Summertime Fruit Salad
This fresh fruit salad recipe features strawberries, peaches and blueberries with balsamic vinegar. It's a delicious, healthy side dish or dessert.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 17, 2024
I didn’t know fruit salads could be so delicious. This fruit salad recipe features ripe summer peaches, strawberries, blueberries and basil. To take it to the next level, I added a dash of maple syrup, plus lemon juice and balsamic vinegar for contrast.
This salad is a thousand times tastier than any fruit salad I encountered as a kid, and it’s practically exploding with vitamins and antioxidants. You won’t find any funny business here—no Jell-o, no Cool Whip, no canned ingredients, and no sad, mushy bananas. Fresh summer fruit is better off without it!
You won’t find any refined sugar, either. Just one tablespoon of natural sweetener (maple syrup or honey) rounds out this salad and adds some extra flavor.
For someone who shares (and consumes) a lot of healthy recipes, I rarely get my four servings of fruit per day. As someone who wants to feel well and age gracefully, it’s time to up my fruit game. Vitamins and antioxidants are key.
If you, like me, could benefit from more fruit in your life, give this fresh fruit salad a shot. I truly couldn’t stop going back for more. Don’t worry, fruit fiends, this salad is for you, too! It’s the perfect use for your farmers’ market haul.
This fruit salad recipe makes a lovely snack, side dish or dessert. Serve it on its own, or add a dollop of whipped cream, or even some yogurt and granola. Please let me know how you like it.
Summertime Fruit Salad
This simple fruit salad recipe is fresh and healthy! It features strawberries, peaches and blueberries with a little balsamic vinegar and basil. It’s a delicious side dish or dessert (for dessert, you can serve it as is or add some whipped cream to make it more decadent). Recipe yields 6 side servings.
Ingredients
- 1 pound strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
- 3 medium peaches, thinly sliced (I peeled mine, but if you don’t mind the skin, you can leave it on)
- 6 ounces (1 cup) blueberries
- 1 heaping tablespoon fresh, chopped basil or mint
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 medium lemon)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- In a medium serving bowl, combine the strawberries, peaches, blueberries and basil. Drizzle the lemon juice, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar on top. Gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately, or chill for later. This salad is best enjoyed promptly, but will keep well for about 2 days in the refrigerator (pour off excess juices if necessary).
Notes
Make it vegan: Be sure to use maple syrup, not honey.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I was just planning what to buy at the farmers market tomorrow and this definitely made the list. I’ve always loved the strawberry basil combo
Hope it turned out great, Kathrin!
Looks delicious! I *love* peaches and when they are in season, I eat as many as humanly possible. So I saw your peeled peaches and just had to share a peach-peeling tip – if you put ripe peaches in a bowl, pour boiling water over top of them and let them sit there for a moment, the peach skin will just slide off. You can literally peel the peach with just your fingers.
Will be sure to give this salad a try :)
Thanks, Natasha! I tried to do something like that with these peaches (maybe I didn’t let them sit in hot water long enough), but it didn’t do me any good. I’ll try your method next time.
We don’t have strawberries now so i made fruit salad with red grapes. I never used balsamic now i will try.
Thanks
I bet balsamic and grapes would be delicious!
This fruit salad looks delicious! I look forward to making it when peaches appear in the supermarket :)
Thanks, Cat! Hope you love it.
I like the idea this salad. The fruits I am most likely to eat are berries because they count as slow carbs (not just sugar). When I can get good peaches, I can’t get enough of them, so this combo is perfect. If I want a fruit salad, this is the one I would definitely make. I would use basil rather than mint.
Thanks, Susan! I agree, berries are my favorite, and they don’t seem to give me a sugar rush. I actually really like defrosted frozen raspberries—I let them defrost overnight and top my toast/granola/waffles/pancakes with lots of them.
Beautiful, delicious, and oh so healthy!
Just don’t peel the peaches or nectarines. Why throw away all that fiber and flavor?
In hindsight, I’m not sure why I peeled those peaches! Peeling is no fun, anyway.
I’m so bad at eating fruit. I’ve gone for days at a time without eating any. I need to get back onto the fruit train, and this looks like it would be a great way to do so. Fruit salad for breakfast? I think so.
