Sweet and Spicy Fruit Salad
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 12 servings
- ⅓cup granulated sugar
- 1serrano chile, halved
- 1whole dried star anise
- 7 to 8cups mixed cut fruit, like kiwi, peaches, plums, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mango, pineapple, oranges, grapefruit, pears or bananas
- 2teaspoons chopped tarragon
- 2teaspoons chopped basil
- Flaky sea salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- Mascarpone or crumbled ricotta salata, for garnish (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
102 calories; 1 gram fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 307 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Place sugar, ¾ cup water, chile and star anise in a small pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the mixture is as thick as maple syrup and spicy tasting. Strain syrup. (Syrup can be made up to 1 week in advance; store in the refrigerator.)
- Step 2
Toss fruit with half of the sugar syrup, the tarragon and the basil. Add more syrup to taste, depending on how sweet and spicy you want the salad. Season very lightly with salt and pepper. If desired, add dollops of mascarpone or crumbled ricotta salata on top.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Emily S.
Enjoy this amazing fruit salad two ways! After enjoying the fresh fruit salad, puree the leftover fruit salad in your blender, pour into small dixie cups and freeze overnight (add your wooden sticks @ 1-2 hours into the freezing process). These are the most delicious fruit pops you will ever eat - sweet and refreshing with a nice kick from the chile and star anise. They are the perfect anytime snack or dessert.
LizD
Sweet and spicy for sure! I love this salad. I would caution, however, against inhaling the steam/fumes while simmering the simple syrup with serrano chile! I highly recommend this recipe.
Juliet Jones
This looks so tempting; it caught my eye immediately today, but sadly, at this time (April) the only peaches and nectarines in the grocery store are imported from South America and not worth bothering with. They are certainly not "sweet", as the recipe requires. Please, please remind us again about this recipe in July!
Ellen
Use 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper if don’t have serrano
Jana
Instead of using all five seeds in the entire star, dig out all but two of the seeds.
Douglas
Made with: 2 - bananas 1 - kiwi 1 - large mandarin orange 1 - pt blueberries 1 - pt raspberries 1 - mango Substituted mint for basil. Using a small serrano, seeded, resulted in *very* mild heat.
Natasha D.
I didn't have star anise so I substituted cloves and allspice... It was wonderfully addictive! Don't skip the tarragon or the basil, both are essential to the dish. I suggest including bananas in with whatever other fruit you select because they balance the dish well. Also, it took me closer to 20 minutes to complete the syrup, and I took another user's advice and blended the extras for popsicles. I'm looking forward to those today!
nancy
re: adding wooden sticks
Cover dixie cups with a square of foil to fit. Use the tip of a knife to make a slit in the middle of the foil, then slide the sticks into the slit. Voila! One-step prep!
KA
I have bad news for you: honey is also full of sugar.
paterae
where is the mayo in this recipe?
Ruth
I liked this a lot. One of my kids said, "it's kinda weird but I ate it". We all ate it, and I'll definitely make it again. I don't like super hot, so I removed the seeds and membranes of the chili, and I removed it from the sugar water infusing halfway through. That made just a little heat. It would still be very good without the chili pepper, I think. Just loved the anise basil tarragon mixture.
Pikawicca
This works out to just 1 teaspoon of sugar per serving.
Marcy Timberman
The sugar syrup can be changed up in so many ways. I made one using cardamon and ginger with mint and basil for the herbs. That said this is a great recipe!
Christina
Added lime zest (1 small lime) and it elevated this delicious dish even more!
Kate
This was absolutely delicious - a perfect side dish with grilled sausages. Delicious!
Margaret
Amazing!! So simple; incredibly delicious. Used peaches, Santa Rosa plums, kiwis, apricots, blueberries. Served with mascarpone on the side. Tarragon/basil mix was a perfect compliment to the syrup. Will make again for sure!!
A cook from SF
Made this with blueberries, strawberries, peaches, apricots and oranges. Made the simple syrup but only had a jalepeno on hand. Should have used the whole jalepeno bc significantly less heat than Serrano. Couldn’t get the spice flavor but still very flavorful.
Namara
Would yogurt complement this recipe or would the sourness not work?
Lilian
To feed a crowd of 25, I doubled this recipe and it was a huge hit. Added ginger slices and lichee juice to the syrup. Used only Thai basil, no salt and pepper. Used 3 bananas, 1 pineapple, 1 mango, 1 can of lichees, 1 large bunch of grapes, 4 small apples and 5 mandarins. Amazing the next day with Greek yogurt.
Jenny Green
Lovely!! Double the basil, tarragon and spice in the sugar syrup. But if you let it reduce to the consistency of maple syrup it might carmélize and burn.
Val
Very nice flavors. But the syrup seized when I put it on the fruit. Suggestions?
SusanB
This wonderful recipe is delicious with berries of all sorts and with cantaloupe (honeydew might be overkill), but I just combined apricots with some blueberries and the result was just outstanding! Give that a try.
CJ
The syrup is killer! I didn't take out the membrane or seeds and it is quite spicy. I then made another batch with 2 star anise. That will help balance the spicy--i.e., soften the heat--by mixing the two in a ration of 3:1--not spiced to spiced. Using mango, blood orange, banana, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries all in a showy color collage and taste/texture explosion.
Ajoy
This my all time favorite fruit salad, I have made this at least 6 times since the holidays with rave reviews. Don’t throughout the leftover spicy simple syrup, use it for your drinks. Can anyone say Spicy Margarita!
Fxl Shultz
Added 3 allspice, a bit of lime zest, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom to the syrup as it simmered, in order to cut the dominance of the star anise(family member not fond of anise). Said family member loved the salad and wants the recipe.
nancy
Fruit is sugar. Honey is sugar. This isn't a main course, it's a side or dessert. For heaven's sake, put some sugar on it, eat it, and be happy.
Larry
SYRUP POTION PORTION: More than simple syrup for margaritas, martinis etc.
janisani
with cherries and apricots-yum!
Jon
I accidentally poured my syrup down the drain. But I made a new batch with a fresh anise star and reused the Serrano because I only had one. Way less spicy, much milder; but it worked out okay. Good idea for folks who are less spice tolerant.
Flossie G
Served this at Sunday brunch; it was a big hit. We used the suggested fruit as a guide & chose what we like based on availability. We also added fresh Mission figs and served with Mascarpone on this side. We could not find star anise so I used anise extract. Delicious!
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