What’s an easy way to improve a bowl of fruit salad? Instead of tossing it with sugar and calling it a day, make a fruit salad dressing. Using a dressing in fruit salad recipes will draw out the sweetness and juiciness of every piece of fruit. It’s a great way to make the most of slightly underripe berries and take the edge off tart tropical fruits or citrus slices. A dressing will also thicken the juices so they’re easier to scoop when you’re chasing that last bite with your spoon.
The flavors in homemade salad dressings are so much brighter than anything out of a bottle, plus you can control the seasonings. This dressing for fruit salad calls for a slightly different technique than most dressings. Rather than whisking together oil and acid, you’ll combine two fruit juices, along with flour, lemon juice and sugar, then bring the mixture to a boil on the stovetop. The boiling dissolves the flour into the liquid. The result is a syrupy sweet-tart dressing that makes any bowl of fruit taste nearly as rich as a fruit dessert.
Ingredients for Fruit Salad Dressing
- All-purpose flour: Flour is a key ingredient in this salad dressing. It makes the dressing thick enough to stick to slippery sliced fruit. Plus, flour soaks up liquid, so it will thicken the natural juices of fruit salad, making them syrupy and full of flavor. Be sure to boil the dressing since it’s not recommended to eat raw flour.
- Pineapple juice: A bit sweet and a bit tart, canned pineapple juice is a versatile base for the dressing and pairs with any type of fruit.
- Orange juice concentrate: Look for orange juice concentrate in the freezer section of the grocery store. Its thickness will bring the dressing together better than orange juice.
- Sugar: This recipe calls for plain white sugar. Use between 1/2 cup and 1 cup, depending on your preference. If you’re making a salad with tart fruits like winter citrus or pineapple and tropical fruits, you’ll likely want to use more sugar. If you’re using sweet ingredients like peaches and plums, dial down the sugar.
- Honey: Honey adds sweetness and thickens the dressing. You can use any type of honey you like.
- Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice adds bright acidity to the dressing, keeping it from tasting too sweet. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup, about the amount of juice in one large lemon.
- Assorted fresh fruit: Serve this dressing with any combination of fruits you like, from a specific fruit salad recipe to an impromptu combination of fruits you bought at the farmers market. You can even toss this dressing in a bowl of sliced fruit, such as strawberries, blueberries or segmented oranges.
Directions
Step 1: Cook the dressing
In a saucepan, combine the flour, pineapple juice, orange juice concentrate, sugar, honey and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Cook the ingredients, stirring, until thickened and bubbly, about two minutes. Use a silicone spatula to scrape down any juices that bubble up the sides of the pan.
Step 2: Cool the dressing
Allow the dressing to cool before tossing with fruit.
Editor’s Tip: To speed up the cooling, transfer the dressing to a heatproof metal bowl, and set the bowl inside a larger bowl filled with ice cubes or cold water.
Recipe Variations
- Make it gluten-free: Swap the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free flour blend, and follow the directions as written.
- Simplify: Don’t care to boil the dressing? Try a simplified version, leaving out the flour and simply stirring together honey, fruit juice, lemon and sugar.
- Add zest: Stir the zest of a lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit into the dressing to add a lively, fresh flavor.
- Add texture: Stir a tablespoon or two of poppy seeds into the dressing after removing it from the stovetop. They’ll add a complementary flavor and pleasant crunch.
How to Store Fruit Salad Dressing
Store leftover fruit salad dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. If you’ve already tossed the dressing into fruit salad, it should last up to a day in the fridge. The fruit will soften and brown the longer it sits, so eat it as soon as possible.
Fruit Salad Dressing Tips
How do you use fruit salad dressing?
Drizzle the dressing over an assembled fruit salad, a bowl of summer berries or plain sliced fresh fruit. Any fruit from any season tastes good with this, from winter citrus to summer stone fruits to tropical fruits.
What fruits shouldn’t you put in fruit salad?
Very strong-flavored fruit, like mouth-puckering grapefruit, is probably best left out of a fruit salad. Fruit that gets quite soft or soggy, like bananas, watermelon or raspberries, isn’t very pleasant either.
When can I serve fruit salad?
There are fruit salads for every occasion. They make delicious breakfasts, especially in summertime when so many fruits are ripe. It’s a tasty side dish with a picnic lunch. Skip the side salads at dinnertime, and serve a sweet fruit salad instead.
