marilynpeight
Patriotic fruit salad is perfect for any summer picnic, but especially for those holiday parties on Memorial Day and 4th of July where you don’t really feel like spending much time in the kitchen, but still want to bring something special to the table. This easy fruit salad is made with red, white and blue fruits, then coated with a sweet citrus coating to keep the fruit salad fresh for even longer. If you are searching for more ideas to take to a picnic try my Fruit Pizza Cookies or Frozen Strawberry Mint Lemonade.
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Patriotic Fruit Salad with Lemon Juice Dressing
Equipment
- star shaped cookie cutters (linked below)
- Cutting board (linked below)
- Chef's knife (linked below)
- Mixing bowls (linked below)
Ingredients
- 2 cups strawberries
- 2 cups blueberries
- 2-3 cups watermelon
- 1 cup apples
- 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice *see note
- 3 tablespoons sugar *see note
Instructions
- Wash the blueberries and strawberries, then hull and slice the strawberries. Measure the berries and place into a large mixing bowl.
- Slice the watermelon into moderately thin and round disks (see photo below for reference). Cut the watermelon with the star shaped cookie cutters (*see note) until you have 2-3 cups of star shaped fruit. Place into the fruit bowl with the berries.
- Peel the apples and slice vertically into 5 slices discarding the center piece with seeds. Trim the outer round edges to make a flat surface that is easier to cut with a cookie cutters. Press a small star shaped cookie cutter into the center of each apple disk and carefully remove the star shaped apple piece (see photo below for reference). Place one cup of star shaped apple pieces into the fruit bowl.
- Combine the lemon juice and sugar, whisking well until most of the sugar has dissolved. Gently combine the lemon dressing with the fruit, then place into the serving bowl of your choice and enjoy.
Notes
Equipment needed for this Patriotic Fruit Salad:
- Star shaped cookie cutters I like to use a medium sized star shaped cookie cutter for cutting out the watermelon pieces and a mini sized star cookie cutter for the apple slices.
- Cutting Board A plastic cutting board is a great option for cutting up the fruit pieces on. I like to use my plastic cutting board, because it is dish washer friendly.
- Chef’s Knife A chef’s knife makes the fruit slicing process much easier!
- Mixing bowls Mixing bowls are needed for mixing up the sweet lemon dressing and also for combining the fruit salad with dressing after.
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Ingredients needed for this Patriotic Fruit Salad: Watermelon, Apples, Strawberries, Lemon juice, Blueberries and sugar.
Substitutions:
This fruit salad is fairly versatile and you can add or subtract from it. Bananas could be used instead of apples, red raspberries could be added (or used instead of strawberries) etc. You can also use honey or agave (add to taste as I haven’t tested it personally) instead of sugar. Pineapple or orange juice can be used instead of lemon juice for a different flavor in this patriotic fruit salad.
Step 1-2: Wash the berries and prepare the strawberries by hulling and slicing them, then measure and place into a large mixing bowl. Slice the watermelon in half, then cut large round disks out of the watermelon. Cut star shapes out of the fruit with the medium sized cookie cutter. Place into the mixing bowl with the berries.
Note*
Don’t discard the leftovers! Toddlers love small watermelon bits and the leftover watermelon also makes a delicious watermelon smoothie or homemade watermelon ice popsicles.
Step 3: Peel the apples and slice into 5 slices vertically, discarding the center slice with the seeds. Trim the round edges off of the outer apple slices to create a flat surface, then cut into the apple slices with the mini star shaped cookie cutter and place the stars into the fruit bowl.
Step 4: Combine the lemon juice and sugar, mixing well to dissolve some of the sugar crystals into the lemon juice.
Why Acid?
When making a fruit salad to take to a picnic or event, one problem we often face is that the fruit will start to brown, especially apples and bananas. Acid works as a preservative for fruit and can be found in lemon juice, orange juice or pineapple juice. Which is why I recommend making the citrus dressing to coat your fruit in before taking the fruit to a picnic or storing it for more than an hour.
Step 4 continued: Pour the citrus dressing over the fruit, then gently combine with a spatula or large spoon.
Place into a pretty serving bowl (if you wish) and enjoy!
Storage:
Generally I keep my fruit salad in the refrigerator for a day or two, but do recommend serving it as fresh as possible, because it is best when fresh. If juices accumulate in the fruit salad after it has sat for an hour or more, you can drain the fruit off with a sieve or colander.
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