Homemade Fruit Dip
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This easy fruit dip is sweet, tangy, and only uses two main ingredients. Add your favorite extract or fruit juice to complement any flavor! Serve with your favorite fresh fruit or suggested list of other dippable snacks.
You will love this Easy Fruit Dip
When you’re hosting a party or gathering, find yourself with a lot of fruit to eat, or want the perfect “sauce” for a fruit pizza, this easy fruit dip is the solution.
Don’t get me wrong, I can eat a whole ton of fruit on its own, but it’s fun to have this lightly sweetened marshmallow dip as an option for dipping, and I usually wind up dipping other goodies into it, too. Graham crackers, pretzels, pound cake… It’s so versatile!
I also love using this fruit dip as the base for my fruit pizza because it’s a little less sweet than traditional cream cheese frosting.
Other reasons to love this fruit dip? It’s naturally gluten-free, you can make it ahead of time, and I have a whole list below of ingredients you can add to change up the flavor.
Marshmallow Fruit Dip Ingredients
This easy cream cheese fruit dip relies on two must ingredients and you have some wiggle room with a third ingredient.
For this fruit dip recipe, you will need:
• block cream cheese (you can use full fat or low fat!)
• marshmallow fluff (also known as marshmallow cream or marshmallow creme depending on where you live)
• extract of your choice (I prefer almond extract)
I always add a bit of almond extract to mine, which I think takes the flavor from awesome to amazing, but you can absolutely leave it out. Additional flavor options include orange zest, a splash of vanilla extract, or any other extract or spice you see fit for your platter of fresh fruit (see more options below).
Whatever you decide to add (if anything at all), I believe in you to create the perfect combination of flavors.
Just leave the Cool Whip out of it. PLEASE. If you feel like your creamy fruit dip needs something extra, turn to homemade whipped cream.
You’ll thank me for that one later, I promise.
How to make Fruit Dip
A fruit dip recipe is seriously as simple as taking that softened cream cheese and whipping it with the sweet marshmallow creme.
This will take… A couple minutes? If that. It’s truly that easy and the total time from start to finish is so fast, you might even have “taste tested” it all before you realize it’s done and ready to serve.
And the best part? You can use an electric mixer for this, so no need to bring out your stand mixer. Unless that’s all you have! But you don’t need all that power. This dip is really easy to bring together.
How to make this recipe For Fruit Dip in advance
This delicious fruit dip can absolutely be made up to 1 day in advance of your serving it. It will sit nicely in the refrigerator until you’re ready for it, and…
Bonus points: you can even freeze this fruit dip so you have one less thing to prepare the day of whatever sort of party or gathering you’re hosting or going to. Thaw in the fridge overnight and you’re golden!
Fruit Dip Recipe Tips
TIP #1
It’s very important that you use room temperature cream cheese, otherwise you run the risk of the cream cheese clumping. Keep that fruit dip lump-free!
TIP #2
Sometimes the stickiness of marshmallow fluff causes it to climb up the beaters of your mixer. If this happens, just use a spatula to scrape it off and back into the bowl. Once it incorporates into the cream cheese, it should stop climbing so much.
TIP #3
If you find your fruit dip is too lumpy, allow the whole thing to sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes so the chunks can soften and incorporate better into the dip. Refer to tip #1, as this is probably the underlying issue to lumps.
EASY FRUIT DIP SUBSTITUTIONS OR VARIATIONS
Use your (or your tastebuds’) imagination to dream up any flavor combination possible for this fruit dip! Some of my favorite ways to change up this fruit dip flavor include:
LOWER FAT CREAM CHEESE: unlike many recipes that call for cream cheese, you can absolutely use a lower fat cream cheese here. Just don’t use the whipped cream cheese you find in a tub. Stick to the block!
MARASCHINO CHERRY JUICE: add about 1 to 2 Tablespoons of maraschino cherry juice to make a beautiful pink hue for Valentine’s Day, a baby shower, or just for the sake of having a pink dip.
STRAWBERRY COMPOTE: another way to turn your dip pink? Add some fresh strawberry sauce!
STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE: you can really use any flavor of cream cheese here, if your local grocery store carries more than just strawberry. Of course, I would not recommend a savory cream cheese flavor here, but anything fruity would be perfect!
BROWN SUGAR: add another level of flavor by adding 1 to 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar.
HOT FUDGE: make a chocolatey dip by adding hot fudge sauce or chocolate sauce. Just 1 to 2 Tablespoons will do the trick!
SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE: add a salty element to your fruit dip by stirring 2 Tablespoons of homemade caramel sauce into your dip. Feeling saucy?? Use bourbon caramel sauce instead (just make sure you’re not serving this to kids).
CITRUS ZEST & JUICE: use an orange, lemon, lime, or even grapefruit to turn your dip into something fabulous! Add all of the zest and 1 to 2 Tablespoons of freshly squeezed juice.
How to serve this recipe for Fruit Dip
Add your fruit dip to a bowl and serve it on a platter with fruit or any of the aforementioned dippers. If you’re hosting a party, consider spooning some fruit dip into individual cups and make fruit kebabs for a fun walking fruit dip situation!
Other ways to serve Homemade Fruit Dip
Did you know that fruit dip makes an excellent “sauce” for fruit pizza? While fruit pizza is traditionally made with cream cheese frosting, fruit dip makes a slightly less sweet topping to go on top of that sugar cookie base.
You’ll be pleased to know that this cream cheese dip can be used with anything from fresh strawberries to fresh pineapple and all the way to vanilla wafers, Teddy Grahams, graham crackers, pound cake, pretzels, and/or a side of chocolate chips. The limit does not exist to what you can serve.
How to store Marshmallow Fruit Dip
Store this marshmallow fruit dip covered tightly in the refrigerator.
Freezing Homemade Fruit Dip
This fruit dip freezes beautifully! You may just have to re-whip it after being frozen in order to keep it nice and fluffy.
FRUIT DIP FAQs
In conclusion…
We love cream cheese.
We love fluff.
Put them together and we have something magical.
Like… I don’t know if I can even call this a “recipe” for fruit dip. Because it’s more like a sticky note for fruit dip. And I think you’re going to love it!
Check out some of the best dips around my site if you’re looking for a great snack for your next party or fun school snacks for the lunch box: cookie dough dip, funfetti cake batter dip, eggnog dip, and brownie batter dip.
Easy Fruit Dip
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (225g) block cream cheese1 softened to room temperature
- 7 ounces (198g) marshmallow creme
- OPTIONAL: ¼ teaspoon desired extract2
Instructions
- Add the cream cheese and the marshmallow creme to a medium size bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a handheld mixer or the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and marshmallow together on medium-high speed until smooth.
- Turn off the mixer, add extract, if using, and beat again on low speed. Allow dip to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving with fruit. Store leftovers in the refrigerator up to 1 week. Dip may be frozen3 up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Notes
- Cream cheese: use full fat or lower fat cream cheese. Consider using strawberry cream cheese or other fruit-flavored cream cheese to make your own fun version.
- Extract: you can omit flavored extract completely, though I recommend a but just for a little something extra. Consider vanilla extract or even a citrus like orange extract or lemon extract. My favorite is almond extract because its flavor lends well to and complements most fruits.
- Freezing: you may have to re-whip this fruit dip after being frozen in order to keep it nice and fluffy.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Best fruit dip ever. I used some of my homemade vanilla…delicious!
Yum! SO glad you enjoyed it, Elaine!
HI I used jr watkins pistachio, homemade vanilla, sour cream touch of cool whip OMG Heaven!
Love the addition of the almond extract! You’re right, it makes a great flavor! Thanks!
Thanks, Sami! 🙂
Been using the recipe for months! Always a hit at a gathering.
Thank you, Kristen!
This is our favorite fruit dip recipe, and we always use almond extract, too! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks so much, Kait!
Worth the effort to get the marshmallow fluff out of the container. 😉 Light and not too sweet, fluffy and easy to whip up. The almond extract was perfect.
Thanks so much, Sara!
Like you, we don’t often need enticement to enjoy fruit. But this fruit dip is a fun addition for parties, which is when we most often serve it. Love that it is just two simple ingredients, but do like to add the almond extract.
Thanks so much, Lynn!
So much yum and so easy. I made this for a birthday party. I loved that I made it the day before and just took it out of the fridge when people arrived. It was really yummy esp. with strawberries and graham crackers.
This fruit dip is perfect for summer and I love that I can make it ahead of time. This is now my go-to recipe.
Thanks, Julie! It’s def a keeper!
This has been my go-to fruit dip recipe for a few years, and I thought it was high time to finally post how much I love it! I love that you can freeze it and have done it many times! Thanks, Lynn!
Thanks so much, Kathi!
Easy, yummy, and everybody always raves about it! I’m making this again to take to book club on Monday.
Thank you so much, Amy!