Let’s be honest, side dishes can be brutal.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked to bring a fruit salad to a potluck or get together and I spend an inordinate amount of time agonizing over what I can do to make an ordinary fruit salad more spectacular than a bowl of cut up fruit.

(And I can’t bring this honey lime fruit salad to every single get together I ever go to – if I know one thing, it’s that a girl needs fruit salad options.)

I’ve been hoarding this creamy fruit salad dressing for a while.

I apologize for not sharing it sooner. It’s divine. So easy to make and the delicious, lightly sweet glaze layered over the juicy, fresh fruit is amazing.

It will revolutionize your fruit salad repertoire, that I’m sure of.

Read the notes of the recipe to get ideas on which types of fruit/fruit juice to use. I make this quite often for our family dinner nights (mostly Sundays when time isn’t so crazy, if we’re being completely honest) but I’ve brought it to several potlucks and it has been a hit each time.

And if side dishes generally give you a headache, don’t forget to consult this fabulous Side Dish Menu Planner. It may just solve all your side dish woes.

I know that I’ll be adding this new fruit salad recipe to it ASAP. It’s simple and delicious – the two most important characteristics of a good side dish. Am I right or am I right?

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Fruit Salad with Glazed Dressing

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 3 minutes

Total Time: 18 minutes

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Ingredients

• 15-ounce canned mandarin oranges or pineapple chunks or tidbits, drained (reserve the fruit and fruit juice)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
• 1/4 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
• 4 cups fresh fruit + the canned fruit (see note)

Instructions

1. Pour the drained fruit juice (from the canned fruit) into a liquid measuring cup. You need about 3/4 cup fruit juice. If you have more than that, pour a little off. If you don't have quite that much, add another type of fruit juice (white grape juice, orange juice, etc.) or supplement with water as long as it isn't more than a couple tablespoons that you need.
2. In a small saucepan, whisk together the fruit juice, cornstarch, and honey (or other sweetener of choice). Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly. Cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened.
3. Pour the mixture into a bowl to cool (you can let it cool in the pan but it will take longer). Stir every so often so it doesn't form a skin over the top while cooling. Once cooled to room temperature, stir in the yogurt until smooth. Refrigerate until cool. It will thicken a bit more while cooling.
4. In a large bowl, toss together the fresh and canned fruit. Pour the dressing over the top and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

Notes

Many different variations of fruit will work here - if you want to use all fresh fruit, consider making the glaze with no-sugar added white grape juice or experimenting with other fruit juices (pomegranate, maybe?). For the salad pictured in this post, I used strawberries, pears, peaches, and canned mandarin oranges. Pineapple (fresh or canned) would be lovely, as well as kiwi, blueberries, and on and on.

Also, I've made this with both honey and agave nectar; both delicious. You could experiment using sugar or pure maple syrup. One last note, this fruit salad is best served right after stirring in the dressing so it doesn't get too soupy. You can assemble the bowl of fruit and make the dressing in advance - storing each separately, and then combine the fruit and dressing right before serving, if needed.