Make The Ultimate 4th Of July Fruit Salad With A 3-Ingredient Upgrade

A variety of chopped berries, peaches, and melon tossed together is really only a bowl of fruit — unless you add a dressing. Then, it becomes fruit salad. If this is new to you, consider this your sign to try it for the Fourth of July — or any summer gathering, for that matter — and watch all your guests go back for seconds. While you probably have a favorite salad dressing that's perfect for greens, there's definitely no balsamic vinaigrette, thousand island, or any other savory type of dressing going on top of fruit salad. Instead, it's a sweet syrup made simply from honey, lime juice, and fresh grated ginger.

This unique blend not only enhances the flavor of the fruit, but it also helps to preserve it. The acid from the lime inhibits undesirable browning from occurring once certain fruit is exposed to oxygen, and the honey provides a natural, floral sweetness. The sugar from the honey also releases juices in the fruit, adding extra flavor to the dressing. While the grated ginger may sound too overpowering, its warming flavor complements the fruit, lime, and honey, marrying the flavors together.

To make this three-ingredient dressing, mix ½ cup honey, the juice of one lime, and one to two tablespoons of finely grated ginger in a small bowl. Pour this mixture over your favorite summer fruit, and gently toss until the whole salad is coated with the dressing. 

There are several variations on the three ingredients in this fruit salad dressing that will still taste equally delicious. Honey can be swapped out one-to-one with either maple syrup, agave, or simple syrup — or the added sweetener can be omitted. The juice from any type of citrus can substitute for lime juice, such as the juice of one large lemon or two to three tablespoons of fresh-squeezed orange juice (Save your citrus peels to make a sweet marmalade). Fresh, grated ginger can be swapped out for either ¼ to ½ teaspoon of ground ginger, or for a slightly milder spice flavor, the same measurement can be used for ground cinnamon. 

If you want to truly impress your guests with a flavorful and festive fruit salad, consider choosing a combination of fruit that is red, (almost) white, and blue, such as watermelon (Avoid the watermelon cutting mistake that could make you sick: not washing it before cutting), red grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples, and bananas. To really drive home the Fourth of July theme, star-shaped cookie cutters can be used on sturdier fruit like watermelon and apples. But most importantly, don't forget the three-ingredient dressing to really go out with a bang.