Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

November 14, 2015

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.

Jump to Recipe

Winter Fruit Salad made with fresh apples, mandarins, kiwi, bananas and pomegranate arils, all tossed with a sweet, bright poppyseed dressing.

Always a party favorite and perfect way to use up the fruit in season!

Like this Winter version? Also try my go-to classic fruit salad recipe filled with summer fruit.

Winter Fruit Salad Recipe

Normally I always think of fruit salads as a summer side dish but there’s still a lot of fruit in season during winter so why not take advantage of that and make a winter fruit salad?

Plus I’ve had Thanksgiving in mind and the fact that it’s usually a lot of not so healthy foods so I thought it would be a good idea to throw some fruit in there this year to help balance it out a little.

You know, feeling okay about eating that 800 calorie slice of of pie loaded up with whipped cream because I did eat all of my fruit salad first :).

Just like any fruit salad this is so easy to make and it adds so much gorgeous natural color to your table.

Made with Festive Fruit

With this fruit salad I wanted to use Christmas/fall colored fruit so it would be perfectly fitting for the holidays. This is the first time I’ve added pomegranate arils to a fruit salad and I absolutely loved it!

I mean when you have four large pomegranates in your fridge you had better put them to good use, right? When they are $1 each you just don’t walk past that without grabbing a bunch.

One thing I love about this time of year are all the oranges and mandarines that are in season – and that scent! I also love the fact that I don’t have to peel the mandarines for my kids (call me lazy), so easy to peel a 3 year old can do it.

How to Make Easy Winter Fruit Salad

For the fruit salad dressing: In a mixing bowl or jar whisk together lemon juice and sugar until sugar has dissolved.
Mix in olive oil, vegetable oil and honey until well blended. Stir in poppy seeds.
For the fruit salad: In a salad bowl toss together all of the fruit then pour dressing over top and gently toss to coat.
Serve immediately for best results.

Can I Make it in Advance?

For make ahead with this salad you can peel the mandarines a day in advance, as well as seeding the pomegranate, and peeling and dicing the kiwi (just store them in the fridge). But for the bananas and apples I’d definitely recommend waiting until you’re just about ready to serve it to begin dicing those.

Can I Halve the Recipe?

This recipe is enough for a small crowd but it can definitely be scaled down to halve if you just to make it for a smaller number of people for dinner (I loved it so much I even made a 1/4 of the recipe for lunch the next day).

Can I Use Other Types of Fruit in This Fruit Salad?

And just like any fruit salad this is a versatile recipe, you can swap out the fruits for others you may have on hand like pears, tangerines, mangos, pineapple, etc. I love the way the fruit pairs with the sweet and slightly tart lemon poppy seed dressing in this fruit salad.

And of course I can’t get enough of all the vibrant flavors of the fruits used here. Those pomegranate arils are always bound to do good things! What’s not to love about this delicious fruit salad?

There’s just so much goodness no one will be able to resist!

More Side Dish Recipes to Try!

Follow Cooking Classy

16 Quick & Easy 30 Minute Recipes! (plus weekly recipe updates)

5 from 7 votes

Print Recipe