Festive Fruit Salad with Lemon & Ginger

No summer picnic is complete without a fresh fruit salad, and this bright recipe, with a simple lemon-ginger dressing, is my absolute favorite.

A Festive Fruit Salad Recipe

My best 4th of July memories are all about watermelon and pool parties. When I was younger, we used to go to the community pool, and they hosted this relay race game where you’d swim across the pool trying to push a slippery watermelon with you. It was harder than you think, especially when you’re a little kid. Afterward they’d cut up the watermelon for all the kids to eat. Between the splashy water and the watermelon juices, well, it was all a big fun slippery summery mess.

About this Fruit Salad Recipe

All of these thoughts of watermelon made me immediately think “fruit salad,” followed by the realization that I never even posted a fruit salad recipe on this site! I have salads with fruit in them, but this one is a salad that’s really all about the fruit. It’s pepped up with a lemon-gingery dressing, fresh herbs, and a few soft mozzarella cheese balls.

You may notice that I got a little crafty and cut my melons into star shapes – I used a 2-inch cookie cutter, and I promise it wasn’t as fussy as it might seem :). Of course, you could just use a melon baller (or a knife) to save some time (and fun).

For more picnic ideas, try these veggie burgers, this pasta salad, or this corn salad. Happy long weekend!

4.8 from 5 reviews

A Festive Fruit Salad with Lemon & Ginger

 
Prep time
Total time
 
I love serving this summery fruit salad for potlucks or celebrations. A zingy lemon ginger dressing on top makes it extra bright and festive!
Author:
Recipe type: Side dish, dessert
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • ½ honeydew, cut into about 15 stars
  • ⅓ seedless watermelon, cut into about 15 stars
  • 2 cups sliced strawberries
  • 1 cup mini mozzarella balls
  • 1 cup cherries
  • 1 loose-packed cup mint and basil leaves
  • ½ cup blueberries
  • ½ cup raspberries
Lemon-Ginger Dressing:
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • ½ clove of garlic, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon maple syrup
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. In a small jar, shake together the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, ginger, garlic, maple syrup, salt and pepper.
  2. Assemble the fruit, cheese and and herbs on a platter. Drizzle the dressing over, gently toss, and serve!
Notes
I used a 2" star cutter to make the melon stars.

This recipe was created in partnership with Whole Foods Market which is where I got all of the beautiful organic produce – on sale!

13 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Marlene
    05.22.2021

    Where’s the “print recipe” button for this recipe???

  2. Victoria Humbert
    07.29.2017

    I have never tried this before. It was yummy. Thanks for sharing.

  3. emile
    07.18.2017

    Good presentation!!Loved the shapes. Easy to give it to the kids too. Thank you for sharing.

  4. Melissa from melodramaticadventures.com
    07.04.2017

    What a beautiful salad. All salads should have stars in them.

  5. Catering in Den Haag
    07.02.2017

    WoW! Great salad with all That colors. Thanks for sharing.

  6. RO P. from intheknowwithro.blogspot.com
    07.02.2017

    This looks like an amazing treat! Love anything with ginger and lots of fruit! Hugs…RO

  7. Savvy
    07.02.2017

    my plan: make this salad for Beach Boys Concert @ Deer Valley; will be perfect picnic choice!! Thanks!!

  8. Mikaela from irisandhoney.com
    07.02.2017

    Now that’s a beautiful salad! No 4th of July party is complete without watermelon!

  9. Joana from letsmeetcafe.com
    07.02.2017

    This looks very yummy. I hope it doesn’t take too much time to make it but my kids will surely love it. Thanks for the recipe. And Happy Weekend too.!! :p

  10. Gemma from cookwarelab.net
    07.02.2017

    I have never made this salad before. I will try this one and let you know. Thanks.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.