Tropical Fruit Salad

A tropical fruit salad full of all the bright flavors of summer and beaches and sunshine and palm trees. One bite, and you’ll feel like you’re sitting on the sand listening to the waves crash on the shore.

No need to fly to Hawaii to enjoy a tropical fruit salad! No, never mind, scratch that…definitely hop on a plane to a Hawaii if you can. But this fruit salad can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere!

Sometimes to get my kids to eat I make a fruit salad as the side dish to dinner and pretend I’m the best mom in the whole wide world. It works! Try it!

You know how certain foods remind you of certain seasons of the year? It’s often based on what fruits and vegetables are in season. Like you start seeing all the yummy apple desserts when fall come around and everything gingerbread and peppermint for Christmas. Well summer just screams fruit to me! All the fresh fruit is in season and cheaper at the grocery store…

Hello strawberry shortcake and deep fried peaches! We are big fruit eaters in our house whether it’s delicious desserts like these or a protein smoothie for breakfast…we love the fruit!!

This fruit salad is refreshing and colorful, and the easiest side dish for your next summer BBQ or potluck! And if you are reading this in the dead of cold dreary winter, you can totally make our winter fruit salad with what is in season during the winter months!

What Ingredients Go in Tropical Fruit Salad?

Grab all your favorite tropical summer-y fruit and throw it in a bowl! We will share our list of preferred fruits, but you can seriously add anything you want! This combination of flavors and colors is just the BEST! Here is our list:

Pineapple
Kiwi
Mandarin Oranges
Mangoes
Bananas
Lime Juice
Honey
Poppy Seeds

The amount of each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

a glass bowl full of chopped up tropical fruits - mandarin oranges, kiwi, pineapple, bananas - all mixed in a bowl and coated in a poppy seed dressing.

How to Make Tropical Fruit Salad

I said it was easy and now let me prove it, friends!

Add all the fruit to a bowl.
Combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a separate bowl.
Pour dressing over the fruit and stir gently until the fruit is all coated.
Serve immediately.

That’s it! You’re done and everyone is going to love these tropical flavors! The lime juice in the dressing is the perfect citrus-y burst you want with these fruits!

These instructions can also be found in the recipe card at the end of the post. You can save and print the recipe from there.

Other Fruit Options

If you don’t like one of the fruits above or you’re allergic or you just don’t have kiwis on hand or you want more colors (whatever the reason!), here are a few other ideas:

Raspberries
Papayas
Strawberries
Grapes
Shredded Coconut
Cantaloupe
Watermelon

Now I know many of these are not tropical, but they will taste great and add different colors or textures. Just go with what you love and what you have on hand!

What to Serve with Tropical Fruit Salad?

Since we are thinking summer and tropical-ness, then we surely need to pair this with some food on the grill or the smoker! Here are a few of our faves:

Any of those with a side of grilled corn on the cob and the best baked beans, and you have the best meal you’ll have all summer!

Can Fruit Salad Be Made Ahead of Time?

This salad really is best served right away. If you do need to make it ahead of time, save the bananas to add right before serving since bananas can turn brown and mushy so quickly. Otherwise, this salad can be made up to 4 hours ahead of time.

What Fruits Go Together Best?

Some might think that there’s no rhyme or reason to a fruit salad, but certain flavors, textures and color go together better than others. I usually try to stick with the firmer fruits that won’t get mushy or brown quickly (except for the banana in this recipe…I just the banana in this!). When it comes to color, I always say the more the better when it comes to fruit!

My Favorite Tropical Dinner

I mentioned a few ideas for main dishes above, but our latest dinner obsession has been this fruit salad, with coconut rice, kalua pork and our fluffy delicious Hawaiian dinner rolls. You’ll love this spread!

If you can’t go to the beach, then let us bring the beach to you! A tropical fruit salad is just what you need to soak in all the flavors of summer!

More Summer Fruit Recipes:

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