The 10 Best Fruits To Blend Into A Vinaigrette

Although fruit might seem like a seasonal food, abundant in the warmer months and forgotten when the snow falls, it deserves a spot at the table all year-round. The options are endless when it comes to fruit. You can choose from hundreds of varieties, shapes, colors, and sizes. The flavors range from sour and tangy, to sweet and subtle. There is something out there for everyone, and luckily, fruit is loaded with natural vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber to help keep your health in tip-top shape, per Nutrition Facts. So, why not include it in dressings?

For those who enjoy salads, squeezing in your daily fruits and vegetables likely isn't a problem. But if your salads consistently contain ingredients like iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and pre-shredded carrots, it's time to expand your horizons and learn to build a salad that will leave your meat-and-potato-loving friends drooling. 

It's all about the dressing, baby, so it's important to learn how to make a well-balanced vinaigrette, and adding fresh fruit is a game-changer. Fruit can help bring both a citrus and sweet element to any salad dressing, but the key is to choose your variety wisely and pair it properly with your anterior salad ingredients. But not all fruits are created equal when it comes to dressing; below, a compilation of the best fruits to blend into a vinaigrette.

Tropical fruits are often overlooked when it comes to those ideal for vinaigrette, but they have potential. Certain varieties uncommon in the U.S., or at least in the northern regions, are worth the purchase if you can get your hands on them. Passionfruit is one of those unique, flavorful tropical fruits that is not only delicious but also beautiful. Although passionfruit has a deep pink exterior, the fleshy edible part consisting mostly of edible black seeds is bright yellow. It's very pulpy and has a pronounced sweetness with tart undertones.

Because the fruit is so seedy, you could either opt to separate the flesh from the seeds or leave the seeds intact. Consider leaving them whole and including them, as they can add an aesthetic appeal to your dressing or a pleasing crunch to your salad. Use light vinegar, along with lime juice and honey for balance. Add honey sparingly, as you may find the fruit itself is sweet enough. Drizzle in extra virgin olive oil and whisk it all together before lightly dressing your delicate greens. 

Passionfruit pairs well with crisp, refreshing flavors like cucumber, radish, and celery. If you choose to include cheese, stick to something soft, mild, and tangy like goat cheese. When it comes to adding proteins, choose seafood or tofu, then lean into the colorful aesthetic by including bright, eye-catching ingredients like starfruit, diced orange pepper, and pickled beets.

You may have tried a strawberry vinaigrette before, but the homemade version is quite different than anything you'll find pre-bottled at the grocery store. These versions are often quite syrupy, and sticky-sweet, while making such a dressing from scratch gives you flexibility in flavor and texture. Strawberries carry a range of flavors, from mellow and tart to juicy and overwhelmingly sweet, depending on the variety. Some describe strawberries as having floral undertones, while others compare them to apples and pineapples, but all are delicious.

Start by deciding if you'd prefer to use freshly blended strawberries — which will result in a thicker, and crunchier vinaigrette as a result of the seeds — or if you'd rather juice the berries and create a strawberry reduction. The reduction will be darker, thicker, and sweeter than the blended berries, so it's entirely up to the cook. Either way, pair your strawberry juice or blend with a sweet vinegar like apple cider vinegar, along with olive oil, dijon mustard, and a rich sweetener like honey. 

Enjoy your vinaigrette in a light spinach summer salad, or over spicy greens like arugula. Light cheeses, toasted nuts, and colorful vegetables complement the fruit delightfully. Enjoy it over a standard strawberry arugula salad recipe, because what goes better with strawberries than strawberries?

Like lemon, lime juice acts alongside vinegar as a tart, acidic component to a vinaigrette. There are major differences in flavor between key limes and the basic limes that you might find at the grocery store. Key limes are identifiable as smaller, notably tarter, and more floral. They also tend to be very aromatic, which is why they make for such an incredible ingredient in key lime pie. Both your standard lime or key limes can be used in a vinaigrette, as long as you understand the differences.

Use the juice as the main acidic component, but feel free to add white balsamic or light vinegar as well. Sweeten with honey, and use Dijon mustard and extra virgin olive oil. This basic formula works wonders with lime juice, but note that you can also create your own flavor profile using spices and herbs like cilantro or lemongrass. Enhance the fruit's flavor by using lime zest, and mix it right into the vinaigrette. Enjoy this dressing over fruit salad, or a vegetable salad featuring light, crisp greens. Include both fruits and vegetables like cucumber, mango, red onion, and bell peppers. Sweet and floral produce can help to complement the tanginess of the lime juice.

Unlike citrus fruits, mangos are sweet without tanginess or bitterness. They are also smooth in texture and elegantly bright. This is why you should consider blending the whole fruit right into the vinaigrette using a high-speed blender. Use light vinegar and sweet vinegar (like apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar), along with robust olive oil, honey, and black pepper. Because mango is so sweet, it sometimes benefits from a spicy undertone, which you can accomplish by adding red pepper flakes or cayenne. Stand aside hot honey, cayenne mango is the next great sweet heat combination.

Because mango vinaigrette is so powerful and unique, it holds up well with intense cheeses like blue cheese or gorgonzola, but of course, also dresses up soft goat cheese beautifully. Lean into the tropical nature of the dressing by including light and tropical ingredients like avocado and chunks of mango. In addition, cucumber, red pepper, butter lettuce, and spinach tend to allow the mango to shine. Give a spinach salad with mango vinaigrette a try, and load it up with chopped raw cashews and thinly sliced red onion. You can also use a tangy mango vinaigrette to dress a fruit salad, or create a sweet version omitting any aromatics or dijon and drizzle it over ice cream as a tangy, colorful dessert.

Even if you're not entirely familiar with the world of fruit-based vinaigrettes, it's likely you've seen raspberry vinaigrette as an option on  menus. It might even seem like a United States staple, but raspberry vinaigrette has French origins. Perhaps it's so popular because of the fruit's rounded sweetness, floral undertones, or textured mouthfeel. The homemade version will likely differ from the syrupy sauce you might receive at a fast-food chain or salad bar, so gear up your tastebuds for the freshest, tangiest, raspberry vinaigrette you've ever tried.

Like most berries, raspberries have a series of small, crunchy seeds, which helps add texture to salad and other dishes. Blend or mash the raspberries before you whisk them with your basic vinaigrette ingredients, including olive oil, dijon mustard, and a sweetener of choice like agave or maple syrup. Consider using white balsamic, champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar so as not to overpower the delicate flavors of the fruit, and to help preserve its beautiful pink and red coloring. Include fresh herbs like basil, or citrus fruit like lemon juice to help enhance the flavor of the dressing. Freshly crushed black pepper complements raspberries particularly well without overpowering the vinaigrette with heat. 

Drizzle your raspberry dressing over delicate greens, arugula, and spinach, or mix with radicchio lettuce, loaded with toppings like almonds, red onion, tangy cheeses, and fresh berries. You'll love the taste.