Summer Dragon Fruit Salad

Fruit salads are an easy side dish to throw together for potlucks, outdoor gatherings, and every occasion! So today, I’m sharing a show-stopping summer fruit salad featuring fresh dragon fruit and a medley of tropical fruits and berries brightened up with honey and fresh lime.

Dragon fruit is a rather funny-looking tropical fruit with firm magenta skin, green scales, and opaque, speckled, delightfully sweet flesh. It tastes like a combination of melon, kiwi, and pear with a creamy texture similar to the perfect avocado. This dragon fruit salad truly is the best way to showcase this succulent fruit!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s nutritious and a great source of fiber and antioxidants.
• Naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan (with maple syrup).
• The combination of colorful fresh fruit makes a gorgeous side dish for holiday brunches and BBQs.
• You can mix and match the combination of fresh fruit and berries with your favorites. The options are endless!

Ingredients You’ll Need

This fruit salad has an array of vibrant tropical fruits and berries with mint, honey, and lime. A few notes about the ingredients:

• Dragon fruit –  This delicate tropical fruit turns your ordinary fruit salad into something extra special. Also known as pitahaya or strawberry pear, dragon fruit is full of fiber, immunity-boosting antioxidants, and tart, sweet, and fruity flavor. You can use red or white dragon fruit. Red tends to be sweeter and juicier than white.
• Pineapple – Sticking with tropical fruits, next up is pineapple. It’s a great source of vitamins and minerals and pairs perfectly with dragon fruit.
• Kiwi – A tart, tropical fruit to balance the super sweet dragon fruit and pineapple.
• Fresh berries – I went with blueberries & strawberries for the pop of color and flavor, but you can use any bite-size berry.
• Mint – For bursts of cool, refreshing flavor, sliced into ribbons or chopped.
• Dressing – It’s simple and delicious! It’s nothing more than honey, lime juice, and lime zest.

How To Make Dragon Fruit Salad

Step 1: Prep fresh fruit and mint. Dice or use a melon baller to cut the dragon fruit flesh into bite-size cubes or rounds.

Cut the pineapple and kiwi fruit. Remove the stems from the strawberries and cut them in half or quarters, depending on size. Chop the mint.

Step 2: Make salad dressing. Whisk honey with freshly squeezed lime juice and lime zest in a small bowl until combined.

Step 3. Toss fruit salad. Add dragon fruit, pineapple, kiwi, and berries to a large salad bowl. Add the chopped mint, then drizzle the dressing over the top and toss gently to coat the fruit with mint and dressing.

Step 4: Chill and serve. Cover the bowl and set it in the fridge before serving to wake up the flavors. Re-toss your fruit salad and garnish with fresh mint when you’re ready to serve. Enjoy!

Recipe Tips

• Don’t be intimidated by its bizarre shape. Dragon fruit is easy to cut. First, slice the fruit in half lengthwise, then scoop out the soft flesh and dice (just as you would an avocado).
• Cut the dragon fruit, pineapple, and kiwi the same size using a melon baller or fun mini cookie cutter shapes.
• Don’t prepare this salad more than a day in advance, as the dragon fruit won’t be as firm and fresh tasting. Fruit salad is always best eaten soon after preparation.

Variations

Substitutions – The personalization options are endless. Use a creative combination of fresh fruit, berries, and herbs, and make this dragon fruit salad your own.

• Fruit – Chopped papaya, mango, guava, tangerine wedges, or star fruit!
• Berries – like blackberries, raspberries, grapes, and ripe cherries.
• Herbs – Fresh lemon thyme is lovely with honey and fruit. It adds a lovely citrus flavor. I grow it every summer!
• Dressing – Instead of honey, you can use maple syrup or agave nectar. Additionally, feel free to use lemon or orange juice and zest as a substitute for lime. I highly recommend maple syrup for a tasty vegan fruit salad option.

Serving – Serve your tropical fruit salad in dessert bowls topped with a dollop of vanilla Greek yogurt, coconut cream, whipped cream, or mascarpone. Sprinkle with crunchy blueberry granola, mini chocolate chips, or toasted coconut.

Add crumbled feta and crunchy chopped walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, or almonds for a sweet and salty version.

Storing & Freezing

Storing: This fruit salad is best made up to a day in advance, so the fruit has plenty of time to marinate and absorb the honey-lime dressing. Store extra in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days—Retoss before serving.

Freezing: Another option is freezing leftover dragon fruit salad in smoothie-size portions. When you’re craving a rejuvenating smoothie, you can blend the frozen fruit in a high-speed blender, and voila -a dragon fruit smoothie!

Tropical Fruit Recipes You’ll Love

Easy Mango Orange Popsicles

Tropical Spirulina Smoothie Bowl

Tropical Protein Ice Cream

Tropical Island Green Smoothie

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