Fruit salad is a dish consisting of various kinds of
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
, sometimes served in a liquid, either their juices or a
syrup
In cooking, syrup (less commonly sirup; from ; , beverage, wine and ) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a Solution (chemistry), solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but ...
. In different forms, fruit salad can be served as an
appetizer or a side as a
salad
A salad is a dish consisting of mixed ingredients, frequently vegetables. They are typically served chilled or at room temperature, though some can be served warm. Condiments called '' salad dressings'', which exist in a variety of flavors, a ...
. A fruit salad is sometimes known as a fruit cocktail (often connoting a canned product), or fruit cup (when served in a small container).
There are many types of fruit salad, ranging from the basic (no nuts, marshmallows, or dressing) to the moderately sweet (
Waldorf salad
A Waldorf salad is a fruit and nut salad generally made of celery, fresh apples, walnuts, and grapes, dressed in mayonnaise, and traditionally served on a bed of lettuce as an appetizer or a light meal. The apples, celery, and grapes ...
) to the sweet (
ambrosia salad). Another "salad" containing fruit is a
jello salad, with its many variations. A
fruit cocktail is well-defined in the US to mean a well-distributed mixture of small diced pieces of (from highest percentage to lowest) peaches, pears, pineapple, grapes, and cherry halves. Fruit salad may also be canned (with larger pieces of fruit than a cocktail).
Description

There are several home
recipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish (food), dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main r ...
s for fruit salads that contains different kinds of fruit, or that use a different kind of sauce other than the fruit's juice or syrup. Common ingredients used in fruit salads include
strawberries,
pineapple
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae.
The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...
,
honeydew,
watermelon
The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...
,
grapes, and
kiwifruit
Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi), or Chinese gooseberry, is the edible berry (botany), berry of several species of woody vines in the genus ''Actinidia''. The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa, ...
. Various recipes may call for the addition of
nuts,
fruit juice
Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such ...
s, certain
vegetable
Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...
s,
yogurt
Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...
, or other ingredients.
One variation is a
Waldorf-style fruit salad, which uses a
mayonnaise-based sauce. Other recipes use
sour cream (such as in
ambrosia
In the ancient Greek mythology, Greek myths, ambrosia (, ) is the food or drink of the Greek gods, and is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Mount Olympus, Olympus by do ...
), yogurt, or even custard as the primary sauce
ingredient
In a general sense, an ingredient is a substance which forms part of a mixture. In cooking, recipes specify which ingredients are used to prepare a dish, and the term may also refer to a specific food item in relation to its use in different re ...
. A variation on fruit salad uses whipped cream mixed in with many varieties of fruits (usually a mixture of berries), and also often includes miniature marshmallows.
Rojak, a
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
n fruit salad, uses a spicy sauce with peanuts and shrimp paste. In the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, fruit salads are popular party and holiday fare, usually made with ''buko'', or young
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
, and
condensed milk in addition to other canned or fresh fruit. In
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
by influence of
Cantonese
Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
immigrants during the sugar plantation days,"
almond float" was introduced, where almond flavored gelatin is prepared, cubed, and typically mixed with canned
fruit cocktail and canned
lychee.
Sicilian orange salad is a typical dish of
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
(Italy) and Spain in which orange slices are dressed with olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
Mexico has a popular variation of the fruit salad called
Bionico which consists of various fruits drenched in condensed milk and sour cream mix. Guacamole may also be considered a fruit salad, consisting predominantly of various fruits and fruit juices such as avocados, lemon and/or lime juice, tomatoes, chili peppers, and black peppercorns.
There is also an extended variety of fruit salads in
Moroccan cuisine, often as part of a
kemia, a selection of
appetizers or small dishes analogous to Spanish
tapas or eastern
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
mezze.
A fruit salad ice cream is also commonly manufactured, with small pieces of real fruit embedded, flavored either with juices from concentrate, fruit extracts, or artificial chemicals.
Another type of fruit salad is one of the recipes that went viral on TikTok in 2024, named Hwachae. Korean fruit salad is a dessert that aims to be hydrating and refreshing. Made with fresh fruits, strawberry milk, seven-up and jelly or jell-o, this recipe is very popular in Asia.
Fruit cocktail
''Fruit cocktail'' is often sold
canned and is a staple of
cafeterias, but can also be made fresh. The use of the word "cocktail" in the name does not mean that it contains alcohol, but refers to the secondary definition: ''" an appetizer made by combining pieces of food, such as fruit or seafood"''.
In the United States, the
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...
stipulates that canned "fruit cocktail" must contain a certain percentage distribution of
pear
Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...
s, grapes,
cherries
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...
,
peach
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...
es, and pineapples to be marketed as fruit cocktail. It must contain fruits in the following range of percentages:
*30% to 50% diced peaches, any yellow variety
*25% to 45% diced pears, any variety
*6% to 16% diced pineapple, any variety
*6% to 20% whole grapes, any seedless variety
*2% to 6% cherry halves, any light sweet or artificially colored red variety (like
maraschino cherries)
Both
William Vere Cruess of the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
and Herbert Gray of the Barron-Gray Packing Company of
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
, have been credited with the invention of fruit cocktails. Barron–Gray was the first company to sell fruit cocktail commercially, beginning in 1930, and
California Packing Corporation began selling it under its
Del Monte brand a few years later.
Canned fruit cocktails and canned fruit salad are similar, but fruit salad contains larger fruit while fruit cocktail is diced. Commercially, the fruit used was healthy but cosmetically damaged, such as a peach or pear that was bruised on one side.
The bruised parts would be cut away and discarded, and the rest would be diced into small pieces.
In popular culture
"Fruit Salad" (also known as "Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy") is the name of a song by
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n children's band
the Wiggles
The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce (entertainer), John Pearce, Caterina Mete ...
.
"Fruit-salad" is also a slang term used for
medals on a soldier's uniform, e.g. "Look at the fruit-salad on that colonel." The term refers to the bright colors of a high percentage of the
ribbons that usually go with medals.
[ ]
"Fruit salad" is an alternative name for the party game
Fruit Basket Turnover.
See also
*
Macedonia (food), a variation made of small pieces of fruit or vegetable
*
Compote, dessert of fruit in syrup
*
Green papaya salad, a savory salad made from the unripe fruit
*
Clericó – a Latin American version of sangria, made from mixed fruit and wine
References
External links
History of fruit salad
{{Authority control
Fruit dishes
Appetizers
Articles containing video clips
Sweet salads