This Winter Fruit Salad post is sponsored by California Grown. All opinions are my own.
A winter fruit salad may, at face value, seem like an oxymoron. Winter, in most places, does not equal fresh fruit but January and February in Southern California comes with glorious sweet treasures that are at their peek this time of the year.
I am absolutely thrilled to be partnering with California Grown whose mission is to connect people with the California farmers who grow their food. With the help of California Grown us Friends Who Fete gals (Meg from This Mess Is Ours and Aida from Salt and Wind and myself) threw a gorgeous SoCal winter brunch to celebrate all the beautiful California produce grown this time of year. My fruity contribution to our brunch was this colorful salad with thin slices of crisp fennel, juicy strawberries, and floral wedges of clementines; all of which I picked up at my local Farmer’s market.
As a matter of fact, everything that went into this salad was either from a local farm or my own neighborhood. In our neck of the woods, overflowing boxes of lemons, oranges, grapefruit, and tangerines dot the sidewalks from neighbors whose trees are weighed heavy with the fruit. I picked up a few lemons to make this dressing, whisking the zest and juice with the local Ojai Pixie honey.
Tips for a Winter Fruit Salad
- The clementines in this recipe are supremed. If you have no idea what that means, check out this video for a play-by-play. Supreme the clementines over a small bowl to catch any juices then squeeze any remaining juice that’s left into the bowl as well. Use this juice to make the dressing.
- Play around with whatever fruit/veggie combination is lucious and lovely where you live. For example, winter isn’t all about citrus, tropical fruits are also really sweet this time of year, mangos, pineapple, and papaya are other good options.
- The lavender buds (picked from my front yard) on top are completely optional but are absolutely gorgeous and make the salad feel special and surprising.

Winter Fruit Salad with Honey-Lemon Dressing and Pistachios
This winter fruit salad is a gorgeous combination of thinly sliced fennel, juicy strawberries, and floral clementines tossed in a lemon and honey dressing and sprinkled with roasted pistachios.
Ingredients
- 1 small bulb fennel, cored and thinly sliced, reserve some fronds for garnish
- 1 pound strawberries, cored and sliced
- 4 clementines, peeled and sliced into segments
- 2-3 tablespoons honey
- zest and juice from 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted, salted pistachios
Instructions
- Gently combine fennel, strawberries, and clementines in a shallow bowl.
- Whisk together honey, lemon zest, and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Taste and add more honey or lemon juice to your liking.
- Drizzle dressing over salad and gently toss to coat being careful not to break up the strawberry slices.
- Sprinkle pistachios and some chopped fennel fronds over the top and serve.
Notes
Salad can be made a few hours in advance keeping the dressing and pistachios separate. Cover salad with a damp paper towel then tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss with dressing and sprinkle with pistachios, enjoy!
Many thanks to Salt & Wind and This Mess Is Ours for all the gorgeous photography.
One More Thing
Did you love this post? I want to know! Leave me a comment and snap a photo for Instagram. Tag @holajalapeno and use the #holajalapeno hashtag so I can see your beautiful creation! Your feedback is super important to me. If you run into trouble shoot me a message on Instagram and I’ll walk you through it.
Also, don’t forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!
Love this beautiful, colorful salada, anytime of the year!
Thank you Enri!! It really is good anytime.
I love this salad! The flavors must be amazing. We’ll prepare it soon!
They are so good. It super easy and such a special unexpected fruit combination.
So colorful and delicious, I love fennel and I’m always looking for new recipes, this made my book!