17 Winter Fruit Salads That Make Overpriced Berries Feel Pointless

The post 17 Winter Fruit Salads That Make Overpriced Berries Feel Pointless appeared first on Penny Pinchin' Mom.

Grocery store berries cost a fortune in January, and everything else in produce looks like it flew in from another hemisphere. Meanwhile there’s a whole bin of oranges and grapefruit up front, on sale, and nobody’s buying them.

I ignored citrus season for years. One January, a bag of clementines sat behind my coffee maker until I finally peeled one out of guilt, ate four standing up at the counter, and drove back to Aldi the next morning for two more bags.

That bag turned into the winter fruit salad you actually want this time of year. Navel orange and ruby red grapefruit with fresh mint takes ten minutes and looks like you tried harder than you did. The clementine and mandarin salad needs no knife, and the honey-lime tangerine salad turns three ingredients into breakfast or dinner, both.

Citrus-Only Combinations

1. Navel Orange and Ruby Red Grapefruit With Fresh Mint

Two navel oranges and one ruby red grapefruit, sliced into rounds and layered on a plate, make the easiest winter fruit salad on this list. Peel the fruit with a knife rather than your fingers so you take the bitter white pith off with the skin, then slice crosswise about a half inch thick. Tear a few mint leaves over the top and spoon on any juice left on the cutting board. Ten minutes, $4 to $5, and it serves 4 to 6 as a side.

It holds 2 days covered in the fridge, though the mint darkens after the first day. Add fresh leaves before serving leftovers.

2. Clementine and Mandarin Salad You Can Make Without a Knife

This is the one to hand off to kids at the counter, since nothing sharp is involved. Peel about 6 clementines and 4 mandarins, pull the segments apart, and drop them straight into a bowl. Squeeze one extra clementine over the top for juice, and you are done.

A 3-pound bag of clementines is $4 to $5 at Aldi or Walmart and covers this with fruit left over, so the salad itself costs $5. Prep takes 10 minutes, and it serves 4 to 6.

The membrane stays on here, which means the segments hold their shape but dry out faster. Eat it the same day or the next morning.

3. Blood Orange and Clementine

Deep red segments against pale orange ones look like something from a brunch menu, and it takes two ingredients. Supreme 3 blood oranges by cutting off the top and bottom, slicing the peel and pith away in strips, then cutting each segment free from the membrane. Pull apart 4 clementines and add them whole-segment. No dressing needed. The blood orange juice pools at the bottom and turns pink.

Blood oranges cost $1.25 to $1.75 each at Kroger, so the bowl comes to $6 to $8. Fifteen minutes, serves 4.

It holds 2 to 3 days, and the color actually deepens overnight as the juice soaks into the clementines.

4. Three-Citrus Medley for the Dinner Table

This is the one to put alongside roast chicken or a pork loin, where something bright cuts through the richness. Use one navel orange, one ruby red grapefruit, and one blood orange, all supremed so there is no chewy membrane competing with the meat on the plate. Toss the segments gently with a spoonful of the collected juice and a very small drizzle of honey to balance the grapefruit’s edge.

Figure 20 minutes of prep because supreming three different fruits takes a minute. It serves 6 as a side for $6 to $7.

Supremed citrus holds 2 days before the segments start to break down. Assemble it in the morning, and it is ready when dinner is.

5. Tangerine Salad With a Honey-Lime Finish

Back when the kids were small, tangerines were the one fruit that never came home half-eaten in a lunchbox, and they are still the sweetest easy-peel option in January.

Peel and separate 8 tangerines or mandarins into a bowl. Whisk a tablespoon of honey with the juice of half a lime until it loosens up, then pour it over and turn the segments a few times with your hands.

Prep takes 10 minutes, it serves 4 to 6, and the whole bowl costs $5 to $6.

The honey-lime juice keeps the fruit glossy for 2 days in the fridge. After that, the segments soften, and the liquid separates out.

6. Navel Oranges in Meyer Lemon Honey Syrup

Meyer lemons show up in stores for a short stretch each winter, and they are sweeter and more floral than regular lemons, which makes them worth grabbing when you see them.

