Red White and Blue Fruit Salad (Watermelon Salad)

When summertime rolls around, the last thing I want to do is heat up my oven by baking. It's unavoidable for my cake business, but if I can keep the oven off for anything else, I do. 

That's why this Patriotic Fruit Salad is such a great side dish or dessert for Memorial Day weekend, a 4th of July celebration, a Labor Day cookout, summer barbecues, or any other summer gathering.

Red White and Blue Fruit Salad

This delicious salad is the perfect patriotic dessert!

I should also note that this watermelon fruit salad is great for any summer celebration - because you can totally skip the "stars" that make it a 4th of july fruit salad and just toss all the fruits together for a delicious, fresh fruit salad.

Why You'll Love Watermelon Fruit Salad

• This berry fruit salad only has a handful of ingredients including what you need to make a cool, refreshing lime dressing.
• Fast and Easy. Mix up the dressing and chop the fruit and you're done. You can eat it immediately or you can prep the dressing and fruit separately ahead of time and toss them together about 10 minutes before serving.
• This patriotic summer fruit salad is cool and refreshing. As far as summer salads go, this one is the perfect recipe- lime juice, fresh berries, and cool mint! 

Tools Needed

• Small mixing bowl or jar for the dressing
• Blender (optional - to make the dressing)
• Large serving bowl (or a watermelon bowl)
• Sharp knife
• Cutting board
• Small Star-shaped Cookie Cutter (optional)

Ingredients

• Fresh peppermint leaves
• Sugar
• Lime or Lemon Juice
• Fresh Watermelon
• Fresh Strawberries (my favorite fruit!)
• Fresh Blueberries
• Large Apple

Ingredient Substitutions

​​Watermelon, strawberries and blueberries are the stars of this watermelon salad, but there are other fruits that you can use!

• Red Fruits: Watermelon and bright red strawberries are the "red" in this red white & blue fruit salad, but you could also add raspberries or red grapes to the mix
• White Fruits: I'm using apples to cut the stars for the white fruit in this recipe, but you could also use white peaches, honeydew melons, or canary melons to add the white pop. If you want to add another non-fruit texture for the "white", you could mix in some mini marshmallows.
• Peppermint Leaves: these are optional, so you can skip it if you dont' like mint, but you could substitute basil leaves if you like. It may sound odd but basil pairs really well with fruit!
• Sugar: use honey instead of the sugar if you want!
• Dressing: you could skip the dressing altogether if you have your own dressing recipe that you already love!

How to Make Red, White and Blue Fruit Salad

Making the Mint Lime Dressing

1. Mince peppermint leaves, and place in a jar with sugar and lime juice (or lemon juice).
2. Screw lid onto jar tightly, and shake to dissolve sugar. Set aside.

Making the Watermelon Fruit Salad

1. In a large bowl, combine fruit except for apple.
2. For the stars, slice the apple into ¼ thick slices, and cut star shapes with a small cookie cutter. Dip the apples in the lime dressing mixture, or straight lime or lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.
3. Drizzle fruit salad with the lime dressing, and toss.
4. Place apple stars on top (You can also toss the stars with the rest of the salad if you prefer).

Pro Tips

• I do not recommend assembling this fruit salad recipe ahead of time, but you can prep your fruit salad dressing and cut up your fruits beforehand. Then you just toss them together at the last minute to serve!
• Use a melon baller to scoop out pieces of watermelon, then use the empty watermelon rind as a "watermelon bowl" for serving the dessert salad! It's fun, festive, and one less dish to wash when you're done.
• Choose a ripe, juicy watermelon - since watermelon is the primary fruit in this recipe, you want to make sure you are choosing a ripe, sweet melon.
• Use a blender (I love my Blendtec) to make the dressing instead of mincing the mint and shaking it up! This is so much faster and works perfectly.

How to Tell if a Watermelon is Ripe

Choosing a ripe watermelon at the grocery store or roadside fruit stand involves a few key steps:

1. Look for a Yellow Spot: One of the best indicators of ripeness in a watermelon is a creamy yellow spot, often called the "field spot." This is where the watermelon sat on the ground and ripened in the sun. The darker and more yellow this spot is, the longer it was on the vine ripening.
2. Inspect the Color: A ripe watermelon should have a deep, uniform green color. Avoid watermelons with white streaks or an overall pale appearance.
3. Check for Uniform Shape: Ripe watermelons are generally symmetrical and uniform in shape. Irregularities or odd bumps may indicate uneven ripening.
4. Tap Test: Give the watermelon a gentle tap with your knuckles. A ripe watermelon will produce a deep, hollow sound. If it sounds dull or flat, it may be underripe.
5. Feel the Weight: A ripe watermelon will feel heavy for its size due to its high water content. Lift a few watermelons of similar size and choose the heaviest one.
6. Inspect the Stem: Look at the stem end of the watermelon. If it's dried and brown, it indicates that the watermelon is ripe. If it's green, it may still be maturing.
7. Avoid Bruises and Cuts: Check the watermelon for any bruises, cuts, or soft spots. These may indicate that the fruit is overripe or damaged.

By following these steps, you can increase your chances of selecting a ripe and delicious watermelon.

Serving suggestions

I've already mentioned this, but you can serve this red white and blue dessert for any and all of your summer celebrations and holiday!  It's a perfect for any hot summer day, a July 4th picnic, a Memorial Day cookout and more! Using the small star cookie cutter makes it festive for patriotic holiday, but you can totally skip that step for any other meal or special occasion. 

As far as summer fruit salads go, this one is pretty perfect. I really don't think you need anything to go with it, but if you want to make it more dessert-y, you could top with fresh whipped cream or Cool Whip. YOu can also add some fresh mint (or basil) leaves on top as garnish, or some fresh lime zest.

Storage Directions

This easy side dish or dessert does not keep well. It should be eaten shortly after the fruit and salad dressing is tossed together. If you do have leftovers, you could blend it up for a fruit smoothy or pour it into popsicle molds and make the kids giddy with fresh, homemade popsicles. Another popular dessert here on my blog is this recipe for Easy Lime Popsicles.

More Easy Red White and Blue Desserts

• ​American Flag Cake
• Red White and Blue Rice Krispie Treats
• Red White and Blue Trifle
• 4th of July Bundt Cake
• Red White and Two 4th of July Cake
• Firecracker Marshmallow Pops
• 4th of July Cookies (Red White and Blue Pinwheel Cookies)
• Red White and Blue Jello Shots