Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (2024)

Dessert Holiday Favorites! Holidays

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

If you’re searching for festive ideas for fruit salad, you need this holiday fruit salad in your life! Featuring a variety of fruit in a creamy custard-like sauce, this fruit salad is one of my favorite treats… ever!

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (1)

Jump to Recipe

When it comes to ideas for fruit salad, I’ll always instantly turn to and recommend my Grandmama’s holiday fruit salad recipe. It’s my absolute favorite thing in the entire world to eat. I adore it. I love it. As my son said once, “This is so good. If it were a girl, I’d marry it!”. Yep, it’s THAT good.

So, what makes this refreshing fruit salad recipe so irresistible? Well, it includes lots of different fresh fruit, like apples, oranges, and grapes, plus multiple cans of fruit co*cktail. Then instead of a fruit salad dressing, you drain the fruit juice and make a deliciously creamy and custard-like sauce with the juice, sugar, and egg yolks. Let the fruit salad sit in the fridge overnight so the fruit can soak up all that creamy goodness and you have yourself the perfect winter fruit salad.

This is a great dessert dish to take to festive potlucks and gatherings with friends and family. No one will be able to resist!

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (2)

Recipe Ingredients

  • Apples
  • Oranges
  • Seedless grapes
  • 3-4 cans fruit co*cktail (with juice)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 6 egg yolks

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (3)

Let’s first start with the fresh fruit! Peel and chop apples. Place in a bowl.

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (4)

Peel and cut up oranges. Cut oranges up over apples and stir so that the orange juice prevents them from browning.

Yep, no need for lime juice or lemon juice. The orange juice does the job!

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (5)

Cut grapes into halves. Place in the bowl.

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (6)

Pour all of the fruit co*cktail cans into the bowl, juice and all.

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (7)

Stir well.

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (8)

Drain the juice from the bowl of fruit into a saucepot.

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (9)

Add sugar.

You CAN use Splenda in place of sugar here!

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (10)

Separate eggs.

You can discard the whites or find another use for them. I’ve included some ideas in the notes section of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Beat egg yolks well.

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (11)

Add to the saucepot. Stir well.

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (12)

Cook for approximately 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.

Cool.

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (13)

Pour over fruit. Stir, cover, and refrigerate.

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (14)

Make at least 24 hours ahead so that flavors can marry.

Or they can just date for a bit. They’ll likely get along better if they haven’t signed on for a commitment after such a short time anyway!

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (15)

Serve cold.

If you had any idea how wonderful this tastes you’d be dying right now!

Grandmama and Mama always store theirs in glass jars in the fridge, kind of like this one.

Storage

Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week. I don’t recommend freezing leftover fruit salad.

Recipe Notes

  • When it comes to topping ideas for fruit salad, I recommend coconut and/or pecans. You could also garnish the fresh fruit salad with pomegranate seeds or fresh mint leaves for a festive touch!
  • If you’d like to add more fresh fruit, you can add bananas to this fruit salad recipe. However, they turn dark quickly and the fruit salad will not last as long in the refrigerator.
  • This is a fresh fruit salad. I wouldn’t recommend using frozen fruit.
  • Another idea is to transform this into a summer fruit salad, by using cantaloupe, a blueberry punnet, strawberry slices, orjuicy watermelon.
  • Instead of fruit co*cktail, you could use a variety of canned tropical fruit, like crushed pineapple, peach slices, or maraschino cherries.
  • This is the perfect time to save those egg whites for the meringue on top of a pie or banana pudding! Here are my favorite dessert recipes using meringue:
    • Banana Pudding
    • Lemon Meringue Pie
    • Orange Meringue Pie
    • Coffee Cream Pie
    • Ghost Meringue Cookies Recipe
    • Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies AKA Cloud Cookies

Here are more fabulously festive recipes to make these holidays:

Southern Plate’s Must Make Christmas Cookies

Christmas Tie-Dyed Cheesecake Brownies

Holiday Popcorn Crunch

Sugared Cranberries (3 Ingredients Only)

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (16)

Holiday Fruit Salad

Featuring a variety of fruit in a creamy custard-like sauce, this holiday fruit salad is one of my favorite treats... ever!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: salad

Servings: 4

Calories: 137kcal

Ingredients

  • 6-8 apples
  • 6 oranges
  • 1 lb seedless grapes
  • 3-4 cans fruit co*cktail 15-ounce cans. You can use generic, it is every bit as good!
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 6 egg yolks*

Instructions

  • Peel the fruit and chop them into small pieces. Cut the oranges over the apples so that the juice from the oranges will stop the apples from turning dark. Pour fruit co*cktail cans over the fruit.

    6-8 apples, 6 oranges, 1 lb seedless grapes, 3-4 cans fruit co*cktail

  • Drain the juice from the fruit into a saucepan. Add 1 cup of sugar and 6 egg yolks. Blend well.

    1 cup sugar, 6 egg yolks*

  • Cook for approximately 15 minutes over medium heat stirring occasionally until slightly thickened. Cool. Pour over fruit.

  • Stir, cover, and refrigerate. Will keep in the fridge for a week. Make at least 24 hours ahead so that flavors can marry.

  • Optional: coconut and pecans. Bananas can be added but they turn dark quickly and the fruit salad will not last as long in the refrigerator.

