Winter Fruit Salad with Maple-Lime Dressing is a healthy salad packed with vitamins! It will make a colorful and vibrant side dish for your Thanksgiving and Christmas menus!
This healthy and gluten-free salad utilizes seasonal winter fruit. The ingredient list includes red apples, pears, clementine oranges (or mandarin oranges), kiwi fruit, dried cranberries, and pomegranate seeds. This salad is packed with vitamins - all the good stuff you need, especially in the Winter.
Healthy recipe
This healthy winter fruit salad will fill you up with the nutrients and the vitamins during the cold winter months. It will also make a great holiday menu item, for Thanksgiving or Christmas or any other holiday.
Salad ingredients include red apples, pears, kiwi fruit, pomegranate seeds, dried cranberries, clementine oranges (you can use mandarin oranges, too) - all of that tossed in a delicious maple-lime dressing!
Other fruit salads
- Fruit Salad with Grapes and Honey-Lime Poppy Seed Dressing
- Creamy Vanilla Grape and Apple Salad
- Spinach Salad with Fruit and Maple-Lime Dressing
HOLIDAY MAIN COURSES TO SERVE WITH WINTER FRUIT SALAD:
Do you want to try something different for Thanksgiving or Christmas? Check out these 2 recipes for alternative main courses for the holidays:
- Roast Duck – an ultimate Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year's Eve main course! This Roast Whole Duck has tender and juicy meat, crispy skin, and it’s glazed with the honey-balsamic glaze to give the duck a beautiful roasted look.
- Duck Breast - make this sophisticated meal as a holiday main course!
Other winter salads
- Butternut Squash Salad with Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Cranberries, and Pecans - cinnamon butternut squash tossed with nuts and dried fruit. One of the best Thanksgiving side dishes!
- Autumn Salad with Pumpkin Seeds, Cranberries, and Pecans - this delicious Autumn salad features all our favorite seasonal ingredients!
- Butternut Squash and Spinach Salad with Pecans, Cranberries, Pomegranate - perfect healthy Thanksgiving salad with Poppy Seed Honey-Lime Dressing.
Winter Fruit Salad with Maple-Lime Dressing
Ingredients
Winter Fruit Salad:
- 2 red apples cored and diced
- 2 pears cored and diced
- 4 clementine oranges peeled and separated into segments
- 3 kiwi fruit peeled and sliced into thin rounds and then silce rounds into quarters
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds
Maple Lime Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon lime juice freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Combine all salad ingredients (except the dressing ingredients) in a large bowl.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients (maple syrup and lime juice).
- Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss to coat.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Made this for a work potluck, and boy did they gobble it up!! So delicious and beautiful! They want me to make it again 🙂 Thanks for another easy delicious recipe!
Jen, I am so glad this recipe was a success! 🙂 Thank you for this wonderful feedback and the 5-star review! 🙂
If I could give this salad more than 5 stars I would. It was THE best! Tasty as well as visually appealing—-colorful, and all sorts of different shapes, from kiwi to pomegranate seeds.
Maggie, I am so glad you loved this recipe! Thank you for your super positive comment - I really appreciate it! 🙂
Made this today for our family Christmas celebration! It is delicious and several people wanted the recipe! Will definitely make this again. Thank you for sharing it!
Maureen, I am so glad you chose this recipe for your Christmas celebration! 🙂
I’ve made this before and it’s delicious!! Everyone loved it. What does serving size equate to as I’ll be making for TG but not sure if 6 servings is 6 cups or what you would consider good size with a big meal for 12 people?
I’m making this for a breakfast cater, tomorrow. We normally just make a regular ole fruit salad, which they all love, but this will have them talking! It looks so beautiful!
Teri, so glad you're trying this recipe for a catering event! Enjoy and I hope it's a success!
I dislike maple. Could I substitute honey?
Karla, yes, you can use honey - it would be delish!
Haven't made this yet but plan on making for this Thanksgiving. Can I prep by mixing the kiwi, mandarins, dried cranberries, and pomegranate in advance, saving the apples and pears for last minute so they don't brown? How about mixing the dressing in advance?
MK, I think you have an excellent strategy for making it ahead! I would do the same - prep everything, except the apples and pears. Mix the dressing in advance too, but add it when ready to serve. Enjoy! 🙂
You can chop apples and pears and then put them in some lemon/water then drain them... that will help keep them from browning!
Sarah, that's a great tip. Thank you! 🙂
I'm trying to get to your recipe for the Autumn Salad at the end of this recipe, but it goes to the Roasted Brussel Sprouts instead.
Denise, here are some Autumn salad recipes:
https://juliasalbum.com/fall-salad-with-butternut-squash-dried-figs-almonds-and-arugula/
https://juliasalbum.com/butternut-squash-spinach-salad-with-pecans-cranberries-pomegranate/
Could this salad be made also with canned fruit and omit the syrup?
Emma, I think this would work well with canned fruit drained really well from any liquid and syrup.
I chose to bring fruit to a family Christmas gathering. Made this minus the pomegranates since I ran out of time to seed them. Everyone loved it. I had doubled the recipe for 14 people. There were no leftovers and that speaks for itself. Thank you for a wonderful recipe that pleased my entire family.
Mary, I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed by your family. Thank you for taking the time to share such a positive comment - I appreciate it!! 🙂 Happy Holidays to you and your family!
I made this salad for a dinner for older relatives. They loved it. I did substitute canned mandarin orange slices for a certain few that might have trouble eating real slices. This was made for Thanksgiving and is now being made for Christmas Eve. Counteracts all the sweets we inhale:) Thank you!
Kathy, thank you for such a kind comment - I am glad the recipe was enjoyed! 🙂 Glad you're making it again for Christmas Eve!
I want to serve this for our christmas party. What is the best way to keep from browning? Can I safely make this the morning of an evening party. It sure looks good!
I think you should be fine if you make this in the morning and serve this in the evening. The lime juice in the dressing should keep the cut fruit from browning.
Hi Julia. I’m making this beautiful salad for a holiday party tonight. I thought I saw something about putting dried cranberries in hot water but now I can’t find it. Help please.
Sarah, you can plump up dried cranberries if you like (especially if they are very hard). To do this, I would add a small amount of boiling water over dried cranberries in a medium heat-proof bowl, mix it up, and drain water right away so that the cranberries are just plump but not mushy. Enjoy!
I had this salad over Thanksgiving. It was great! I went searching for the recipe and this was the first one I found. Later when I went to get your website (I always I learned there are several variations on the fruit and the dressing. I think this one is just perfect! Thanks for sharing.
Cindy, thank you for such a positive comment - I really appreciate it! Glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! 🙂
Oh my gosh! This was super delicious. I used dried figs because I didn't have dried cranberries.. The presentation was impeccable!
Deb, I am so happy to hear you've enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for such a positive comment - I appreciate it!
Made this for Thanksgiving this year, and it was very tasty and super simple. my favorite kind of salad! i’ve had mandarin oranges that I had to use! thank you for helping me put them to good use!
I am glad you found my recipe helpful! It's a delicious holiday salad!