Me, too! Glad I’m not the only one. :)
I recommend spin classes. You will get hooked on ‘adrenaline zen’ for sure, Kate!
I didn’t make it to spin this weekend after all! I’m going to try it soon, I promise. I might just buy a new bicycle soon; I miss zooming through town.
I always love a good fruit salad, especially one that combines such pretty colors! Looks super delicious, can’t wait to give this a try :)
~ Annie
Thanks, Annie! Hope you love it.
This looks delicious! Do you think I could substitute Mangos for the Peaches? I’m allergic to peaches & nectarines :(
Yes, I think that would work great!
This looks delish. I love your blog! LOVE IT! Yummy healthy things…
Thank you, Courtney!
Your food photography is so pretty! I am excited to try this when I get home from vacation!
Thank you very much, Sarah! :) Hope you love it.
I LOVE fruit salads! You can’t really go wrong with any fruit combinations! Anyways, I actually really like the skin of the peaches, but I’ve been making so many fruit salads every week!
I’m officially a fruit salad fan! I don’t think I ever had a good one growing up. In hindsight, I totally could have left that peach skin on. Wasted effort!
I have always been a fruit fan, when I was a kid I’d take fresh berries over candy. Dark leafy greens are anther story, it took me well until adulthood to appreciate them.
As for cardio, I’m in the same boat as you. I do tons of yoga, but you’ll never see me on a treadmill.
This fruit salad is amazing! Definitely the highlight of my brunch, loved by all. Used basil, not mint. Spectacular flavors!
Thank you, Liz! Happy to hear it.
I’m so good at eating fruit and so terrible at eating green salads. I’m great at picking up lettuce or kale and terrible about remembering to actually eat it. Maybe we could balance each other out a little? :)
I actually have some kale that has gone bad on my counter right now, so sad!
It can be friends with the wilted lettuce we found in our fridge this week… Maybe they’ll get together in salad heaven?
Let’s hope so. Amen.
I love peaches and I loved this recipe–made it as part of hubby’s bday dinner with friends. Thanks for great recipes! I’m sharing this on my blog tomorrow, along with your site, of course.
Thanks, Amy! So glad you all enjoyed it. I actually don’t allow my recipes to be published elsewhere, but I appreciate you sharing it with your friends.
I made this for a family reunion and it got rave reviews! Used basil rather than mint and maple syrup rather than honey and it was fantastic! Even my children, who usually only eat their fruit “plain”, gobbled it up! Thank you!
That’s awesome! Thanks, Lara.
What a stunning recipe. Such beautiful colours.
Thanks, Meghan!
Love this fruit salad. So refreshing! Definitely a must have for summer (which is coming to an end) :(
Thank you, Amy. I know, the sun is setting so much earlier and it’s bumming me out!
I made it over the weekend and loved it! I made it with basil and maple syrup. Your blog is now my go-to cook book.
Thank you so much, Denise! That makes me happy.
I’m not exaggerating when I say this was the best fruit salad I’ve ever had. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Right on! Have any other awesome tips for peeling or chopping of veggies or fruit??
My husband lovedddd this! So did i!
Wonderful!
Oh so yummy! Full disclosure: Made this salad in May in the Pacific Northwest. Bought peaches days in advance and ripened in a paper bag. The boiling water peeling technique did not work for me either. That part was tedious. BUT once put together (vegan recipe) took to a Mother’ Day celebration and it was the first thing to be gobbled up… and there was LOTS of food! Can’t even imagine how delicious this would be with summer peaches!!! Thank you for a fabulous fruit salad recipe. Your recipes never disappoint
Thank you for sharing, Lisa! I appreciate your review.
Left a review of this salad but forgot the photo… it’s really a beautiful salad!
IMG_2182.jpg
Thank you for sharing, Lisa!
Who’d have thought basil would be so damn good in a fruit salad
I love your site and use many of your recipes. Thank you for contributing to a healthier me!
You’re welcome, Megan! Thanks for your review.
I understand you need sponsors to keep doing this however the adds for Bush’s beans, Petco and the Mayo ad blocked out some of your instructions and could not be closed.
Hi Donna, I’m sorry you had a poor experience on my blog. I try to manage the ads to the best experience for my readers. You can always choose to not view ads by selecting that in your browser settings. If this happens to you again, please screen shot it and send that to my hello@cookieandkate.com email and I will address with my ad provider.
