Thanksgiving Fruit Salad that's Easy on the Budget

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This Thanksgiving Fruit Salad with its vibrant colors and mix of seasonal fruits is a great addition to your holiday table. It’s perfect for Thanksgiving dinner, served with a creamy yogurt dip with warm spices on the side, but it’s good any time you want to dress up those crunchy apples and pears you picked up on sale.

I love serving this fresh fruit salad alongside Air Fryer Turkey Tenderloin and a few other festive salads, like Brussels Sprouts Salad and my very fave Roasted Sweet Potato Salad. It’s a perfect menu this time of year — and this colorful fruit salad is the easiest thing to make!

Thanksgiving fruit salad in a tea cup, topped with yogurt dip and chopped nuts.

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Want to add a fresh side dish to your holiday meal? Make a Thanksgiving Fruit Salad with seasonal fresh fruit!

This combo is the perfect blend of what’s in season along with a creamy spiced Greek yogurt dip and the added crunch of toasted pecans. This dish will be the hit of the holiday season when most of the foods feel so heavy. Perfect for a budget Thanksgiving or even Christmas dinner!

Why Make This

Fruit gets a glow-up. Fruit is delicious on its own, but you can take it over the top with a creamy yogurt topping and toasted nuts.

It’s a wonderful side dish. This Thanksgiving Fruit Salad is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving menu as well as throughout the fall and winter months. It comes together in minutes.

It’s a versatile recipe. Like our Winter Fruit Tray, you can mix and match your favorite green and red apples, pears, grapes, and pomegranate arils for an easy fruit salad that comes together in minutes. Be sure to use whatever delicious fruit you have on hand or find on sale to keep your costs down.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy Thanksgiving fruit salad:

red grapes – I love the color of red grapes, but you can use purple, yellow, black, or green grapes if you prefer.

pears – Pears come in lots of different colors. If you can, choose a variety of fresh pears with good color contrast for your salad.

apples – Some apples are better for eating fresh than others. Consider Granny Smith,

pomegranate arils – These are what most people call, “pomegranate seeds”. You can seed the pomegranate yourself or buy the arils recipe-ready.

lemon juice – Lemon juice will help prevent your cut fruit from browning. You can also use lime juice if that’s what you have.

fruit dip – Dress your autumn fruit salad with a yogurt dip of vanilla Greek yogurt and pumpkin pie spice.

toasted pecans – Crunchy pecans add extra texture to your fall fruit salad. You can also use another nut or seed if you prefer. If you want to be a little extra, make Spicy Candied Almonds.

Variations:

There are other great fall fruits you can add to this holiday fruit salad, such as mandarin oranges or persimmons. You might also want to add drained maraschino cherries as well.
Instead of pumpkin pie spice, you can flavor the fruit dip with apple pie spice, orange zest, or lemon zest. For extra sweetness, you can stir in some brown sugar or maple syrup.
As an alternative to the yogurt, you might serve cool whip, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here’s how to assemble this festive Thanksgiving fruit salad recipe:

Greek yogurt and pumpkin spice in small bowl with a spoon.

the mixed yogurt dip in the bowl with a spoon.

In a small bowl combine the yogurt and spices. Stir gently and refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a large bowl, combine the chopped apples and pears. Drizzle the lemon juice over the top and stir to combine.

chopped apples and pears in a white bowl.

drizzling lemon juice on the apples and pears in the bowl.

Add the grapes and pomegranate arils. Stir gently to combine.

Serve the fruit salad with the yogurt dip on the side.

Store leftovers promptly in the fridge in a covered container and consume within 2 days. The apples and pears may brown, but they will still be delicious. Leftover fruit salad is a tasty addition to cereal or yogurt in the morning.

FAQ

What fruit is in season during Thanksgiving?

Fall fruits include apples, oranges, grapefruits, grapes, pears, figs, clementines, pomegranates, and persimmons. Citrus fruit like lime and lemon are also in season at that time.

Can I cut up the fruit for a fruit salad the night before?

You can cut some fruits the night before like citrus fruits, but it’s best not to cut apples, pears, or other fruit that might brown. Instead cut those right before serving and treat them with lemon juice to keep their vibrant colors.

How do you keep fruit salad from getting soggy?

Fruit salad will get soggy when you cut fruit into small pieces, cut juicy fruits, add a lot of sugar, or stir it a lot. To keep down the sog factor, cut only as small as bite-sized pieces, avoid cutting very juicy fruits, don’t add sugar, and stir as little as possible.

bowl of fruit with smaller bowls of yogurt topping and chopped pecans with a prepared dish on a table with a red checked cloth.

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