Secret Ingredient Fruit Salad

This post was originally published on June 11, 2013 and was updated on April 27, 2021. 

The bright colors of a fruit salad are perfect any time of the year, so I love having a great fruit salad recipe at the ready. And while most fruit salads don’t really need a recipe, it’s always nice to have one to get the quantities of fruit right. 

This Secret Ingredient Fruit Salad has been a family favorite ever since my sister-in-law introduced it to us quite a few years ago. It’s easy, quick, and affordable – because some fruit salads can cost a small fortune in fruit. 

This fruit salad simply calls for blueberries, strawberries, green seedless grapes and that secret ingredient. (We’ll get to that big secret here in a sec…) 

I like this particular combination of fruit because the colors are beautiful and vibrant and because those particular ingredients are relatively affordable. That said, you could absolutely make it your own by swapping things out. Raspberries and blackberries look beautiful in this and I’ve been known to add some diced fresh pineapple to this, too. It’s really your call. I would just caution against adding things like bananas or apples that might turn brown and not look super inviting. 

 

Now let’s talk about this secret ingredient… Every fruit salad needs a great dressing, right? It adds a pop of flavor and a little sweetness to fruit that might not be at its peak. It also helps to pull it all together. 

So what does that in this recipe? Simple. A can of peach pie filling. Seriously. The pie filling not only adds some delicious peaches (already peeled and sliced I might add), but the pie filling works perfectly as the sauce to make this simple salad sing! 

I know! I was just as surprised the first time I had it, too! But it works beautifully and tastes amazing! 

I often get asked about using other pie fillings and while I think they’d taste great, a blueberry or strawberry pie filling is going to turn the whole dish a different color because of the colored filling. Since the peach is relatively clear so you get to see all the pretty fruit through it. And while apple would be pretty clear too, it’s going to have cinnamon in it and that might not be the best flavor to add to your fruit salad. 

So add this super simple and crazy delicious fruit salad to your next menu and watch it disappear.