Summer Fruit Salad

this recipe

This beautiful summer fruit salad brings together juicy stone fruits like peaches, nectarines, and cherries with fresh berries and a zesty lemon maple thyme dressing. This dressing truly takes the flavors up a notch, making it a salad you’ll want to keep coming back to! It’s perfect as a light side, a quick snack, or even a healthy dessert that feels special without any fuss.

What Makes This Salad Special

• Makes great use of seasonal fruit: Got a bunch of fresh stone fruit and berries hanging around? This salad is a fantastic way to use them all up in one tasty dish.
• Endless fruit combos: Go wild with every stone fruit you can find (like we did!), or keep it simple with just a couple of favorites. Cherries and peaches alone make a lovely combo!
• Fruit salad, upgraded: You might think fresh summer fruit can’t get any better, but this lemon maple thyme dressing amps up the flavor big time. It’s so good I couldn’t stop munching! Way more exciting than plain fruit.

Gather These Ingredients

• 4-6 cups sliced stone fruit of your choice* (cherries, peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, etc.)
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 cups blackberries
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

Make the Fruit Salad

1. Slice all stone fruits thinly, pitting cherries first.
2. Place sliced stone fruit, blueberries, and blackberries in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and chopped fresh thyme until smooth.
4. Drizzle the dressing over the fruit.
5. Toss gently to coat the fruit evenly.
6. Chill in the refrigerator about 1 hour to let flavors meld, or serve immediately.

Smart Tips and Notes

• Stone fruit amounts: One large peach or nectarine usually slices into about 1 cup of fruit. Smaller fruits like apricots or plums will need about 3-4 pieces to make 1 cup sliced.
• Mix it up: Don’t feel locked into the exact fruits or herbs here. Have fun and try different combinations like basil or mint for herbs, or swap berries as you like.
• Storage: This salad tastes best within 2 days. Keep it chilled in an airtight container and stir well before serving to bring that dressing back to life.
• Make ahead: It actually gets tastier after sitting in the fridge for a bit so you can make it up to 24 hours before you’re ready to eat. Just give it a good toss before serving!
• Turn it savory: For a more filling twist, serve the fruit over a bed of baby kale or arugula, toss in some cooked quinoa or wild rice, and double the dressing so everything gets coated.

What’s the best way to pit cherries?

No cherry pitter? No problem! Grab a chopstick or a metal straw, push it through the stem hole of the cherry, and pop the pit out. Then slice the cherry halves as you like.

Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or share your thoughts in the comments section down below. I’d love to hear how it went!

Ways to Customize the Salad

Want to switch things up? Here are some simple ways to customize this salad:

• Swap the herbs: Use fresh mint, basil, or tarragon instead of thyme for a different flavor vibe.
• Mix up the berries: Substitute strawberries or raspberries for the blueberries and blackberries, or add them in for more variety.
• Focus on one fruit: Keep it straightforward with just cherries and peaches or go heavy on stone fruits like plums, apricots, and nectarines for a bold fruit-forward salad.
• Make it savory: Serve this dressed fruit over baby arugula or kale, toss in a cup of cooked quinoa or wild rice, and double the dressing for a hearty, savory-sweet salad.
• Dessert style: Spoon the salad over vanilla ice cream, Greek yogurt, or whipped cream for a lovely light dessert that feels fancy but is easy to pull together.
• Sweetener & flavor swaps: Use honey or agave syrup if maple isn’t handy, and try vanilla bean paste if you want an extra special vanilla touch instead of extract.

Storing and Make-Ahead Tips

Here’s how to keep your fruit salad fresh and ready ahead of time:

• Keep it refrigerated: Store your salad in an airtight container in the fridge. It’s best eaten within 24 hours, but will hold up for up to 2 days.
• Dress at serving time (optional): To avoid soggy fruit, keep the dressing separate and toss it with the fruit right before serving if making a few hours or more ahead.
• Give it a stir: The juices might settle in the fridge, so gently stir the salad before you serve to bring everything back together.
• Don’t freeze: Frozen and thawed berries or stone fruits get mushy, so skip freezing assembled salad. If you have extra fresh fruit, slice and freeze it for smoothies or baking instead.
• Warm it up: If you like a warm touch, quickly grill or sauté peach halves and gently fold them into the salad just before serving.

Answers to Common Questions

• Can I use canned or frozen fruit? Fresh fruit nails the texture and brightness here. Canned fruit tends to be too soft and sweet in syrup, which isn’t ideal. Frozen fruit can work if you thaw and drain it well, but the texture will be softer and sometimes watery.
• How long does the salad last? In an airtight container in the fridge, it keeps for 1-2 days. The flavors can even improve a bit after chilling, but the fruit softens over time.
• Can I make this ahead? Definitely! For the best texture, dress the salad up to 24 hours ahead, or keep the dressing separate and toss before serving.
• What if I don’t have thyme? Fresh mint, basil, or tarragon all work beautifully and will give the salad a tasty twist.
• Is this recipe allergy-friendly? Yes! The salad is naturally dairy-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan as is. If you add things like nuts or cheese, be mindful of allergens.
• How do you pit cherries without a pitter? Use a chopstick or stainless-steel straw. Push it through the cherry’s stem hole to pop out the pit, then slice the cherry easily.
• Can I leave out the vanilla? Yes, you can! Vanilla adds warmth and a dessert-like note, but the dressing is still bright and tasty without it.