Winter Fruit Salad (Paleo or Vegan)

Let’s make Winter Fruit Salad! This fresh, bright winter fruit salad with orange dressing is a perfect combination of colors and flavors. We love this for a holiday brunch! (Gluten Free, Vegan, Paleo)

Did you have a good holiday last week? It’s always so nice to take a little break from our regular routine and celebrate. (It helps that we got to eat a lot–like a LOT, lot–of pie!)

To ease into the rest of the holiday season, I’m popping in with a happy, sunny recipe to get you through the winter: Winter Fruit Salad! It’s packed with vitamin c, a good dose of fiber, and lots of beautiful colors to wake up your plate.

If you’ve got a holiday brunch, potluck, party, or get-together planned (or just need a good idea for your winter fruit!) this winter fruit salad with citrus dressing is the perfect option. It’s got an amazing blend of textures, colors, and flavors, and the bright orange dressing ties everything together.

Plus, it’s SUPER easy to make–there are just a handful of ingredients! Here’s what I put in ours…

Simple Ingredients For Winter Fruit Salad:

• APPLES. Thank goodness apples make it through the winter so well! They add such brightness and crispness to this winter fruit salad. My favorite are Honeycrisp because they’re slower to brown (Seriously! It’s like magic!), have a juicy, crisp texture, and strike the perfect balance between sweet and tart. (Fuji, Envy, and Pink Lady would be my runners-up)
• CLEMENTINES OR ORANGES. Winter is prime citrus season, so we’re bringing that element in through oranges! I love to use clementines (since we ALWAYS have them on hand in the winter), but you can also use supremed oranges (with their peels + pith removed) if that’s easier for you. See the next section for tips on how to prep oranges if you go that route!
• SLICED KIWI. Kiwi make such a pretty addition to this winter fruit salad. I love how their sweet-tart flavor brings out the citrus and brightens up the apples. If you can’t do kiwi (for allergies or preference), I recommend using still-firm (but not hard!) pears instead.
• POMEGRANATE ARILS – Pomegranates are basically nature’s jewels. These pretty little seeds (called “arils”) look like bright red jewels in any setting, and they’re especially pretty in this winter fruit salad. I love how pretty they look and how lovely they taste in this salad! (See the next section for tips on preparing a pomegranate if you’re a newbie!)
• A SIMPLE ORANGE DRESSING. The fruit salad orange dressing is made from just 2 ingredients: orange juice and honey or agave. The citrus does double duty, keeping the fruit from browning and adding some brightness and tang. The honey helps soften the fruit slightly and pull all the flavors together, mediating any tartness going on in your fruit. It’s a really lovely combination! (See the FAQ below if you want to change things up!)
  

4 EASY TIPS FOR SLICING & PREPPING YOUR FRUIT

There are just a handful of simple ingredients in this winter fruit salad recipe, but if you’re a beginner (or just feeling a bit rusty), here are some easy tutorials for helping you prepare your fruit! 

1. HOW TO CUT PRETTY APPLE SLICES. This is the exact method I use to cut pretty apple slices. Once you’ve got those nice, thin slices, you can stack a few at a time and cut the slices into 3-4 smaller pieces.
2. HOW TO SUPREME AN ORANGE. If you’re not using clementines, you’ll want to supreme oranges for this winter fruit salad. Supreming an orange is simply removing the outer orange rind and bitter white pith for clean, pretty orange slices that look gorgeous and keep your fruit salad from tasting bitter.
3. HOW TO PREPARE KIWI. Everyone’s got their own tricks for cutting kiwi. I like to cut off the ends, then stand the kiwi up and remove the fuzzy brown layer of skin with a sharp knife (basically this method but with a small, sharp knife instead of a peeler). Then, I slice it lengthwise before slicing it into thin, half-circle slices.
4. HOW TO SEED A POMEGRANATE. Pomegranate can feel a bit intimidating if you’ve never prepped one yourself before. You can buy them already prepared, but I find the flavor (and the cost savings) makes prepping it myself feel worth it. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial for how to prep a pomegranate.

FAQ + TIPS FOR PERFECT WINTER FRUIT SALAD

TIP: USE A GOOD, SHARP KNIFE. A good, sharp knife will make preparing your fruit easy and give you the prettiest results. This super-sharp knife is under $9 and works SO WELL. It’s what I use for almost everything!

CAN I MAKE WINTER FRUIT SALAD IN ADVANCE? Yes! Thanks to the citrus acidity of the orange juice dressing, this winter fruit salad won’t brown quickly and can be prepared several hours in advance. I actually prefer it this way, since it gives the flavors a chance to mingle.

HOW LONG WILL THIS WINTER FRUIT SALAD KEEP? It’ll easily last well for 2-3 days in the fridge, though once you get to that 3 day mark, the fruit will have broken down a bit. (Sometimes I puree the leftovers and sip them as a smoothie!)

WHAT OTHER FRUIT CAN I USE FOR WINTER FRUIT SALAD? You can certainly use regular oranges, or ripe pears, or a mix of different apple colors!

WANT A CHANGE OF PACE? TRY THIS! I love this winter fruit salad recipe as it is, but it’s always fun to play around a bit. If you’re looking for something to change it up, try one of these options:

• Swap in a honey lime dressing (like this one) instead of the orange dressing.
• Add a little fresh mint. I love how pretty a little mint can look in fruit salad! 1 Tbsp minced will be plenty for a salad this size, but you can go up to 2 Tbsp if you really love it.
• Add 1/2-1 teaspoon of poppy seeds for an orange poppyseed dressing effect.

⭐ Don’t forget to leave a star review and comment below when you make our Winter Fruit Salad recipe. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!

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