PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER The weather is getting warmer and I am craving all the fresh, light, summery food! Fruit salad is one of those things that can be overlooked at a summer cookout, but since I am not a green-leafy-salad-eater (notice there’s no salad category around here??), I appreciate when fruit salad makes an appearance 😉 Last Spring I shared this Creamy Fruit Salad with Homemade Vanilla Dressing, and I loaded it up with all my favorite fruit and a creamy custard fruit salad dressing. If you’ve ever had a Mountain of Fruit Waffle at Cora’s, this is like that, minus the waffle 😉 They do make some pretty incredible waffles, and the combo is ridiculously good. If you ever have leftover fruit salad, I bet it would make an awesome waffle topping for brunch the next morning. This time, I wanted to stick closer to a theme with my fruit (sometimes when you get too many different kinds all in one bowl flavors get a little muddled), and I love the fresh, tropical flavors in this Hawaiian Fruit Salad. Because I love pineapple in everything, as I hope you do, too! If you’re looking for some savory pineapple recipes, check out these Hawaiian Chicken Burgers, Hawaiian Ham and Pineapple Skewers or this Hawaiian Chicken from my friend Holly. It would be hard for me to choose a favorite!
How to make Hawaiian Fruit Salad with substitutions:
This fruit salad recipe is naturally gluten-free, but double check all of your packages to be sure. This Hawaiian fruit salad recipe can easily be made dairy-free by swapping out the regular yogurt for your favorite variety of dairy-free yogurt. Feel free to mix up the fruit you use for this salad — almost any fruit will go well with this dressing! I chose fruit that I think is most “Hawaiian” (not that I am Hawaiian or know anything about Hawaiian culture).
This Hawaiian Fruit Salad Dressing:
For this fruit salad recipe, I used a Honey Lime Yogurt dressing with added coconut extract. You can definitely mix this up, and use flavored yogurt, or different extracts, or skip the yogurt altogether and make more of a glaze. The important thing to note is that thick creamy fruit salad dressing recipes don’t sit well when combined with the fruit. The juices that are released from the fruit water down the dressing and make it thin and not very appealing.
How to make Fruit Salad ahead:
Fruit salad is best made just an hour or two before you’re going to serve it — there’s really no way around that! If you need to prep this Hawaiian fruit salad ahead, here’s what you can do:
Chop the pineapple, the mangoes, the kiwi, and drain your mandarin oranges. Store in separate, small containers in the refrigerator. Store up to 2 days in advance. Stir together your dressing ingredients, and refrigerate up to 2 days in advance. Slice your bananas, and stir everything together just before serving.
Create an account easily save your favorite content, so you never forget a recipe again. Register Now Tag @thereciperebel or hashtag #thereciperebel — I love to see what you’re making!
