Fruit Salad with Passion Fruit Dressing
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This vibrant and colorful fruit salad features mango, strawberries, kiwi, and blueberries with a tropical upgrade from a sweet and tangy passion fruit-lime dressing. It’s perfect as a standalone side dish but also goes well on ice cream, with whipped cream, or on angel food cake or crepes.
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Bushel and Berry®.
THIS FRUIT SALAD SURPRISED ME IN THE BEST WAY
I’ll be the first to admit: I had never worked with a fresh passion fruit until Bushel & Berry asked me to create a recipe with them. And after a few days of experimenting (read: making a giant mess while happily tasting everything along the way), I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed working with them. In my opinion? The juice is absolutely worth the squeeze. Literally.
This fruit salad is my tropical take on the classic, enhanced with a sweet and tangy dressing made from fresh passion fruit, lime juice, and a touch of honey. It pairs beautifully with vibrant mango, juicy strawberries, tart kiwi, and sweet blueberries, and it’s just the kind of refreshing, colorful dish you’ll want on repeat all summer long.
If you’ve never had fresh passion fruit, it’s in season during the summer months in North America, but thanks to Bushel & Berry, you don’t have to rely on your grocery store to stock it. Their Poppin’ Passion™ plant lets you grow your own right at home! With tropical blooms, support for native pollinators, and fruit that’s refreshingly sweet with a little zing, it’s as practical as it is pretty.
Can’t get your hands on fresh passion fruit just yet? No problem! Frozen passion fruit pulp works just fine in this recipe. Just make sure it’s unsweetened so you can control the balance of flavors yourself.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
As far as this “recipe” goes, you have a lot of wiggle room. Since passion fruits don’t lend a whole lot of juice (only about 1 Tablespoon per fruit), the fruit salad itself will only yield about 4 cups, which is perfect for one sitting for a small family or leftovers for a household of two. Keep this in mind if you decide to go rogue on your fruit choices.
FOR THE FRUIT SALAD
I chose mangoes, strawberries, kiwis, and blueberries based on their colors as well as their flavors, but know that I also considered pineapples, oranges, and peaches. What you put in this fruit salad is entirely up to you! I just recommend leaving out the bananas as the acidity in the dressing will break them down quickly.
While you have full control over the fruit you choose for this fruit salad, avoid using delicate berries like raspberries or blackberries, or fruits that will get mushy like bananas.
FOR THE DRESSING
This dressing is really simple and only includes passion fruit juice, lime juice, and honey. You can use a lemon if you don’t have a lime, and you can use agave if you prefer not to use honey. The choice is up to you!
The lime juice helps brighten the dressing as well as help the passion fruit juice break down the fruit. The honey is simply to help sweeten, and you can adjust the amount you do or don’t put in based on your preferences and how sweet your passion fruit juice winds up being straight out of the fruit.
HOW DO I PICK A RIPE PASSION FRUIT?
Passion fruits have a tough, leathery skin that’s brownish/purpleish in color. Even when ripe, it can be slightly difficult to cut through, so don’t let the resistance of the skin stop you from cutting if the outside of your passion fruit has started to wrinkle. In my experience, a passion fruit doesn’t have to be wrinkly all over to be ripe, but the more wrinkly it is, the sweeter the juice.
As a generalization, your fruit is ripe and perfect to use in this recipe when it has some significant wrinkly spots.
HOW TO MAKE PASSION FRUIT DRESSING
You hardly need instructions to make this fruit salad, since it is so simple, but I find that some visuals for the dressing are helpful especially if you’ve never worked with a passion fruit before.
STEP #1: start by placing a fine mesh sieve over a small bowl or glass measuring cup, then set it aside.
STEP #2: cut the passion fruits in half, scoop out the flesh and seeds, and place them in the mesh sieve.
STEP #3: press the seeds and flesh through the sieve to separate the juice from the seeds and flesh. You will have about 2 Tablespoons (30mL) of juice. You can discard the seeds and flesh. Set the juice aside.
STEP #4: juice the lime. You will have about 2 Tablespoons (30mL) of lime juice. Add this juice to the passion fruit juice and stir to combine.
STEP #5: add the honey to the juice mixture then stir, shake (with a lid), or whisk to thoroughly combine the dressing. You can now pour this over your prepared fruit, stir to combine, and then chill until you’re ready to eat it.
While this fruit salad is now ready to eat, for best results, chill the fruit salad in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.
SERVING OPTIONS
This fruit salad is delicious all on its own, but we enjoyed it over vanilla ice cream, with homemade whipped cream, and in cottage cheese. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to put a scoop on angel food cake or crepes, though!
Fruit Salad with Passion Fruit Dressing
Ingredients
DRESSING
- 2 fresh passion fruits1
- 1 lime
- 1 Tablespoon (21g) honey
FRUIT SALAD
- 2 large mangoes diced
- 8 large strawberries halved
- 3 kiwis sliced and then halved
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
DRESSING
- Place a fine mesh sieve over a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Set aside.
- Cut the passion fruits in half, scoop out the flesh and seeds, and place them in the mesh sieve.2 fresh passion fruits1
- Press the seeds and flesh through the sieve to separate the juice from the seeds and flesh. You will have about 2 Tablespoons (30mL) of juice. You can discard the seeds and flesh. Set the juice aside.
- Juice the lime. You will have about 2 Tablespoons (30mL) of lime juice. Add this juice to the passion fruit juice and stir to combine.1 lime
- Add the honey to the juice mixture then stir, shake (with a lid), or whisk to thoroughly combine the dressing. Set aside.1 Tablespoon (21g) honey
FRUIT SALAD
- Add the diced mangoes, halved strawberries, halved kiwis, and blueberries to a large bowl.2 large mangoes, 8 large strawberries, 3 kiwis, 1 cup fresh blueberries
- Pour the passion fruit dressing over the fruit, then carefully stir everything until the fruit is evenly mixed and coated in dressing. Fruit salad is ready to eat, but for best results, chill the fruit salad in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving. Store leftovers covered tightly in the refrigerator up to 2 days. Though not ideal, fruit salad can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator or use frozen for smoothies.
- Make ahead: you can make the dressing up to 2 days in advance. Store covered tightly in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. I do not recommend preparing the fruit more than 1 day in advance.
Notes
- Fresh passion fruit: if these are out of season for you, you can use frozen passion fruit pulp from the freezer section of your grocery store. Avoid using anything with added sweetener (like you’d find in the cocktail section).
- Fresh fruit: fresh fruit is ideal here, as frozen fruit tends to get slightly mushy when thawed. Feel free to use pre-cut fresh fruit to save yourself some time.
- Use fruits of your choice: this recipe is just a guide! You can use whatever fruit you prefer in this fruit salad. I like the colors of the fruits I chose, and I like leaning into the tropical flavor of the passion fruit with the mango.
- How to serve: we ate this fruit salad on ice cream, cottage cheese, and with homemade whipped cream. It would also make a great topping for crepes or angel food cake.
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.