Warm 3 tablespoons of honey with the juice of 2 Meyer lemons in a small pan for about 5 minutes until it thins into a syrup, then cool it. Slice 4 navel oranges into rounds, pith trimmed, and spoon the syrup over. Chill 30 minutes before serving.

The syrup is good enough to drink straight from the bowl once the oranges are gone, so don’t rush to wash it out.

Fifteen minutes plus chilling, serves 4 to 6, $6 to $7. It holds 3 days and tastes better on day two.

Citrus Plus One More Fruit

7. Cara Cara Orange, Honeycrisp Apple, and Bosc Pear

When you’ve got roast chicken or pork loin coming out of the oven, this is the side that makes the plate look finished. Two cara cara oranges supremed into clean wedges, one apple, and one firm Bosc pear, all cut into similar-sized chunks and tossed in the orange juice you squeezed out of the membranes.

Back when the kids were still home, a Sunday roast meant one vegetable and rolls. This bowl would have taken ten minutes and made the whole meal feel different.

Apples and pears run $1.25 to $1.75 per pound, so the full bowl is $7 to $9 and feeds 6 as a side.

Eat it the day you make it. The apple and pear will brown by day two even with the citrus juice on them.

8. Kiwi and Clementine

Kids go for this one on color alone, bright green against orange, and clementines mean you barely need a knife. Peel five clementines, pull the segments apart, and add four kiwi peeled and sliced into coins.

Kiwi costs $0.50 to $0.75 each and a 3-pound bag of clementines is $4 to $5, so figure $5 to $6 for a bowl that serves 4 to 6. Prep is under 10 minutes.

One thing worth knowing: kiwi contains an enzyme that softens everything it touches. Make this the morning you plan to eat it, and stir the kiwi in last rather than letting it sit in the juice. By day two, the clementines start going limp around the edges.

9. Banana and Clementine Breakfast Bowl

Five minutes, four clementines, and two bananas, and breakfast is on the table. Slice the bananas into the bowl first, pull the clementine segments apart over the top, and toss so the citrus juice coats every banana slice. That juice slows the browning considerably. Bananas are $0.20 to $0.25 each, and the clementines come from a $4 to $5 bag, so a bowl serving 4 costs $2 to $3, the cheapest thing on this list.

Last month a grandson stood at my counter and ate most of one before I got the coffee poured.

Serve it right away.

10. Red Grape and Mandarin

This is the sturdiest keeper here. It holds 3 days in the fridge without going watery, which makes it the one to pack in a lunch or take to work.

Grapes might seem like they don’t belong in a citrus bowl, but the pop of a cold grape against a soft mandarin segment turns out to be one of the best texture combinations on this list. You’ll need about a pound of red seedless grapes, $3 to $4 at Walmart in winter, plus six mandarins from a 3-pound bag. Halve the grapes if you’re serving little ones. Ten minutes of prep, serves 6, $6 to $7.

Dressed and Finished

11. Chili-Lime Citrus Salad for the Dinner Plate

For nights when you’re grilling pork chops or pan-searing tilapia and need something bright on the plate, this is the one. Segment 3 navel oranges and 1 ruby red grapefruit, squeeze half a lime over the top, drizzle a teaspoon of honey, and dust generously with Tajín Clásico, $3 to $4 for a 5-ounce bottle at Walmart. Chili powder plus extra lime works if you’d rather not buy the seasoning.

Prep takes 15 minutes, and it serves 4 to 6 for $7 to $9.

Now that date night is just the two of us, this shows up next to grilled fish more than anything else I make.

Eat it the same day. The salt in the seasoning draws juice out fast, so dress it right before serving.

12. Greek Yogurt Citrus Breakfast Bowls

Breakfast that tastes like a splurge and costs under $2.50 a bowl. Spoon 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt into each bowl, top with segments from one navel orange and one clementine, drizzle honey, and finish with a shake of cinnamon. A 32-ounce tub of store-brand Greek yogurt is $4 to $5 at Aldi and covers four bowls with some to spare.

Four servings, 10 minutes of prep, $8 to $9 with the citrus.

