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Home » Blog » Course » Fall Fruit Salad For Thanksgiving And Christmas

Fall Fruit Salad For Thanksgiving And Christmas

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Published: Sep 12, 2022 · Modified: Jun 13, 2023 by Andrea + Stef ·

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This colorful thanksgiving fruit salad is full of apples and citrus flavors. A homemade dressing adds sweetness and warm fall spices.
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Apple fruit salad in a bowl.
apple pecan fruit salad in a bowl.

If you have been looking for a lighter and healthier holiday side dish, then this Thanksgiving fruit salad is the perfect recipe for you. It combines crunchy apples, sweet grapes, tangy oranges, dried cranberries and toasted nuts for the most delicious fruit medley. A sweet and citrusy dressing with just the right hint of warming spices makes this fruit salad out of this world good. Ready in only 10 minutes, spiced apple fruit salad can be served as a side at any holiday dinner. You can even turn it into a mouthwatering dessert by topping it with a scoop of ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream. This is the best fruit salad you will ever make and your family will sure love it.

Table of Contents

  • What is Thanksgiving Fruit Salad?
  • Why You’ll Love This
  • Ingredients
  • Stef says….
  • Recommended Tools
  • Instructions
  • Make Ahead
  • Autumn Fruit Salad Recipe Tips
  • How To Store
  • Common Questions
  • Thanksgiving Fruit Salad
bowl of thanksgiving fruit salad with a wooden spoon

What is Thanksgiving Fruit Salad?

This fall fruit salad only uses fruit that is in season, like apples, grapes, oranges or pears for example. The fruit is combined with nuts and dried cranberries before being tossed with a sweet and spiced dressing. The dressing is made from orange juice, orange and lemon zest, apple pie spice and some sugar for sweetness. This red and green apple fruit salad goes particularly well with holiday dinners, breakfasts and brunches.

Apple fruit salad in a bowl.

Why You’ll Love This

  • Notable: crunchy fresh fruit mixed with sweet dried cranberries and a delicious spiced dressing
  • Main Ingredients: green apples, red apples, dried cranberries, pecans, grapes, navel orange, lemon, orange juice, sugar, apple pie spice
  • Nutrients: excellent source of fiber and vitamins
  • Cooking Time: 10 minutes
  • Pairs well with: holiday dinners, holiday breakfast and brunch, roast turkey and chicken
  • Diets: dairy free, vegetarian, vegan
  • Special Equipment Needed: sheet pan, apple slicer (optional), small saucepan, fine mesh strainer
cut up fruit on a wooden board
dressing being poured over fruit salad

Ingredients

You may have all of these spiced Thanksgiving or Christmas fruit salad ingredients in your refrigerator or pantry and not need to make a trip to the grocery store. See recipe card below for ingredient amounts and print the recipe.

  • Pantry Ingredients: sugar, orange juice, pecans, dried cranberries
  • Produce Ingredients: green apples, red apples, navel orange, grapes, lemon
  • Spices: apple pie spice

Stef says….

Crunchy and colorful salads are a great way to lighten up the Thanksgiving menu. If you are looking for a more savory salad option, then you have to try my Broccoli Grape Salad. Fresh broccoli florets are combined with sweet grapes, toasty almonds, crunchy celery, flavor-punching bacon and a creamy mayonnaise based dressing.

ingredients for thanksgiving fruit salad

WHAT TO MAKE NEXT: If you are looking to include more fall fruit into your Thanksgiving menu, then you have to try our flavorful Thanksgiving Sangria. It is a bold blend of red wine, sparkling cider, rum and cranberries with a hint of spice! It’s the best cranberry sangria recipe!

Recommended Tools

Fine-mesh strainer – This helps remove any small spice particles that you don’t want in your finished fruit salad.

Apple Slicer – We love this easy to use apple slicer, because it makes cutting up apples for fruit salad, apple pies or apple crisps so much quicker.

