This is one of my go-to recipes during the summer. Whenever I need something to fill out a lunch or dinner or am asked to bring something to a potluck, picnic, or barbecue, there’s a good chance I might be whipping up this salad. It’s so easy. I call it Lemon Poppyseed Fruit Salad – The Easiest Fruit Salad You’ll Never Need a Recipe For. The ingredients are so few you can whip it out by memory!
Lemon Poppyseed Fruit Salad
There’s a little something about this combination of fruit that does it for me: Honey Dew, Strawberries, and Blueberries. Add in a simple, lemony dressing (I’m almost embarrassed to tell you, it’s so easy) of lemon yogurt, finely zested lemon zest, and a few poppy seeds, and there you have it. Done. Mic drop. It’s familiar, tasty, and just a bit sophisticated; this salad always goes over well.
About Lemon Poppyseed Fruit Salad:
The reason I think this goes over well is because of the simple combination of fruits. They’re beautiful together, and well-liked on their own by most people. A part of the beauty of this salad is that it is so extremely tote-able, too. None of the fruits are too soft, or easily crushed, so the fruit in this salad is sturdy enough to stand up to a little jostling and can be shaken around a bit without suffering any great harm.
As a matter of fact, this is one of my favorite summer camping recipes. I cut up the fruit and place it in one container that’s just large enough to hold the fruit with a little extra room for mixing, then I mix up the lemon yogurt dressing, and put it in a small container. On-site, before lunch or dinner, or when everyone is back from whatever they’re doing, I mix it together. It gets devoured! Even on the first night of backpacking when no one seems to feel like eating.
You can choose just about any fruit you think will be good with lemon (which gives you a lot of leeway; so many are) but keep in mind that very soft fruits like raspberries or blackberries can easily be crushed by the heavier fruits honeydew or cantaloupe.
So often when I open up a honeydew or cantaloupe, everyone loves it the first day, but as the days pass, it tends to get ignored. Make this salad & you’re going to see some renewed interest. It’s a great save.
If you’d like to see a few of my other fave Fruit Salads, check out this menu of Fruit Salads & Salads with Fruit.
Lemon Poppyseed Fruit Salad
Making Lemon Poppyseed Fruit Salad:
I said this salad was easy! So easy it’s almost embarrassing. Just buy a small single serve carton of lemon yogurt, preferably a Greek lemon yogurt, mix in a little lemon zest and a tablespoon of the juice (don’t use all the juice because it will make the fruit salad too runny.
Stick a fork in the lemon and the juice will come out the holes when you squeeze and it will last longer in the fridge. Add a touch of brown sugar if your fruit is very tart. Toss in a few poppy seeds (or maybe these days you’d like to use Chia seeds) and you’re done.
Storing:
As far as the rest of the lemon, wrap it tightly in a bit of plastic wrap (or whatever substitute you use) and it will keep well in the fridge for several days to a week so there’ll be plenty of time to use the rest.
Store your fruit salad, tightly covered, in the fridge. It won’t stay beautiful and fresh for long. The juices of the fruit will eventually leach out and make this salad pretty unattractive looking the next day. It still tastes good, but it gets very watery.
You have three options.
- While it’s not as attractive, the salad still tastes great. It can be eaten just as is. Our family tends to drink the remaining juices (they taste wonderful) after the fruit is gone from our serving.
- A quick refresh can be done by straining the salad and adding another mix-up of the lemon yogurt, lemon juice, and zest along with a bit more poppyseed.
- If you’re over the leftover fruit salad, pop it in the blender for a tasty smoothie.
Pierce your lemon with a fork to squeeze out a small amount.
Saving Money on Lemon Poppyseed Fruit Salad:
Poppy Seeds:
Poppyseeds can be bought in the spice aisle or in little bags in the produce aisle if your store has those. You might want to check the baking aisle, too. If there is a market that serves any Eastern European population, you’ll be likely to find them at a great price there. Keep them in a heavy Ziploc in your freezer.
Fruit:
If you have an Aldi or Lidl nearby, it’s one of the best places to buy fresh fruit, especially berries. The discount stores don’t always have honeydew but it will be more likely to be there in the summer. Honeydew last well, unopened in the fridge for a week or two.
If you don’t have access to one of the discount stores, honeydew, strawberries, and blueberries go on sale off and on all summer long. Try to time things so you can buy the ingredients on sale for the salad, if possible, especially the honeydew. If you’re able to pick up the honeydew at a great price maybe you’ll luck out with the berries the same week or the following.
Lemon:
Lemon is in season in the late winter through early spring where I live. Unfortunately, at Aldi and Lidl, they’re often bagged. That makes it hard to buy a single lemon there. When lemon choosing one at the store, pick the heaviest. If your lemon is hard, microwave it for a minute then roll it a few times across your counter, putting pressure on it as you do so. It will give more juice, easier.
Lemon Poppyseed Fruit Salad
Lemon Poppyseed – The Easiest Fruit Salad You’ll Never Need a Recipe For
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 1x
- Category: Salads
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1/2 Honeydew melon, cut into bite-sized chunks
- 8 ounces (1/2 pint) strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 8 ounces (1/2 pint) blueberries
- 1 individual (6 to 8 ounces) package lemon yogurt
- 1 lemon, zest & 1 tablespoon of juice
- 2 teaspoons to a tablespoon of poppy seeds
- Brown sugar or honey, if desired
Instructions
Prepare fruit and add to a large bowl. In a smaller container, mix yogurt, lemon zest and one tablespoon of the juice. Add the poppy seeds and mix. Gently fold the dressing into the fruit. Taste and if it’s too tart add a teaspoon or two of the brown sugar.
Best if used within an hour or two of making; it will become watery if it sits too long.
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