This easy Fruit Salad Dressing is addictively good! Made with just 4 ingredients, it’s a zesty dressing packed with fresh citrus, honey, and poppy seeds. Hands down the best way to add a sweet and tangy flare to your homemade fruit salad with minimal effort.

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What can you put on fruit to make it taste better? Fruit salad dressing! A tangy, creamy sauce is the easiest way to take your fresh fruit salad from yummy to YUMMY. Speaking from experience, it will be a huge hit at your next party.
This recipe is an orange poppy seed dressing with an extra splash of lime juice and honey for more flavor. Another one of our favorites is this Easy Fruit Salad Recipe with Bright Honey Lime Dressing. Take your pick… both are delicious!
🏅Why it's great!
Take loads of fresh fruit and add a delicious fruit salad dressing! It’s as simple as that. The best part is that this recipe is:
- Only 4 ingredients
- Sweet and tangy
- Great for entertaining
- Can be made ahead
- Healthy side dish (or healthy dessert)
🍊 Ingredients
- Orange: You will need fresh zest and orange juice.
- Lime: You will need fresh lime zest and lime juice. I would not substitute lemon juice.
- Honey: Just a hint of honey to add sweetness.
- Poppy seed dressing: This makes the dressing a bit creamy and adds an extra layer of flavor. Any brand from the grocery store will do. Use up the leftovers in this addictive Autumn Chopped Salad recipe!
🔪 How to make fruit salad dressing
- Zest the citrus: For easy zesting, use a microplane (affiliate).
- Juice the citrus: You can juice by hand since you only need a few tablespoons, or use a hand juicer (affiliate).
- Combine ingredients: Combine the citrus zest, fresh juice, honey, and poppy seed dressing in a small bowl.
- Add to fruit: Pour over 8-10 cups of your favorite fruits and stir gently, then serve immediately. It's the best fruit salad!
🍓Best fruit for fruit salad
You can pretty much use any fruit for this recipe, although I recommend sticking to seasonal fruit. This recipe will cover 8-10 cups of cut fruit. Aim for all the pieces of fruit to be relatively the same size. Wash and dry all the fruit thoroughly before adding to the salad.
- Fresh pineapple: Small pieces is best.
- Strawberries: Cut in half or fourths depending on how large they are.
- Blackberries: Toss in as is.
- Raspberries: This particular fruit is a little more fussy that the rest. It is best to add these at the last minute and stir in gently to keep them from smashing.
- Blueberries: Just pop in as is.
- Kiwi: Peel the outer fuzzy layer then dice.
- Mandarin oranges: Peel and then gently pul-apart the segments.
- Oranges: Same as the mandarin oranges, but if they are large cut each segment in half.
- Honeydew: Either cut into cubes or use a melon baller for something a little fun.
- Cantaloupe: Same as the honeydew melon.
- Red Grapes: Remove from stems and toss in as is unless they are large then cut in half.
- Green Grapes: Same as the purple grapes.
🙋 Questions and Answers
You can make this simple dressing ahead and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. It will be cloudy because of the poppy seed dressing… Don’t worry, just give it a good stir. Add to fruit right before serving for best results.
It depends on the occasion and how many other sides are being served. I find that at some events (such as Fourth of July or Easter) a lot more fruit is eaten than other events (such as a baby shower or simple weeknight meal). In general, I plan for about 1 cup of fruit salad per person.
This fruit salad dressing recipe is a great way to elevate a simple fruit salad for Easter, Fourth of July, backyard barbecues, Mother's day, baby showers, birthday parties, camping trips, potlucks, summer outings, or even as a part of a brunch spread. Nice and refreshing for a hot day!
It is not recommended to use frozen fruit in this salad since it gets smushy as it thaws. Fresh, ripe in-season fruit is best.
Fresh is best, but fruit salad can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Just know that as the fruit sits it will release it's juice and get a little bit softer but will still taste delicious.
👨🏼🍳 Tips & Tricks
- Use fresh oranges and limes - no bottled juice! I promise it makes all the difference.
- Choose GREAT fruit. Ripe fruits that are in season will be the most flavorful.
- Add the dressing right before serving to avoid soggy fruit.
- Toss together in a really big bowl to distribute the dressing evenly.
- Use up the leftover poppy seed dressing in this delicious Autumn Chopped Salad recipe!
📖 More summer side dish recipes
- Easy Baked Beans (using canned beans)
- Pan Roasted Frozen Corn
- Honey Lime Fruit Salad (summer fruit salad)
- Moist Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread
- Frozen Lemonade (I know... not a side dish. But so worth it!)
👋🏻 Connect with us!
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and star rating to let us know how it is! We’d also love to connect with you on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Tag @borrowedbites or hashtag #borrowedbites to show us your food!
📋 Recipe
Delicious Fruit Salad Dressing (3 minutes!)
Equipment
- Microplane zester (affiliate)
- Hand juicer (affiliate)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon orange zest from 1 large orange
- 3 tablespoon fresh orange juice from 1 large orange
- 1 teaspoon lime zest from 1 lime
- 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice from 1-2 limes
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon poppy seed dressing any brand
Instructions
- Zest orange and lime. Squeeze juice, being careful to strain out seeds.
- Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl.1 tablespoon orange zest, 3 tablespoon fresh orange juice, 1 teaspoon lime zest, 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice, 2 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoon poppy seed dressing
- Pour over 8-10 cups of fresh fruit and stir gently. Serve immediately.
- We love comments! Please come back and leave us one after you’ve tried this recipe.
Notes
Tips & Tricks
- Use fresh oranges and limes - no bottled juice! I promise it makes all the difference.
- Choose GREAT fruit. Ripe fruits that are in season will be the most flavorful.
- Add the dressing right before serving to avoid soggy fruit.
- Toss together in a really big bowl to distribute the dressing evenly.
- Use up the leftover poppy seed dressing in this delicious Autumn Chopped Salad recipe!
Make Ahead Instructions
Make the dressing as instructed, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. It will be cloudy because of the poppy seed dressing… Don’t worry, just give it a good stir. Add to fresh fruit right before serving for best results. Best Fruit For Fruit Salad- Fresh pineapple: Small pieces is best.
- Strawberries: Cut in half or fourths depending on how large they are.
- Blackberries: Toss in as is.
- Raspberries: This particular fruit is a little more fussy that the rest. It is best to add these at the last minute and stir in gently to keep them from smashing.
- Blueberries: Just pop in as is.
- Kiwi: Peel the outer fuzzy layer then dice.
- Mandarin oranges: Peel and then gently pul-apart the segments.
- Oranges: Same as the mandarin oranges, but if they are large cut each segment in half.
- Honeydew: Either cut into cubes or use a melon baller for something a little fun.
- Cantaloupe: Same as the honeydew melon.
- Red Grapes: Remove from stems and toss in as is unless they are large then cut in half.
- Green Grapes: Same as the purple grapes.
Add Your Own Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition information is provided by a third party and is an estimate only. Use your own nutritional calculator for more specific measurements.
Barbara Gardner says
This is the 3rd time I’ve used this dressing. It’s so delicious! Thanks!
Danielle says
So happy you love it, and thank you so much for letting us know! It makes our day!