Vanilla Fruit Salad

I cannot resist the glory of summertime fruit.

It’s my favorite time of year. So many amazing, sweet, juicy, wonderful options.

Every now and then my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I find myself with enough fruit on hand to open up my own grocery store.

The answer? Make fruit salad.

This lightly vanilla-kissed fruit salad is the easiest fruit salad ever. The vanilla flavor is light, but adds an extra something special to nature’s finest.

Simply sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of instant vanilla pudding mix over a bowl of fruit, stir, and over time the natural fruit juices will moisten the pudding powder. Or you can add a splash of water to help it along.

The pudding mix and fruit juices make a thin coating and it’s so good. If you don’t have pudding mix in your area or are opposed to it, this probably isn’t the recipe for you.

If you’re a citrus fan, you can add a couple tablespoons of lemon or lime juice for a tangier fruit salad. I also find a tiny bit of almond extract tastes excellent.

If you’re throwing a Fourth of July party or any event, you can stir the fruit salad together the night before and let the flavors marry. One less thing to do the day of the event, and the salad tastes even better after an overnight stint in the fridge.

If you find yourself with a surplus of fruit such as cherries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, cantaloupe, honeydew, or kiwi just toss everything together.

Your fruit surplus will magically disappear.

Vanilla Fruit Salad

This lightly vanilla-kissed fruit salad is the easiest fruit salad ever. The vanilla flavor is light, but adds an extra something special to nature's finest. Pudding mix and natural fruit juices make a thin coating and it's so good. If you're a citrus fan, add a couple tablespoons of lemon or lime juice for a tangier fruit salad and I like to add almond extract, too. If you're throwing a party, you can make the salad the night before and let the flavors marry. One less thing to do the day of the event, and the salad tastes even better after an overnight stint in the fridge. If you find yourself with a surplus of fruit such as cherries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, cantaloupe, honeydew, or kiwi just toss everything together. Your fruit surplus will magically disappear.

Yield: about 3 cups, recipe is easily doubled, tripled, etc.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes, or overnight

Ingredients:

3 to 4 cups fruit (I used 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries, 1 cup grapes, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup pineapple)
1 to 2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix (Jell-O brand is vegan, no gelatin)
about 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice, optional
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, optional

Directions:

1. Add fruit to a large bowl. Fruits to consider - cherries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, cantaloupe, honeydew, kiwi, etc.
2. Sprinkle with 1 to 2 tablespoons instant pudding mix powder and toss to combine. Over time, the natural fruit juices moisten the pudding powder. Or help it along with a splash of water.
3. Optionally add lemon or lime juice for a tangier fruit salad and toss to combine.
4. Optionally add vanilla or almond extract, or both, and toss to combine.
5. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before serving. I prefer to make it and refrigerate overnight because the flavors marry and the coating tastes best. Fruit salad will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.