This simple side dish is a summertime favorite! The star shapes, red white & blue fruit, and the tangy honey lime dressing make it perfect for summer picnics, backyard bbqs and cookouts, or summer parties.
Serve watermelon margaritas with watermelon stars and you'll be all set!
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- Simple recipe.
- A refreshing, colorful fruit salad that's perfect for warm summer days.
- Takes very little effort - it's done in about 10 minutes.
This easy fruit salad recipe is the perfect summer side dish or light dessert! Seasonal fruit like melons and fresh strawberries plus a simple honey-lime dressing create a burst of flavor.
The entire family is going to love this pretty, patriotic dessert.
🧾 Ingredients
Seedless watermelon works best in this recipe.
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🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
- Mix the lime juice and honey.
- Add the mint and set aside.
- Cut the fruit in star shapes.
- Mix it all together.
🥄 Equipment
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You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
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🥫 Storage
Fresh fruit salad is best eaten right away (or within a couple of hours of making it) but you can keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
This dish doesn't freeze well as a salad but you can freeze leftovers and use them for breakfast smoothies.
📖 Variations
- You can substitute agave nectar for the honey. Either will help the dressing adhere to the fruit and add a little sweetness.
- You could also use lemon or orange juice instead of lime.
- Other fruit that would work great in this salad include: apples, cherries, kiwi fruit, apples, honeydew, mandarin oranges, fresh pineapple, seedless grapes, and raspberries.
- Don't be afraid to substitute the fruit that looks best at your grocery store or farmer's market for what's listed in the recipe.
- Tropical fruits are yummy in this fruit salad, too!
- Dragon fruit is a delicious addition.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: The flavor of your honey will make a huge difference in the finished flavor of this red white & blue fruit salad. Use a light honey - like clover honey, orange blossom honey, or wildflower honey for best results.
- This patriotic fruit salad recipe is perfect all summer long but I especially love it for Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day.
- Make sure the fruit is very ripe for the best flavor. Fresh ingredients make all the difference!
- If you use light colored fruits like apples or pears swishing them in a little lemon juice is a good idea. It will keep them from discoloring.
- An easy way to peel peaches is to drop them in boiling water for 10-20 seconds then fish them out - the peel will slip right off!
- If the watermelon slices are too thin, they may break while you’re trying to cut the stars. But if they’re too thick you may not be able to get the cookie cutter through - cut them about one inch thick.
- Use a clear glass bowl so all the colors and shapes of the pretty salad is easy to see.
- Top with a little whipped cream or Cool Whip to make it more of a dessert.
- If you have leftovers you can freeze them for smoothies and smoothie bowls.
- Seedless watermelon works best in this easy summer fruit salad.
- I like to eat fruit at room temperature - even in this salad. I just think that allows more of the fruit flavor to come through than when it's cold. Serve it the way you like best.
👩🍳 FAQs
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.
Brush them on all sides with lemon juice - or add them to a large bowl with 1 cup of water and ¼ cup of lemon juice.
Yes. Fresh fruit can be cut up the night before you plan to use it. Be sure to coat with lemon juice if it's light colored. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap.
Yes. Watermelon is fine cut and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
📚 Related recipes
📞 The last word
One of the best things about the summer months when I was growing up was the pool parties that my parents used to throw.
They'd have themed 4th of July parties every year - one year it was Christmas and they decorated the pool area with Christmas decor and "Santa" showed up and handed out presents.
I don't throw the amazing parties that my parents did but I do like to recreate the easy salad recipes that Mom served in that iconic 1960s style.
Try this on a hot summer day - you'll love it!
📖 Recipe
Red, White, & Berry Fruit Salad
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 1 watermelon, seedless
- 2-3 peaches
- 16 ounces strawberries
- 16 ounces blueberries
- 2 ½ tablespoons honey, mild honey like wildflower or orange blossom
- 1 tablespoon mint, chopped
- 1 lime
Instructions
Step one
- Place the honey in a bowl. Cut the lime in half and squeeze both halves into the bowl, being careful not to get any seeds in there.
- Add chopped mint. Whisk until mixed well. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Step two
- Wash the strawberries. Drain well and gently pat dry with paper towel.
- Core and hull the berries -discard stems. ( To hull berries: with a paring knife, pierce the berry where the stem meets the core. Twist, using your thumb to guide the knife, and remove the core and stem)
- Chop the strawberries into a large dice and add to a large mixing bowl.
- Wash blueberries. Drain well, gently pat with paper towel, and add them to the bowl.
Step three
- Slice the watermelon so that you have big round slices. Each slice should be about an inch or so thick. If they're too thin the stars will break - too thick and you won't be able to get the cookie cutter through them.
- Lay each slice flat. Using the star cookie cutter, push it into the watermelon to cut out a star.
- Repeat until you’ve cut out as many stars as you can.
- Place the watermelon stars in the bowl with the strawberries and blueberries.
- Next, remove the skin from the peaches and slice the peaches into ½-inch thick flat pieces. Do this by cutting straight down until you reach the pit then slice straight down on the other side until you reach the pit.
- Lay the pieces flat and use the cookie cutter to cut stars out of the peach slices - like you did with the watermelon. Make as many stars as you can and then place them in the bowl.
Step four
- Drizzle the honey lime dressing over the fruit.
- Carefully mix all the fruit in the bowl until it’s evenly coated in the dressing.
- Garnish with a sprinkle of lime zest on top of the fruit.
Notes
- You can substitute agave nectar for the honey.
- An easy way to peel peaches is to drop them in boiling water for 10-20 seconds then fish them out - the peel will slip right off!
- If you use light colored fruits like apples or pears swishing them in a little lemon juice is a good idea. It will keep them from discoloring.
- You could also use lemon or orange juice instead of lime.
- Other fruit that would work great in this salad include: apples, cherries, kiwi fruit, apples, honeydew, mandarin oranges, fresh pineapple, seedless grapes, and raspberries - really any of your favorite fruits!
- If the watermelon slices are too thin, they may break while you’re trying to cut the stars. But if they’re too thick you may not be able to get the cookie cutter through - cut them about one inch thick.
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