Fall Fruit Salad

5 from 2 votes

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!

Prep Time20

Total Time20

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Autumn Fruit Salad, Fall Fruit Salad, holiday fruit salad, orange dressing, Thanksgiving Fruit Salad

Servings:

Calories: 238kcal

Author: Laura Lawless, BASc

Equipment

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.

Nutrition