Instructions

This section shows how to make holiday fruit salad with dried cranberries, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique. For full step-by-step instructions, photos and nutritional information see the recipe in the recipe card below. You can print the recipe with or without photos.

TOAST THE PECANS: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place pecans on a lined baking sheet and place in the oven while it’s heating up. Remove pecans from the oven when you can smell their aroma. This should be about the same time as when the oven is fully heated. Remove from the oven and cool.

toasted pecans in a bowl
mixing dressing ingredients in a small saucepan

MAKE THE DRESSING: In a small saucepan, mix orange juice, sugar, apple pie spice, zest of 1 lemon and zest of 1 orange. Place over medium heat. Whisk to combine. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Strain in a fine mesh strainer and cool completely.

strained thanksgiving fruit salad dressing in a glass
cut up fruit on a wooden board

COMBINE AND SERVE: Core and slice apples to bite sized pieces. Toss apples with juice from half a lemon to prevent browning. Cut the peel off the orange and cut into bite sized pieces. In a large bowl, mix apples, dried cranberries, toasted pecans, grapes and oranges. Drizzle dressing over the fruit and toss to combine. Serve.

all spiced fruit salad ingredients in a bowl
pouring dressing over the fruit salad

WHAT TO MAKE NEXT: If you love fruity thanksgiving side dishes then you’ll love Stef’s amazing Cranberry Jello Salad. Not only do the bright and zesty flavors of raspberry, cranberry, and orange taste delicious, but this dish also looks stunning and is a real holiday showstopper.

Make Ahead

We do not recommend assembling this apple fruit salad too far ahead of time. Even though tossing the apples in lemon juice will prevent them from browning too quickly, they will turn slightly brown eventually. However, you can prepare certain components of this fruit side dish in advance.

NUTS: You can toast the pecans up to week ahead of time. Make sure they are completely cold before transfering them into a dry airtight container.

DRESSING: The dressing can also be made up to 3 days ahead of time. Cool it completely, transfer to an airtight container or jam jar and store in the fridge until ready to use.

Autumn Fruit Salad Recipe Tips

Follow these tips to make the best spiced apple fruit salad.

  • Tip: Use fresh, firm apples. Crunchy apples have the best texture for this fruit salad. If they are blemished or mealy they are not enjoyable to eat.
  • Tip: Toss apples in lemon juice. This prevents the apples from browning too quickly.
  • Tip: Use organic oranges for zest. To avoid ingesting harmful pesticides or additives try to use organic citrus fruits for zesting.
  • Tip: Assemble right before serving. This ensures most freshness and makes the fruit salad look irresistible.
  • The Best Holiday Cranberry Sangria (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years)

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    Convection Oven Roast Chicken

How To Store

Refrigerate: We recommend making this spiced fruit salad fresh and serve it immediately. This way all the fruit will look fresh and most appetizing. Leftover fruit salad can be stored in an airtight container or ziploc bag in the fridge for 1-2 days. Even though the overall appearance might not be as fresh anymore after 1 or 2 days of storage, the holiday fruit salad will still taste great.

glass bowl full of thanksgiving fruit salad

Common Questions

How do I zest a lemon without a lemon zester?

It’s not a problem if you don’t own a lemon zester. You can also use the fine side of a box grater to rub off the lemon zest. Another way to zest a lemon is using a vegetable peeler. First, peel off very thin slices of lemon peel (avoid the white part) and then chop the lemon peel finely on a cutting board with a knife.

How long ahead of time can I make this salad?

Although we recommend making the salad fresh right before serving, it can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days. Alternatively, you can toast the pecans and prepare the dressing a couple of days ahead of time, and therefore speed up assembly when ready to serve.

What apple brands are best for Thanksgiving fruit salad?

For the red apples we recommend using Fuji apples, Honeycrisp apples, Jazz apples, Gala apples or even Red Delicious apples. For the green apples we chose Granny Smith apples.

Can I add any other ingredients to this fruit salad?

