Fall Fruit Salad
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Enjoy the flavours of fall with this delicious Fall Fruit Salad, made with fresh seasonal fruit tossed in a spiced orange dressing. Perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any autumn gathering!
If you’re looking for more fall-inspired salads, try my sweet and savoury Almond Apple Quinoa Salad!
This Fall Fruit Salad recipe is the perfect autumn breakfast and brunch side dish, or a healthier option for Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert. We love it paired with pancakes or baked goods like my pumpkin bread and pumpkin breakfast cookies.
Why you’ll love it
This Thanksgiving Fruit Salad is
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here’s what you’ll need to make this spiced fruit salad recipe. Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
- Apples — we use a mix of red and green apples to give visual interest with the different colours. Green apples like Granny Smith tend to be tart, so if you prefer a sweeter profile, we suggest using Golden Delicious instead. Sweet red apple varieties include Fuji, Honeycrisp and Gala.
- Navel oranges — this variety of orange gives the classic sweet, tart and tangy orange flavour. We also use some zest in the dressing to deepen the orange flavour.
- Red seedless grapes — their deep red colour is perfect for fall!
- Pecans — for crunch. Walnuts are a good substitute, or leave them out for a nut-free dish.
- Dried cranberries — for their chewy texture and sweet taste.
- Orange juice — the base of the fruit salad dressing. Freshly squeezed or store-bought both work.
- Sugar — to sweeten the dressing, giving the salad more of a dessert vibe.
- Lemon — zested for the dressing.
- Apple pie spice — the secret to the best fall fruit salad. You could substitute plain cinnamon if that’s what you have on hand.
How to make it
First, toast the pecans. This step is optional, but we recommend it as it adds some nice crunch to the salad. Layer the pecans evenly on a baking sheet and place in the oven while it preheats to 350°F. The pecans will toast while the oven warms up. Remove once the oven finishes preheating and set aside to cool.
Next, make the dressing. Add the orange juice, sugar, apple pie spice, lemon zest and orange zest to a small sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk to combine and bring to a strong simmer for three to four minutes to allow the flavours combine.
Carefully strain the dressing mixture into a heat safe bowl or mason jar using a small sieve and put aside to cool.
Then, dice the apples and peel and dice the oranges, removing as much of the pith as you can. Slice the grapes lengthwise if you’ll be serving the salad to young children.
Finally, assemble the salad in a large bowl. Add all the prepared fruit, pecans and dried cranberries, then pour the dressing over top and toss until well combined. Cover and refrigerate if not serving immediately.
Tips for success
How to prep ahead
Although this recipe is best assembled shortly before serving, there are some steps that can be done head of time:
Make the dressing. I like to make the dressing up to two days before I’ll be serving the fruit salad (store in an air tight container in the refrigerator). It saves time the day of the meal and the flavours have even more time to blend!
Toast the pecans. Similar to the dressing, you can do this step up to a couple days beforehand. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
How to store
Leftovers can be stored for one to two days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Note that the apples may brown a bit, but it will still taste great!
More fall recipes
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Brown Butter Sheet Pan Gnocchi
- Sheet Pan Apple Chicken
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Turkey Chili
- Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
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Fall Fruit Salad
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Ingredients
For the dressing
- ½ cup orange juice (freshly squeezed or store-bought not from concentrate)
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon apple pie spice (can sub cinnamon)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (see note 3)
- 1 teaspoon orange zest (see note 3)
For the salad
- 1 cup pecans
- 3 navel oranges
- 2 green apples (see note 1 about apple varieties)
- 2 red apples (see note 1)
- 1 cup red seedless grapes
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Optional step: Toast the pecans. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pecans on a baking sheet and put them in the oven while it’s heating up. Remove pecans from the oven when you can smell them, about the same time the oven is fully heated. Put aside to cool.
- Make the dressing. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the orange juice, sugar, apple pie spice, lemon zest and orange zest. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes to allow the flavours to blend. Strain through a sieve (fine mesh strainer) into a heat safe mason jar or bowl, then set aside to cool completely.
- Prepare the fruit. Core and slice the apples into bite-sized pieces. Cut the peel off the orange and dice into bite-sized pieces, removing the pith (see note 2). Slice the grapes in half lengthwise if serving the salad to young children.
- Assemble the salad. In a large bowl, gently mix the apples, grapes, oranges, dried cranberries and pecans. Drizzle the dressing over the fruit and toss until evenly coated.
- Serve. If not serving immediately, cover and refrigerate. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 1-2 days.
Notes
- Apple varieties: Green apples tend to be tart. If you prefer a sweeter option, we recommend Golden Delicious. We recommend Gala, Fuji or Honeycrisp for the red apples.
- How to supreme an orange: Follow this helpful video to learn how. You can also simply dice orange slices if you don’t mind a bit of pith in the salad (this will be faster).
- Zesting: be sure to zest only the outer colourful part of the peel. The pith (white part) can impart a bitter flavour. I highly recommend using a microplane for a fine zest.
- Fruit choices: pear and pomegranate seeds are also nice in the salad – use whatever mix of fruit you like!
- Prep ahead: the dressing can be made and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator up to two days ahead of time. Similarly, the pecans can be toasted a couple days before and stored in a sealed container until ready to use.
- Serving size: with 8 servings, each serving is about 1.5 cups. This recipe can serve more people if they are taking smaller portions.
Equipment
Nutrition Estimate
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Absolutely delicious! Adding this to my list of favorite recipes for holidays. We served ours with brunch and it went well with coffee cake!