Poppy Seed Fruit Salad Dressing

This Poppy Seed Fruit Salad Dressing is what you’ll want to add to all your fruit salads this summer! Tangy from orange, lemon and/or lime juice and sweetened with honey, it’s the perfect refreshing addition to fresh fruit.

Easy fruit salad dressing recipe

For a very long time, I didn’t understand poppy seeds in any kind of salad dressing. Then I decided to give it a go anyway – and now I’m a convert!

I love love love it in fruit salad (like in this winter fruit salad, or as a creamy poppy seed fruit salad dressing). This here is a non-creamy, citrusy, wonderfully refreshing condiment for any kind of cut up fruit:

• It pops with freshness. Made with plenty of lemon juice and lemon zest, this is such a refreshing, tart addition to any kind of fruit.
• It’s naturally sweetened. With honey and orange juice. I can’t get over the recipes using like a cup of sugar in a bowl of fruit salad. Been there, done that. That’s just not palatable.
• It keeps well. You can easily make this a few days ahead and keep it tightly sealed in the fridge. If you’re making a lot of fruit salads during the summer, it’s handy to make a large batch to have on hand in the fridge. That way you don’t have to whip up your dressing from scratch every day!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Citrus: Orange, lemon, lime… You can use just one kind, or use a mix. One of my favorites is half orange juice, half lemon juice – it’s so refreshing with the right amount of natural sweetness and tanginess to me. Experiment and make it your own, there’s really no wrong here.
• Honey: I recommend a mild, runny honey for best results. Maple syrup is OK to use, it yields a runnier dressing though. The honey acts as an emulsifier here and yields a slightly thicker dressing.
• Olive oil: This is optional, I know it sounds weird in fruit salad but I love it. You must use a mild oil, else it will ruin the dressing. Mediterranean lemon cake recipes sometimes use olive oil, it’s a combination that may not be down-home, comfort food-y… But it does really work, and it adds depth and a light, refreshing richness to the dressing. You can leave it out though, if you prefer.

How to make a Poppy Seed Fruit Salad Dressing

1. Whisk all ingredients together. Yep, that’s it!

Recipe tips

• You can really use this on pretty much any combination of fruit. For some berry salads or banana heavy salads, I tend to prefer a creamy dressing. But otherwise? This is a wild card kind of deal. I know I just said I like creamy dressing on berry salads… But this one on a strawberry fruit salad? So good!
• The poppy seeds tend to sit on top of the dressing, that’s just fine. They will evenly distribute in the salad without any issues.
• Lemon juice yields the tartest dressing, orange juice the sweetest. I always like to use a combination of different citrus juices for some balance. If you use just one, you may need to adjust the amount of honey added to suit your personal taste.
• As long as you’re using fresh citrus juice, the dressing is great at preventing fruit from browning – I tested this with a batch of fresh fruit salad and not a single banana slice or pineapple chunk was brown after a full day of sitting in this dressing in the fridge.

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!

Recipe first published on 03/21/2018. Updated with new photos, better text and slight improvements to the recipe on 06/13/2021.