Of course! You can add some diced pear, pomegranate seeds, slices of mandarin oranges, kiwi or walnuts to this fall fruit salad.

Apple fruit salad in a bowl.
5 from 25 votes

Thanksgiving Fruit Salad

Author Andrea + Stef

Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American, vegan, vegetarian
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Total Time 10 minutes minutes
Print
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8 servings
This colorful thanksgiving fruit salad is full of apples and citrus flavors. A homemade dressing adds sweetness and warm fall spices.
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Equipment

  • baking sheet
  • small saucepan
  • whisk
  • fine-mesh strainer
  • apple slicer and knife
  • large bowl

Ingredients
  

Fruit Salad Ingredients:

  • 2 medium green apples
  • 2 medium red apples
  • ¾ cup dried cranberries
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1 cup grapes
  • 3 medium navel oranges
  • 1 medium lemon juiced

Dressing Ingredients:

  • ½ cup orange juice
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon apple pie spice
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • zest of 1 orange

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pecans on a baking sheet and place 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. Remove from the oven and cool.
    toasted pecans in a bowl
  • In a small saucepan, mix orange juice, sugar, apple pie spice, zest of 1 lemon and zest of 1 orange.
    zesting lemon into the saucepan with the dressing ingredients
  • Place over medium heat. Whisk to combine. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes.
    whisking fruit salad dressing in a saucepan
  • Strain in a fine mesh strainer and cool completely.
    straining fruit salad dressing through a fine mesh strainer
  • Core and slice apples to bite sized pieces. Toss apples with juice from half a lemon to prevent browning.
    cut up fruit on a wooden board
  • Cut the peel off the orange and cut into bite sized pieces.
  • In a large bowl, mix apples, dried cranberries, toasted pecans, grapes and oranges.
    all spiced fruit salad ingredients in a bowl
  • Drizzle dressing over the fruit and toss to combine. Serve.
    dressing being poured over fruit salad

Notes

  • Serve immediately or refrigerate until you serve.
  • Refrigerate the fruit salad for 1-2 days.
Additions or substitutions:
  • Add diced pear instead of the green apples.
  • Add pomegranate seeds.


Nutrition

Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 279mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 198IU | Vitamin C: 40mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg

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    Comments & Reviews

  1. Kimberly says

    January 6, 2023

    January 06, 2023 at 10:24 pm

    So delicious! I wasn’t sure about the Apple pie spice but it added the perfect spice.

    Reply
  2. Merri Secrest says

    October 30, 2023

    October 30, 2023 at 11:02 pm

    This is absolutely amazing! Not overly sweet.

    Reply
  3. Elizabeth Mulgrew says

    November 24, 2023

    November 24, 2023 at 6:48 pm

    Made this for Thanksgiving. So crisp and fresh! But I think I will double the dressing next time. It made a lot! Perfect for holiday events and potlucks! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  4. Lori says

    October 18, 2024

    October 18, 2024 at 1:46 am

    Perfect! Great fall salad.

    Reply
  5. Thi Nguyen says

    November 17, 2024

    November 17, 2024 at 12:36 am

    When I was a kid we made a very similar fruit salad only for the dressing we used sour cream and some of the juice from the pineapple. I still make it once in a while. That and mini marshmallows.

    Reply
  6. Senior Cook says

    November 26, 2024

    November 26, 2024 at 1:06 am

    My new favorite salad! Perfect for winter holidays and gatherings. We can’t always get grapes in winter so I sub with whatever is fresh. It works!
    I make the dressing days .ahead and use it on other salads.

    Reply
  7. Cheryl A Schefsky says

    November 28, 2024

    November 28, 2024 at 2:54 pm

    This will be a hit for Thanksgiving dinner! Very easy and tasteful!Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  8. Emily says

    November 29, 2024

    November 29, 2024 at 3:18 am

    Made this for Thanksgiving this year. We left out the pecans because of an allergy, but I didn’t feel like anything was missing. Completely delish!

    Reply

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