Company Fruit Salad

Fruit salads can get a bit ho-hum, which is why we love elevating them with a sweet, creamy and tangy dressing. This cream cheese fruit salad recipe is packed with juicy fruits like apples and grapes, and each component offers a different color and texture for a lovely complexity. This light and bright salad can be served for breakfast, lunch or dessert, and is ideal for a company potluck or holiday breakfast.

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Fruit Salad

• Golden Delicious apples: These versatile apples can do it all, whether it’s snacking, baking or applesauce making. The mildly sweet and tender apples play a starring role here.
• Red Delicious apples: This juicy, crisp and refreshing apple variety is great to eat raw, which makes it the perfect choice for fresh fruit salad.
• Green grapes: Choose seedless green grapes. This tart, juicy and sweet variety is easier to eat.
• Red grapes: Red grapes tend to be sweeter and less tart than green grapes—great for offseting those sour notes. They also offer pops of bright and bold color.
• Pineapple: Tropical, sweet and totally juicy, pineapple offers a nice and chewy texture to fruit salads like this one. It also helps add some bright and vibrant yellow color.
• Mandarin oranges: Be sure to drain the mandarin oranges thoroughly before tossing them with the fruit. Mandarin oranges are sweeter than other oranges, and their small size perfectly mimics the other fruits in this salad.
• Cream cheese: Thick, creamy and mildly flavored, cream cheese makes a great base for dressings, especially in fruit-forward dishes like this one.
• Sour cream: Sour cream is tangy and smooth, and it blends with cream cheese, mayonnaise and sugar to create a thick and refreshing dressing for this fruit salad.
• Mayonnaise: Mayonnaise’s mild flavor lets it take on the flavors of whatever it’s mixed with.
• Sugar: Sugar is added to the dressing to amplify the sweetness of the fruit in the salad.

Directions

Step 1: Toss the fruit and mix the dressing

In a large bowl, combine the apples, grapes, pineapple chunks and mandarin oranges. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and sugar until they’re smooth.

Step 2: Combine the fruit and dressing

Pour the dressing over the fruit, then toss gently to coat the fruit. If your bowl is looking a little messy, transfer the salad to a pretty serving bowl.

Cream Cheese Fruit Salad Variations

• Add nutty texture: Nuts add a crunchy texture to this otherwise smooth and creamy salad. They also add a deep, savory, complex flavor. Pecans, walnuts and almonds are all great choices here.
• Try other fruits: No need to stick with these exact fruits. Try pears instead of apples, blueberries or strawberries instead of grapes, and freshly sliced bananas instead of mandarin oranges. However, if you’re using bananas, wait to add them until just before serving so they don’t turn brown.
• Add mini marshmallows: Want to sweeten up the salad a bit? Include mini marshmallows! Their chewy texture makes the fruit salad even more interesting.
• Replace the sour cream and mayo: If the dressing’s sour cream and mayo are throwing you a bit, use Greek yogurt instead. Vanilla, strawberry, peach, lemon and other fruity yogurt flavors would be perfect here.

How to Store Cream Cheese Fruit Salad

This fruit salad is best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, where it will last for two to four days.

Can you make company fruit salad ahead of time?

You can absolutely prepare this fruit salad in advance, though it’s best not to dress it until you’re ready to serve it. Keep the dressing refrigerated in a separate airtight container, and toss it with the fruit right before you serve it in order to keep the fruit as fresh and crunchy as possible.

Cream Cheese Fruit Salad Tips

How can I keep my apples from turning brown?

The best way to prevent these cut apples from turning brown is to toss the juice from a small can of pineapple into the bowl. The juice keeps the other fruit from browning, and bits of pineapple give the salad a tropical zing.

What fruits should I avoid in this company fruit salad?

Avoid adding acidic fruits (like grapefruit, lemon or lime) to this fruit salad. Acidic fruit could cause the cream to curdle.

When is a good time to serve this salad?

This versatile salad can be served at any time of day, but it’s particularly delicious for breakfast or brunch. The fact that it’s fresh, fruity and refreshing makes it a great dish to serve at a bridal brunch or baby shower. It’s also a great dish to bring into the office for a company potluck or lunch.

Watch How to Make Company Fruit Salad

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