Fruit Cocktail

Forget the cans, this is the best fruit cocktail EVER. Fresh fruit makes it delicious, but it’s that zippy honey-infused pineapple-lime dressing that makes the flavor pop. Use whatever is in season or looks good at the grocery store and make it your own!

Fruit Cocktail Recipe

If you’re of a certain age (*cough* child of the 80s), you probably grew up eating canned fruit cocktail. It always felt like such a treat, but in retrospect, it was basically a can of mushy pears and peaches, grapes, and a few highly sought after cherries swimming in high-fructose corn syrup. THIS is what I used to get excited about?!

This homemade fruit cocktail recipe has that nostalgia factor going for it because it’s made with many of the same fruits as the canned version. But! This time around, the fruit is all fresh. That alone makes the flavor and texture miles better (no mushy fruit!). Then, instead of heavy syrup, we toss it all in a light dressing made with pineapple juice, a squeeze of lime, and honey. SO much tastier.

I love this fruit cocktail recipe as a side for a backyard barbecue or potluck, but it’s also easy to whip up on a Sunday night and divvy into small containers for lunchboxes. It’s a great way to work some extra fruit into your day, and it’s totally worth the (minimal) effort to ditch the cans. Less fancy than a fruit salad but just as tasty!

Ingredients for Fruit Cocktail

The ingredients below are inspired by the OG canned fruit cocktail, but this is a fruit salad—you can totally swap in your favorite fruits and it will still be fantastic.

• Pears – You want ripe, sweet pears, but not ones that are meltingly soft because they won’t hold up well in the fruit cocktail.
• Pineapple – If you’re not up for prepping a fresh pineapple, there’s no shame in buying a tub of cut pineapple from the grocery store!
• Peaches – Or nectarines, which are peaches without fuzz. (It’s true!)
• Grapes – Canned fruit cocktail only has green grapes, but we’re going to live it up and add green AND red.
• Mandarin Oranges – Clementines work too.
• Cherries – No unnaturally colored cherries in this fruit cocktail! Use sweet cherries like Bing or Rainier.
• Pineapple Juice – The base of our fruit cocktail dressing and a much more delicious alternative to heavy syrup.
• Lime Juice – Just enough to brighten things up.
• Honey – I love the addition of honey not just for sweetness, but also its flavor.

How to Make Fruit Cocktail

The work here is all done upfront—once you’ve prepped all the fruit, it’s just a matter of tossing everything together.

1. Combine the fruit. Add all of the fruit to a large bowl. (It can be the bowl you plan on serving in.)
2. Make the dressing. Whisk the pineapple juice, lime juice, and honey in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup.
3. Toss. Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss to combine.
4. Enjoy! Chill before serving to allow the flavors to meld together.

Variations and Tips

Here are a few tips to help you achieve fruit cocktail perfection.

• Cut the fruit into bite-sized pieces. You don’t want to need a knife and a fork to eat fruit cocktail! Each piece of fruit should fit comfortably onto a fork and all of the pieces should be similar in size.
• Add mint. Now we’re REALLY deviating from the original, but fresh mint is always fantastic in a fruit salad and it would also work well in fruit cocktail. 
• Make sure the dressing is evenly distributed. Toss everything again just before serving; if you’re making this fruit cocktail recipe for meal prep and storing it in individual containers, I recommend portioning the dressing evenly between them after you’ve divided up the fruit.
• Use fresh fruit. Not fruit that’s past its prime! This fruit cocktail will only last as long as its weakest link, so if your grapes are starting to spoil, your salad will only last a day or so in the fridge.

What to Serve With Fruit Cocktail

Fruit cocktail goes with just about anything, but especially those summer get-together staples like salads and grilled foods. 

• Red Potato Salad
• Greek Pasta Salad
• Grilled Lemon Chicken
• The Best Turkey Burger
• Tuna Macaroni Salad
• The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich

More Crowd-Pleasing Fruit Salad Recipes

• Fall Fruit Salad
• Sparkling Fruit Salad with Champagne Mimosa Dressing
• Mexican Fruit Salad
• Grape Salad
• Easy Ambrosia Salad

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