Looking for an easy and colorful side dish for your next cookout or BBQ? This fruit salad for a crowd has just five ingredients – cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, and kiwi – and is sure to be a hit with both kids and adults. Plus, it can be prepped ahead of time, making it the perfect addition to any summer gathering. Read on for how to make it, plus some tips on what fruit to NOT put in a fruit salad.

Top down shot of a white bowl with mixed fruit salad in it, surrounded by fresh fruit on the sides.

Fruit salad is about as classic as it gets as a side for a bbq or cookout.

It’s super easy because you basically just cut up some fruit and throw it in a bowl.

As someone who’s hosted a lot of cookouts, this is my fruit salad combo of choice because:

it doesn’t have any fruit that has too strong of a flavor to overpower the others,
it holds up well (as long as it wasn’t overripe to begin with),
it doesn’t take very long to make (even less time if you buy precut fruit), and
it’s just fruit so it works for lots of different types of diets, like gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and paleo.

This fruit salad is great for any type of grilled meat you’re serving up – grilled dijon chicken breast, grilled hamburgers, or grilled flank steak.

Could you do a fruit platter instead of a fruit salad? Absolutely.

But then you have to worry about making it look nice. For this you can just toss everything in a bowl, which makes it easer.

And easy is what I’m after nearly every single time.

Now this fruit salad is large enough to serve a decent-sized crowd, but if you need to serve more than 12 or so people you can easily double the recipe. You’ll just need a larger bowl.

Read on for the details!

Grab these fruits

(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.)

Top down shot of fresh strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, red grapes, and half a cut cantaloupe on a white background.

Cantaloupe – you can use either a small one or half a large one.
Berries – this recipe uses blueberries and strawberries. Make sure when you buy them to double-check they’re not getting moldy – hold the container up and look at it from all angles because often the mold can be hidden or hard to see.
Grapes – use red or green in this salad, whatever you have or is on sale.
Kiwi – you can use regular green kiwi or gold kiwi. Just make sure it’s not too hard or unripe, and also not overly ripe. There should be a little give when you gently squeeze it but not much.

What fruits should not be mixed in fruit salad?

While most any fruit can work for a fruit salad, there are a couple that need a little extra consideration. Below I’ve listed some of these fruits, as well as what to think about when considering them for a fruit salad.

Pineapple: because it’s so acidic, it can overpower the taste of more mild fruits like kiwi, melon, and blueberries. It goes best in a tropical fruit salad or in a breakfast fruit salad with other strong fruits like orange, banana, and apple.
Banana: bananas can fall apart quickly in a fruit salad depending on how ripe they are. They tend to leave pieces of banana on other fruits and, similar to pineapple, make the whole fruit salad taste like banana. If using banana, get ones that are still slightly green.
Watermelon: this fruit has a fairly mild taste and, as the name suggests, is very watery. It can make your fruit salad watery if you’re not serving it right away. Or if the watermelon is too ripe it can make your salad taste mushy. This may be best served on its own cut into wedges or slices.

How to make an easy fruit salad

(Note: please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the complete written instructions.)

Could you buy all precut fruit and just combine it all together? Of course you could.

But I’m going to provide instructions for when nothing is precut and you need to clean and cut all of the fruit.

Because that’s all there is to this fruit salad.

Clean the berries and grapes.
Cut up the cantaloupe and kiwi.
Then throw everything together in a bowl and you’re done.

But if you need them, read on for the detailed instructions.

rinsing off blueberries and strawberries in a large silver colander in a sink. — Rinse off the blueberries, strawberries and grapes (not shown) with a water, and let them dry off in the sink.

A spoon scooping the seeds out of half a cantaloupe. — Cut the melon in half, if necessary, then scoop out the seeds with a spoon.

Cutting half of a cantaloupe into half again on a white cutting board. — Cut the melon half into half again.

Cutting a quarter of a cantaloupe into three slices lengthwise on a white cutting board. — Cut one of the quarters into three long slices.

Cutting a slice of cantaloup into small sections on the rind. — Cut small pieces into one of the slices with the knife.

Cutting off small sectioned off pieces of cantaloupe from the rind. — Slice the pieces off from the rind and repeat the process with the other slices. Add the cut up fruit to a large bowl.

Using a peeling knife to cut the skin off a kiwi on a white cutting board. — Use a paring or peeling knife to peel the skin off the kiwi.

Cutting the skinned end of a kiwi off with a large knife on a cutting board. — Slice any ends off that still have skin on them.

