Sometimes I develop a recipe by sheer accident or because I bought the wrong ingredient. Last week we were making a dragon fruit smoothie and initially bought white dragon fruit when we really needed the red variety. The smoothie came out great, but we had an entire extra dragon fruit sitting around. So why not make a dragon fruit salad?
Fortunately, Katherine is a huge fan of kiwi, so there's always a few in the fridge. You'll quickly notice that dragon fruit and kiwi seeds are almost identical in texture and flavor, although they are indigenous to entirely different regions of the world. They have the same mild flavor and crunchy texture, and both add a nice element to the salad.
After scouring the fridge for other fruits, I added the blueberries because this batch was particularly sweet.
Dragon fruit tends to be very mild in flavor and barely sweet at all, so you can add sweeter fruits without fear of overwhelming your palate.
The mandarin oranges were the last addition. Besides adding a necessary burst of acidity, the bright orange against the deep blue blueberries is beautiful.
You'll notice I added a bit of Kosher salt to salad at the end with a bit of lime juice. You can omit the salt if you're monitoring your sodium intake, but the combination of the salt and lime juice heightens the natural flavors of the fruit and makes everything pop together.
Our happy accident made for a great impromptu salad and an empty produce drawer. And the bonus was the boys, and our "baby" girl demolished both plates, exposing them to a new fruit without hesitation. A win for good parenting!
Suggestions and Alternatives
- Dragon fruit is a hit or miss item depending on where you live and what your market carries. If you come across the red variety, the salad works just as well.
- Check out the dragon fruit smoothie, which can also work with the white variety.
- For fun and to make your random salad, go to your fridge and pull out three to four fruits. Slice, dice, and toss with lime juice. Let us know how it turns out.
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📖 Recipe
Dragon Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 1 whole white dragon fruit
- 1 whole mandarin orange
- 1 whole kiwi
- 1/2 pint blueberries
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
- Using a large bowl peel and dice 1 white dragon fruit into 1-inch cubes.
- Peel and segment 1 mandarin orange.
- Peel and dice 1 kiwi into 1/2 inch. cubes.
- Wash blue berries with cold water
- Add all ingredients and fold in kosher salt until incorporated.
- Add fresh squeezed lime juice.
- Refrigerate for five minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Edwin D'Costa is a former professional chef with an extensive and illustrious career spanning more than 20 years. His experience spans positions at five-star and Michelin-rated restaurants in New York including Picholine and Jean George Vongerichten's Vong. His training began with noted chefs Wolfgang Puck and Todd English.
As he longer works at snooty NYC restaurants, he continues with his love of music and now managing a chaotic household of five.
Brandi Crawford says
I love when leftover food becomes the source of a new, great recipe. This looks fantastic!
Marie | Yay! For Food says
This is one pretty looking salad! Love dragon fruit! So perfect for summertime!
Ginny McMeans says
I always forget about dragon fruit. This looks like such a flavorful salad and so refreshing with all that fruit. Thanks!
Jillian says
I love the colors in this salad - so pretty!
Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry says
What a beautiful fruit salad. The dragon fruit adds extra interest
Doria says
This look so delicious and refreshing! We love dragon fruit in our household--so yummy!
Mommy Moment says
I have never tried dragon fruit. But this salad looks like it would be a delicious, light salad for a hot summer day!
Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle says
That looks so beautiful AND delicious! I love those tropical flavors. Om nom nom.
Amber Myers says
This looks like a great salad. I admit, I've never had dragon fruit before. I must try it!
Jennifer Van Huss says
What a beautiful salad. I don't normally eat dragon fruit, but this post is making me want to run out and get one!
Marysa says
Looks so good! I am trying to eat healthier, with more fresh fruits and veggies. I like the combination of flavors and how pretty this is too!
Karlyn Cruz says
I eat dragon fruit twice and it's been a long time. I must try this dragon fruit salad, it looks delicious and fantastic!!
Dogvills says
I love Dragon Fruit! The salad looks amazing and colorful. I'm sure it's yummy.
Ruth I. says
It looks something I could enjoy. I like the idea of trying other fruits that can be added to the salad.
AnnMarie John says
I love fruit salads and it's always nice to add fruits like dragon fruit to make it even more refreshing! I've always liked dragon fruit for its taste and its texture as well! This recipe is a must try!
uprunforlife says
Yum, this fruit salad looks so good. I haven't had dragonfruit and have no clue where to buy it around here. I will have to try a specialty grocery store like whole foods. I have always been curious what they taste like.
Cherri Megasko says
I'm a huge fan of fruit salads and this one looks amazing. I like to shake it up a bit at home from time to time by adding exotic fruits we don't usually get. Dragon fruit would be perfect.
ricci says
This fruit salad sounds yummy and has some really unconventional fruit! I need to try this soon!
Lynndee says
I love dragon fruit! It is so delicious! And with all those fruits that you've added, that salad is delish for sure.
Marielle Altenor says
Whenever we find dragon fruit at our grocery store we always get 1-2. I will have to try your recipe the next time we get some.
Elly McGuinness says
Yum! I'd only eaten Dragon fruit once or twice until recently because we don't grow them in NZ! But now that I'm living in Malaysia, tropical fruits like this are cheap and plentiful. ..so I will definitely give this recipe a go?
Katherine says
I can only imagine all the other fantastic fruits available to you. Lucky you!
Dr Martin Huang says
OH MY! I love this fruit salad especially with my favorite dragon fruit. You can actually try the red one red one is my favorite.