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. Mike drop. It’s familiar, tasty, and just a bit sophisticated; this salad always goes over well.

About Lemon Poppyseed Fruit Salad – The Easiest Fruit Salad:

This fruit salad always seems to go over well. I think maybe 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.

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 – The Easiest Fruit Salad:

I said this salad was easy! So easy it’s almost embarrassing. Just buy a small 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. Just stick a fork in it and the juice will come out the holes when you squeeze) and 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.

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 they’ll be plenty of opportunity for future use.

The juices of the fruit will eventually leach out and make this salad rather pretty unattractive looking the next day. It’s still good, but watery. Now you can quickly refresh it by straining and adding fresh yogurt, but even those watery juices taste so good why bother? This also makes a great smoothie.

Lemon Poppyseed – The Easiest Fruit Salad

Saving Money on Lemon Poppyseed Fruit Salad – The Easiest Fruit Salad:

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.

If you have an Aldi nearby, it’s one of the best places to buy fresh fruit especially berries. If not 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. Aldi doesn’t often have honeydew but it will be more likely to be there in the summer. They last well unopened in the fridge for a week or two.

Pierce your lemon with a fork to squeeze out a small amount.

Lemon is in season in the winter where I live and unfortunately, Aldi has them bagged so it’s impossible to buy a single one there. When choosing one at the store, pick the heaviest. If your lemon is hard, microwave it for a minute then roll ut a few tunes across your counter, putting pressure on it as you do so. It will give more juice, easier.

Lemon Poppyseed Fruit Salad