Notes

*This is the perfect time to save those egg whites for the meringue on top of a pie or banana pudding! Recipes below:
Banana Pudding
Lemon Meringue Pie
Orange Meringue Pie
Coffee Cream Pie

Nutrition

Calories: 137kcal

Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

Ideas For Fruit Salad - Festive Holiday Fruit Salad - Southern Plate (2024)

FAQs

What is a creamy fruit salad made of? ›

Mix pineapple juice and dry instant vanilla pudding together and set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Mix the pineapple, fruit co*cktail, mandarin oranges, bananas & marshmallows together. Gently fold in pudding mixture. Lastly, fold in cool whip.

What does a fruit salad contain? ›

Common ingredients used in fruit salads include strawberries, pineapple, honeydew, watermelon, grapes, and kiwifruit. Various recipes may call for the addition of nuts, fruit juices, certain vegetables, yogurt, or other ingredients.

What is an interesting fact about the fruit salad? ›

History. The concept of fruit salad was probably introduced during the US Naval Era, perhaps in the early 1900s. While ancient CHamorus ate mangoes, papayas, young coconuts (månha), bananas and other native fruits, the mixing of a variety of fruits with a sweet sauce is distinctly Western.

How to level up a fruit salad? ›

Add extra flavor

If you're putting together a fruit salad, extra flavoring can bring everything together or improve fruit that is less than perfect. You can do this in several ways. For even coverage and a boost of sweetness, use a simple syrup flavored with herbs or citrus zest/peel.

What not to put in a fruit salad? ›

It should not contain EITHER apple or banana (although an apple-only salad would be fine)(I hate bananas). Here's the thing – when you add banana to a fruit salad, everything just ends up tasting like different textures of banana. And apple is way too texturally different to all the other fruits.

What is fruit salad dressing made of? ›

In a saucepan, combine the flour, pineapple juice, orange juice concentrate, sugar, honey and lemon juice. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Cool. Serve over fruit.

What fruit go well together? ›

So go ahead, mix it up and enjoy!
  • Starfruit and strawberries. ...
  • Avocado and papaya. ...
  • Bittergourd, apple and lemon. ...
  • Cucumber, kale and pear. ...
  • Avocado, celery, cucumber and lemon. ...
  • Mango, cherry and dragonfruit. ...
  • Sugarcane and carrot. ...
  • Papaya, pineapple and lemon.
Jul 15, 2018

What mixture of fruit salad? ›

The best fruit for fruit salad:

For our fruit salad, we chose a combo of strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, raspberries, oranges, grapes, mangos, and apples. But, you can customize this completely based on your preferences: blackberries, cherries, pineapple, and banana would all be delicious.

Can a fruit salad fill you up? ›

The water and fiber in fruits and vegetables will add volume to your dishes, so you can eat the same amount of food with fewer calories. Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and are filling.

What are 4 facts about fruit? ›

#1 - Apples, peaches and raspberries are all members of the rose family. #2 - Pumpkins and avocados are fruits not a vegetable. #4 - A half-cup of figs has as much calcium as a half-cup of milk. #5 - Green fruits help make your bones and teeth strong.

What is fruit salad activity? ›

The main activity, Have a go, involves the children tasting different fruit and learning how to make a fruit salad by peeling, cutting with a knife and combining ingredients.

Why fruit salad is the best? ›

With the right quantity and type of fruits, a fruit salad can work wonders for you, for it will provide you with a power-packed dose of fibre, vitamins and antioxidants. At the same time, you will also get a wide range of health benefits, right from lower blood pressure levels to weight management.

What to put on fruit to make it taste better? ›

Macerate with lemon juice and sugar

Together, lemon juice and sugar are a pair that takes the concept of "fruit enhancement" to an entirely new level. The acid in lemon juice brightens the natural flavors of fruit and prevents oxidation, which makes fruits like apples and bananas go brown after being cut.

How do you take the bitterness out of fruit salad? ›

Salt and lemon juice also help a great deal, if you can't eat much salt use a bit more of the lemon.

Should fruit salad be served cold or room temperature? ›

While you can serve the Fruit Salad immediately, my preference is to chill it for several hours (or even overnight) so the sugar syrup has time to both soften and flavor the fruits.

What is creamy salad dressing made of? ›

Start with a base: Most creamy dressings contain mayo, sour cream, and/or yogurt, with a 50-50 ratio. For example, 2 tablespoons mayo + 2 tablespoons sour cream. For a lighter version, you can use all yogurt, but I like to use some mayo for the richness it adds.

What fruit has a creamy texture? ›

Figs. Black figs are extremely delicate, sweet, and flavorful when ripe! It has a slightly chewy skin and a soft creamy white interior with a seed mass bound by jelly-like flesh. The flavor is a cross between strawberry, melon, and banana, with a pleasantly jammy, creamy texture.

What fruit taste creamy? ›

It's Cherimoya, otherwise known as the custard apple. This fruit is large with a creamy white flesh and large black seeds in the center. A ripe Cherimoya has green skin and is soft to touch, much like a ripe avocado.

What is a creamy fruit like a banana? ›

Packed with nutrients and closely related to cacao, the cupuaçu is described as having creamy white pulp with a chocolatey-pineapple flavor and juice that tastes like pear and banana.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Kerri Lueilwitz

Last Updated:

Views: 6450

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (47 voted)

Reviews: 86% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Kerri Lueilwitz

Birthday: 1992-10-31

Address: Suite 878 3699 Chantelle Roads, Colebury, NC 68599

Phone: +6111989609516

Job: Chief Farming Manager

Hobby: Mycology, Stone skipping, Dowsing, Whittling, Taxidermy, Sand art, Roller skating

Introduction: My name is Kerri Lueilwitz, I am a courageous, gentle, quaint, thankful, outstanding, brave, vast person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.