Slicing the kiwi into ¼ inch slices on a white cutting board with a large knife. — Cut each peeled kiwi into quarter-inch slices.

Showing a slice of kiwi that's been cut into quarters with other skinned kiwis on a large white cutting board. — Cut each slice into quarters then add it into the bowl with the melon.

Fresh strawberries on a white cutting board, with one showing the stem cut off and a small paring knife next to it. — Cut the stems out of each strawberry with a paring knife.

one cut up strawberry next to other fresh whole strawberries on a white cutting board. — Slice each strawberry into quarters from top to bottom. Add the strawberries to the large bowl as well.

Top down shot of red grapes, blueberries, cut up cantaloupe, kiwi, and strawberries in a large clear mixing bowl next to other fresh fruit. — Add the rest of the fruit to the large mixing bowl.

Close up of fruit salad being mixed by a large silver spoon. — Use a large spoon to gently stir it all together. Serve right away or store in the fridge in an airtight container to serve later.

What dressing goes with fruit salad?

This fruit salad doesn’t need a dressing, but if you’re wanting a little extra flavor then I would make a batch of my white balsamic vinaigrette dressing and pour it over the fruit once it’s cut up. Gently mix it with a large spoon to incorporate and serve.

Close up of fruit salad in a large white bowl.

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Fruit Salad for a Crowd

Looking for an easy and colorful side dish for your next cookout or BBQ? This fruit salad has just five ingredients – cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, and kiwi – and is sure to be a hit with both kids and adults. Plus, it can be prepped ahead of time, making it the perfect addition to any summer gathering. Read on for how to make it, plus some tips on what fruit to NOT put in a fruit salad.

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: fruit, salad

Prep Time: 25

Total Time: 25

Servings: people

Author: Taryn Solie

Equipment

A large colander
A cutting board
A large sharp knife
A large spoon
A large bowl
A small paring or peeling knife
A kitchen towel

Ingredients

2.5 lb cantaloupe one small one or half a large one
10 oz blueberries
14 oz whole strawberries
10 oz grapes red or green
3 large kiwi

Instructions

Start by washing the berries and grapes. Place the berries and grapes in a large colander and rinse them with cool water – you may need to move them around with your hands to get all of them rinsed off. Set them in a sink to drain while you cut up the other fruit.
To cut up the cantaloupe, place it on a cutting board and cut it in half with a sharp knife. Use a large spoon to scoop the seeds out of the middle and discard them. Cut the half into half again, to get a quarter of the cantaloupe. Use the knife to cut one of the quarter pieces into 3 pieces lengthwise.
Take one of the pieces and make slices with the knife straight into the flesh, cutting it into bite-sized pieces that are still attached to the rind. Once the whole slice has pieces cut into it, slide the knife on the bottom between the flesh and rind of the fruit and cut the pieces out – this can be down with the slice resting on the cutting board or in your hand, but be careful doing so. Discard the rind and repeat the process with the other slices until all the cantaloupe is cut. Place the cut pieces in a large bowl.
Next cut up the kiwi. Use a small paring or peeling knife and start slicing the skin away from the flesh of the fruit. You can do this either end to end or around the sides in circles. Discard the peel and set the kiwi on the cutting board on its side. Use the knife to slice off the ends if there is still peel on them. Then slice the kiwi into ¼ inch slices. Take each slice and cut it into quarters and add those quarters to the bowl with the cantaloupe. Repeat the steps until all the kiwi is cut up.
At this point your berries and grapes should be mostly dried off. If they’re not, pour them out on a kitchen towel and dry them off. The blueberries can be added directly to the bowl of other fruit as is. Remove the grapes from the stem and add those to the large bowl of fruit as well.
Cut the strawberries by first removing the green stems, then use the paring or peeling knife to cut the inner stem out of the top. Cut each strawberry into quarters by making one cut from top to bottom, then cutting each half from top to bottom again. Add the cut strawberries to the bowl of fruit.
Use the large spoon to mix all the fruit together – do this gently so as not to bruise the more delicate fruit. Serve immediately or store in the fridge in an airtight container and serve later. The fruit salad will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge if your fruit wasn’t too ripe to begin with, though looks best when served right away or the day of.

Notes

Makes roughly 6 lbs of fruit salad.
You can easily double or triple this recipe by doubling or tripling the ingredients. You’ll just need a large bowl to mix everything in.
This fruit salad doesn’t need a dressing, but if you’re wanting a little extra flavor you can make a batch of my white balsamic vinaigrette dressing and pour it over the fruit once it’s cut up. Gently mix it with a large spoon to incorporate and serve.