Just made this and it’s so good! I used a combo of peaches, plums and nectarines. Chopped pecans on top complimented the balsamic well. Great recipe! Thank you!!
You’re welcome, Amy! Thanks for your review.
Omg loved it but recipe amount was small, will double next time-balsamic who would have thought!
Thanks for sharing, Victoria!
Another delicious recipe, Kate. We can always count on you for consistently terrific, reliable dishes. Thank you for making our lives a little simpler.
I tried two small modifications for fun — I grilled the peaches and added some fresh figs, quartered. Worked well with the balsamic and maple syrup.
Thank you, Lisa!
Made this recipe last night and it exceeded my expectations. I think the maple and the kick of acid from lemon and vinegar made it fantastic. I used mint, but am anxious to try with basil too.
Thank you for sharing, Karen!
Just made this. It is SO delicious! What a nice spin on a fruit salad. Thank you!
This was soooooo good! I was pleasantly surprised with the balsamic vinegar and mint flavors.
I made this yesterday for an outdoor potluck. I used mint for the herb and added the other dressing ingredients into my mini blender to mix them together first before adding to the fruit, and I would recommend doing this. I was worried the dressing would be too sour, but it tasted great. However for the amount of fruit there was way too much dressing, I only used about a third, also the strawberries started to get mushy after only a couple of hours. I would make this again, but cut the strawberries in bigger pieces, and reduce the amount of dressing. I think grapes, blackberries would also work well.
This is probably the best fruit salad I’ve ever made! Peaches aren’t in season right now so I substituted mangoes and used mint instead of basil and it’s perfect. Added some homemade whipped coconut cream and it was the hit of our dinner party!
I love it! Thank you for sharing, Azaria.
Drizzle basil olive oil on it, easy to make!
I was looking for fruit salad dressing recipes and yours sounded so delicious. I made it and tossed is over cantaloupe, rainier cherries, blueberries and pineapple. I’ll be making this again and again. Thank you!!
Sounds delicious, Erin! Thank you for your review.
Would frozen peaches work in this recipe? Thanks
You can try it, but be sure they are thawed and drain extra juice. Let me know what you think!
I need to make double this recipe. Prefer not to use Strawberries. Can I put Melon chunks in this? Also, Black Berries? Apples, small Organic from Washington? Bananas?
Making it today for the Fourth of July, tomorrow. What should I not add til the last minute. Will have it in a covered Bowl.
Love the natural Organic approach. I hate Cool Whip! Add more Lemon or Lime Juice? I have both. Would Celery be okay in this? Walnuts? Greek full fat Plain Yogurt?
Thank you for a great recipe!
I prefer this combination, but you could try others. I hope you enjoyed your variation!
I will say this is a great recipe and super fresh and delicious for a summer evening. I would like to add that I had added pears into the recipe since I had a few hanging about. This recipe is definitely more reliant on citrusy fruits and more mellow flavored fruits do not compliment the balsamic and lime at all. I should’ve known but i tried anyway. So just a tip, steer clear of Bananas, Pears, Apples.. things like that. But again such a delicious recipe thank you!
Just wondering I have nectarines. Can I use that instead of peaches?
Sure, Jane. Let me know what you think!
I added quinoa to this to make it a full meal and it was AMAZING.
That’s great to hear, Meag! I appreciate you sharing.
I’ve made this delicious fruit salad so many times – and variations of it – my family and friends love it! The dressing sets it apart. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Joe!
Delicious and my breakfast guests all loved this.
Great to hear, Colleen!
Wow. This is so yum! And easy to make! Thanks for delicious recipe!
You’re welcome, Sarah!
If I make earlier in the day should I leave off the dressing until just before serving? Thank you, it looks delicious.
You can add the dressing and it will become sweeter and more juicy.
My son has an annual pot luck celebration that he attends. I usually send something that is much more labour intensive and he comes home with not much having been eaten. This year he took this salad and came home with barely enough for me to try it. I used frozen peaches as it was not yet peach season and I think I tripled the recipe.
This salad was such a success that I took it to a potluck barbecue and I’m taking it again this weekend.