Assemble these the morning you eat them or the yogurt weeps. What you can do ahead is segment the citrus, up to 2 days, and keep it in a separate covered container so the juice doesn’t thin your yogurt.

13. Toasted Coconut Citrus Salad

Toasting coconut sounds fussy until you do it once and realize it takes 4 minutes in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring the whole time so it doesn’t scorch. Unsweetened coconut flakes are $3 to $4 for a bag at Walmart, and toasting the whole bag at once means you’ll have some ready for the next batch.

Segment 3 navel oranges, 2 clementines, and 1 ruby red grapefruit. Toss with lime juice and a spoonful of honey, then scatter the coconut over the top at the table.

Serves 6, 20 minutes total, $8 to $10.

The dressed fruit holds for 2 days. Keep the coconut separate, or it goes limp overnight.

14. Toasted Pistachio and Honey Citrus

Guests always assume there’s more to this than there is. Segment 3 cara cara oranges and 2 navels, arrange them on a plate, drizzle with honey and a squeeze of lemon, then scatter 1/4 cup of chopped, shelled pistachios that you’ve toasted in a dry skillet for 3 minutes.

Pistachios cost $6 to $7 for an 8-ounce bag at Aldi, so the full plate runs $9 to $11. Sliced almonds at $3 to $4 cut that noticeably and still give you the crunch.

Fifteen minutes, serves 4 to 6.

The fruit holds 2 days, but the nuts go soft in the juice within a few hours, so add them right before it hits the table.

15. Poppy Seed Citrus With Its Own Juice

When you segment citrus, juice pools on the cutting board and most people rinse it down the sink. Catch it instead. Two tablespoons of that juice whisked with a tablespoon of honey, a splash of lime, and a teaspoon of poppy seeds makes the dressing for free, more or less. Poppy seeds are $4 to $5 for a small McCormick jar at Kroger and last through a dozen batches.

Use 3 navel oranges, 1 white grapefruit, and 2 clementines. Serves 6 for $7 to $9, 15 minutes start to finish.

Segmenting the oranges over a sheet pan instead of a cutting board keeps the mess contained and catches every drop of juice for the dressing. Holds 2 days.

Make-Ahead for a Crowd

16. Big-Batch Citrus Salad for the Holiday Table

The bowl that emptied fastest at our Christmas gathering last year sat between the ham and the rolls, and it was citrus. The potatoes got picked at.

One 3-pound bag of navel oranges, two ruby red grapefruit, four clementines. Supreme the oranges and grapefruit so there’s no chewy membrane, break the clementines into segments by hand, then toss everything with two tablespoons of honey, the juice of one lime, and a handful of torn mint. Thirty minutes for a winter fruit salad that serves 12 to 14 and costs $10 to $13 at Aldi.

Assemble it up to 8 hours ahead and keep it covered in the fridge. It holds 2 days, though you’ll want to pour off some accumulated juice before it goes back on the table.

17. Layered Citrus Breakfast Jars

If your mornings run on whatever you can grab with one hand, five jars on Sunday solves the whole week.

Use 8-ounce wide-mouth jars. Ball jars are $10 to $12 for a dozen at Walmart, and you’ll reuse them for years. Spoon plain Greek yogurt in the bottom, $4 to $5 for a 32-ounce tub, then layer clementine segments and supremed navel orange on top. Five jars take roughly 20 minutes start to finish and come to $9 to $11 total.

They hold 3 days in the fridge. Any longer and the citrus juice thins the yogurt.

Keep granola in a separate snack bag and shake it on right before eating, or you’ll be eating soggy oats by Wednesday.

That Bin of Oranges Is Waiting For You

You don’t need a bag of clementines going soft on your counter to figure this out. That produce section markdown on citrus is the best trade you’ll make all January, and a winter fruit salad built out of it beats any out-of-season berry you could buy right now. The guilt I felt slicing into that first clementine? Turn it into dinner instead.

The oranges are already on sale. Go grab some.

The post 17 Winter Fruit Salads That Make Overpriced Berries Feel Pointless appeared first on Penny Pinchin' Mom.