a bit sweeter and not as tangy, use all orange juice.
Cinnamon: you want a very light pinch of cinnamon - less than 1/8 teaspoon. It adds something so special to this salad and the small amount doesn't overpower the flavor.