This 5-minute, show-stopping Summer Berry Salad is the perfect side dish! Fresh mixed berries are coated in a zesty honey lime dressing for a delicious sweet and sour combo. Bring this super easy and healthy salad to your next picnic, BBQ, or beach party!
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🍓 A Sweet Summer Salad
Once temperatures start rising, there's nothing better than a giant bowl of fresh fruit. My summer must-haves are always fruit-centered, like this Pineapple Slushie or Watermelon Beet Salad. But everyone's favorite is always this tasty Summer Berry Salad.
There's no limit to how many or what kind of berries to include, but I like to keep it classic with strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Not only is it beautiful, but you also get a wide variety of antioxidants and vitamins from this rainbow platter of fruit!
To top it off, the honey and lime dressing is the perfect accompaniment. The honey enhances the fruit medley's sweetness, while the lime juice gives you that perfect pucker. And mint adds a cool and refreshing finish that's always welcome during summer. In the words of my husband, this fruit salad "tastes like a mojito"! 😜
Why You'll Love It
- Healthy: This summer salad is light, fresh, and healthy with a clean ingredient list. It's also gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and paleo!
- Quick and easy: Got 5 minutes? That's all the time you need to prepare this simple berry salad.
- No waste: Got a basket of berries you've forgotten about? Although this recipe works best with ripe fruit at their prime, this is also a great way to wake up any berries that's on their way out. Add a little more honey and you're good to go!
🧂 Ingredients
- Mixed berries: Use any type of berries you'd like! They're usually best in the summer from May to August, but most are available year-round depending on your location. To get the best-tasting fruit, I recommend going to the farmer's market - you can usually give them a taste first too. For a crowd-pleasing combo, I keep it classic with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
- Mint: The bright, cooling flavor is perfect for hot weather and wakes up the berries.
- Lime: A sour element to brighten the salad.
- Honey: Enhances the sweetness of the berry.
Substitutions & Variations
- Not a fan of mint? You can replace it with fresh basil for a sweet and savory twist.
- Place the mixed fruit on a bed of spinach or baby kale for a heartier salad.
- You don't have to limit it to just berries! Add in cherries, peaches, plums, pineapple, or more.
- Add a crunch factor with candied walnuts, sliced almonds, or sunflower seeds.
- To make this vegan, replace the honey with maple syrup.
🔪 How To Make Summer Berry Salad
⬇️ Please scroll down to the recipe card to see full ingredient amounts and instructions.
STEP ONE: First, thoroughly wash and dry all your berries. If using strawberries, remove the stems and cut into bite-size pieces. Tear the mint and disperse over the fruit.
STEP TWO: Make the honey lime dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together lime zest, lime juice, honey, and salt.
STEP THREE: Assemble once you're ready to serve the fruit salad. Pour the dressing over the berries and mix gently. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
How to Serve Berry Salad
- Breakfast: I love enjoying the marinated fruit with full-fat Greek yogurt and granola.
- Side Show: Serve it next to Chicken Feta Spinach Burgers, Honey Chipotle Shrimp Tacos, or BBQ Chicken Drumsticks for a healthy, balanced meal.
- Buffet line: Keep the theme light and offer this salad along with California Chicken Salad, German Potato Salad (Vegan), or Pea, Burrata, and Prosciutto Pasta Salad.
- Topping: Use this as a dessert topping on top of cheesecakes, brownies, meringues, or mousses.
💭 Top Tips
- Bigger isn't always better. I actually prefer smaller berries - since they're more compact, they'll have more flavor and sweetness in each bite.
- Don't wash your berries until you're ready to eat them. Excess water can lead to spoilage and mold. Once you're ready, rinse them with cold water or in a solution with a small splash of vinegar or pinch of salt. Make sure to thoroughly rinse and dry them before adding them to the salad. Washed fruit can be stored in the fridge in a perforated container with a paper towel liner or in these handy produce keepers.
- Mix the berry salad very gently to prevent bruising. Also, reserve some whole mint leaves for garnish on top.
- Keep all the fruit the same size. This mostly applies to strawberries - make sure to hull (remove the stems), then quarter or dice them. You can also use this cute strawberry huller to quickly de-stem them.
- Don't dress the berry salad until you're ready to serve. The salt will draw out water from the fruit and cause them to macerate, or break down. You could also serve the dressing on the side instead.
🥡 Storing & Freezing
Storing: Summer Berry Salad is best enjoyed the same day. But if you have any leftovers, store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Freezing: You can drain the salad and freeze the fruit if you'd like. Save them for smoothies, milkshakes, or slushies. You can also thaw it and use the macerated fruit as a yogurt or oatmeal topping.
Make Ahead: Prepare the fruit up and make the dressing up to 12 hours in advance. Store the berries, mint, and dressing separately in the fridge until assembly.
📖 Recipe FAQs
Store them unwashed in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can keep them in their original packaging or transfer them to shallow container with a dry paper towel on the bottom to absorb excess moisture. Keep the lid ajar for air circulation. If you see any moldy berry in the bunch, throw out that one immediately as it can spread quickly.
You certainly can to remove bacteria. Just add 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar to 3 cups cold water and soak the berries for 1 minutes. Rinse with clean water and lay out on towels to thoroughly dry.
Without question, strawberries! They are the most popular fruit all over the world. Not only are they amazing on their own, but they're also great in salads, pies, milk shakes, ice cream, jams, and more!
🍽 Looking For More Salads?
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📋 Recipe
Summer Berry Salad
Ingredients
- 2 lbs mixed berries about 6 cups (see notes)
- 2 tablespoon fresh mint torn
Honey Lime Dressing
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 1½ tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 2-3 tablespoon honey
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Wash and thoroughly dry all of your fruit. If using strawberries, hull and quarter so everything is the same size. Add all the berries and mint to a large bowl. Option to store in the fridge to chill until ready to serve.
- In another bowl, combine lime zest, lime juice, 2 tablespoon honey, and salt. Whisk and season to taste. If your fruit isn't at its prime or as sweet, add more honey.
- When ready to serve, pour the honey lime dressing over the fruit and mix gently. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with whole mint leaves, if desired.
Video
Notes
- Berries: You can use any nix of berries you'd like. I like to have a minimum of three different kinds. My favorites are strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries.
- This fruit salad is best enjoyed the same day. If you have leftovers, store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Martha Helias
Delicious and easy to make .
Jessica
Thank you Martha!