This Fall Fruit Salad recipe is full of apple pie spice, toasted pecans, and fresh fruit like apples, cranberries, grapes and oranges with a delicious apple spice dressing. A favorite Thanksgiving side dish.
The Best Thanksgiving Fruit Salad
This is a refreshing Autumn fruit salad that has all the flavors of Fall in it. This is a wonderful side dish for Thanksgiving and is so simple to make. You only need a handful of ingredients for the salad as well as the dressing. Every bite is a taste of Fall! The sweet and delicious Autumn flavors combine together so well.
Ingredients Needed
- Fruit: You will need a blend of apples (I like to use Honeycrisp or Gala apples combined with granny smith apples), dried cranberries, grapes, navel oranges, and lemons. You will also be needing the zest and juice for the oranges and the zest of a lemon for the dressing.
- Pecans: I prefer using pecans for a nutty flavor, but you can try other types.
- Apple Pie Spice: This will really give the salad its Fall flavor with some sugar for sweetness! You could also try pumpkin pie spice with this recipe.
How To Make This Fall Fruit Salad
- Set the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the pecans. Add the orange juice, sugar, apple pie spice, zest of 1 lemon, and zest of 1 orange into a small saucepan and combine with a whisk over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a low boil for about 3-4 minutes. Pour the mixture into a fine mesh strainer and allow it to cool thoroughly.
- Add the chopped apples, dried cranberries, toasted pecans, grapes, and oranges into a large bowl and combine. Pour the apple spice orange dressing onto the fruit and toss to fully coat until incorporated. Serve and enjoy!
Variations
Fruit: replace the green apples with some diced pears. You can also add pomegranate seeds or other forms of seeds. Blueberries or raspberries are a nice add in as well.
Nuts: I love this salad recipe with chopped, crushed, or whole pecans. But, you can add any kind of nut like peanuts, walnuts, or cashews.
Dressing: I highly recommend our apple spice dressing, but feel free to use any sweet spiced dressing you prefer.
Storing
Place the fruit mixture in an airtight container for the best storage method. You will want to store this recipe in the fridge. This recipe can keep for up to 2 days in the fridge. I wouldn’t recommend freezing because the fruit will have an off taste.
More Salad Recipes:
Fall Fruit Salad
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients:
- 2 medium green apples
- 2 medium red apples
- ¾ cup cranberries dried
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 cup grapes
- 3 medium naval orange
- 1 medium Lemon
Dressing Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup sugar white
- 1/4 tsp apple pie spice
- 1 zest lemon
- 1 zest orange
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place pecans on a baking sheet and place them in the oven while it’sheating up. Remove pecans from the oven when you can smell them, about the sametime the oven is fully heated. Remove from the oven and cool.
- In a small saucepan, mix orange juice, sugar, apple pie spice, zest of 1 lemon, and zestof 1 orange. Place over medium heat. Whisk to combine. Bring to a low boil and simmerfor 3-4 minutes. Strain in a fine mesh strainer and cool completely.
- Core and slice apples into bite-sized pieces. Toss apples with juice from half a lemon toprevent browning.
- Cut the peel off the orange and cut it 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.
Last Step:
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7 comments on “Fall Fruit Salad”
Can this be kept in the refrigerator a day prior?
Hi Janet. Yes, this can be made a day prior and still taste fresh. Store in an airtight container.
Made this for Thanksgiving, this is a keeper!!!!
Thanks Judy!
Excellent flavors . I used pumpkin spice since that is what i had on hand . Everyone loved it . I will be making it again for a friends post wedding brunch
Hi. For the orange juice are you using store bought?
You can use store bought or homemade.