Want to serve a beautiful fruit tray at your next gathering? Not sure how to swing it so that it looks pretty? No problem. Follow these easy fruit tray ideas to make a pretty fruit platter with very little work.
Including a seasonal fruit tray in your regular meal plans as well as for party food. A fruit platter is excellent for Hosting a Holiday Brunch on a Budget or a backyard BBQ party.
No matter the holiday or special occasion, a fruit tray or fruit platter is one of the best things to include in the menu. If you’ve ever received an Edible Arrangement fruit display as a gift, you know how special the addition of simple fruit can be to a meal.
While a grocery store fruit tray is certainly easy, the fruit isn’t always the best quality. You can cut your own fruit and arrange a beautiful fruit platter display on your own.
Why Do This
One of the easiest and most well-received party platters is the classic fruit tray. It’s simple! It’s fresh! It fits almost any diet!
If you haven’t honed your fruit tray game, now is the time to sharpen your skills. (And yes, you’ll need a good knife!)
There are beautiful, fresh, and delicious fruit trays and there are sad, soggy, gooey messes. We’re going for the first one here.
Trust me, this is not hard. You can prepare Pinterest-worthy fruit trays in no time.
Ingredients
Consider these fruits for your fresh fruit platter, depending on the season:
An epic fruit platter can be as simple as you like, focusing on a variety of fruits, or more elaborate with fruit dips, chocolate sauce, or Tajin for adding some spice. Add some chopped fresh mint or basil for a fancy twist.
Wash the fruit with a vinegar and water rinse, even fruit with a peel to remove.
Cut melons into slices, grapes into clusters, and citrus into supremes. Leave whole fruit that will brown under oxidation, like stone fruit, apples, and bananas.
Arrange the fruit on a platter. Keep your fruit platter fresh by wrapping with plastic and store it in the fridge until serving time.
Tips for Success
Follow the tips below for easy tips to make your fruit platter the talk of the town.
Making fruit trays is super easy and fun. One of the tricks is to find good quality produce and arrange it in attractive ways. Here are some tips to help you do that:
Buy fruit that is fresh and in-season.The New Food Lover’s Companion is a great resource to help you determine the best fruits to buy. If you’re not sure, ask the produce clerk or the farmer at your farmer’s market.
Choose at least three different fruits. Having a variety of fruit on your fruit tray allows you to vary the textures and colors as well as appeal to the different tastes of your guests.
Watch the drips! When cutting juicy fruit, place the cutting board inside a rimmed baking sheet to catch the juice and prevent it from running all over the counter.
Cut the fruit into manageable sizes. Folks are more likely to dig into your fruit platter if the fruit is trimmed and cut for easy eating. Cut large grape clusters into smaller ones, chop or cube melon into bite sized pieces, slice kiwi fruit.
Don’t slice everything.Some fruits last longer and stay prettier unsliced. Bananas and strawberries, I’m looking at you. If you want to keep your fruit tray looking fresh and delicious, don’t slice those. Leave them whole to preserve their freshness.
Arrange it on a pretty platter. A simple white platter is a great vehicle for your fruit tray. The white offsets the colors of the fruit, making them the stars of the show.
Group the fruit together. Fruit salads are usually all mixed up. A fruit platter seems to look prettier when you’ve got melon here, berries there, and so forth.
Add some garnish for color and interest. Lettuce leaves as a base, fresh mint leaves sprinkled on top, or even the top of a pineapple in the center can liven up a fruit platter and make it more interesting to look at. Interesting things taste better, don’t you know? Food presentation matters.
Include a fun dip or toppings, if you like. While certainly not required, a fun fruit dip or topping, such as shaved chocolate or chopped nuts as a fun bit of flavor to your fruit platter. Crockpot Chocolate Fondue is an excellent accompaniment.
FAQs
What is the best fruit for a fruit tray?
The best fruit for a fruit tray is the fruit that’s in season! By purchasing in-season fruit you not only maximize the quality, but you also take advantage of best pricing.
While many fruits are imported and therefore available year-round, you may find better flavor and pricing in season.
Can I cut fruit the night before?
Cutting fruit doesn’t take much time, but it’s nice to have it prepped in advance for quick breakfasts and when you’re entertaining guests. Make-ahead always makes life easier!
A fresh fruit platter can be cut and arranged the night before and stored, covered, in the refrigerator.
How long does a fruit tray last in the fridge?
A cut fruit tray should be good in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 days, depending on how ripe the fruit was at the beginning. If your fruit platter starts to look a bit droopy, blend it up in a smoothie.
Money-saving Tips
Depending on which fruits you choose, a simple fruit tray can be a pricey affair! Here are some of the strategies I use to make this dish more economical:
Meal plan around what’s on sale. Check the grocery ads to see what’s on sale this week. Hone in on those fruits and get creative as to how you can turn them into a great fruit platter.
Do a price comparison. I know that ALDI is the best place for me to buy most produce when there isn’t a great sale elsewhere, but Sprouts can be very competitive. I steer clear of Costco fruit because it tends to be very high priced. I keep track of prices so that I know who has the best deal where.
Check the clearance section. Sometimes you’ll findmanager specialsthat offer you great discounts on fresh produce. There may be a blemish or two that you can easily cut away.
Consider signing up with Imperfect Produce, a produce delivery service that partners with growers to get blemished and surplus fruits and vegetables onto your table.
Talk to your local farmers. Head to your farmers market and talk to the growers there. They can let you know when they’ll have best pricing and availability on fruits you enjoy.
Check Freecycle or ask around your neighborhood. Believe it or not, folks often have fruit trees that they aren’t harvesting, leaving fruit just to rot. Smart folks will offer it for free to whoever wants to come pick it. Keep your eyes and ears open for these opportunities.
Spray the outside of the watermelon with vinegar and rinse well with cool water. Rinse the berries with vinegar water. Pat dry.
On a rimmed cutting board or on a cutting board placed within a rimmed baking sheet, place the watermelon. Cut off both the stem and blossom end.
Place the watermelon on a cut end and using the knife, cut off the rind. Cut the melon in half lengthwise, then slice each half into ½-inch slices.
Arrange the watermelon on a serving tray. Arrange the berries around the watermelon on the tray. Wrap well and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutritional values are approximate. Promptly store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
Other fruits can be used besides the ones listed. Consider: honeydew, cantaloupe, blueberries, pitted cherries, kiwi, pineapple, grapefruit, oranges, apricots, peaches, plums, pears, apples, grapes, mango, or papaya.
Fruit tray toppings: seeds, chopped nuts, chocolate shavings, yogurt, fruit dips, and whipped cream are all delicious served with fresh fruit.
Leftover ideas:If you’ve got leftover fruit, you can chop it into a fruit salad, blend into popsicles, bake it into a Fruit Cobbler, or freeze it to use in a smoothie bar.
In most cases it is always cheaper to make your own than it is to buy a premade one from the store. Making your own allows you to customize which fruit will be on the tray and you can make it look exactly how you like it.
How Early Can You Cut Fruit for a Party? The best time to cut fruit for a platter is the morning of your event. However, if you need to save time you can cut them early. Most fruits can be sliced 3 to 4 days in advance.
Can I make a fruit Tray the night before? Yes, most of the fruit may be sliced the night before and kept separate covered and refrigerated. Then, all you have to do is arrange the platter before serving. You can also make the fruit dip(s) the night before to save time.
Keep cut fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, and peaches from turning brown by: Coating them with an acidic juice such as lemon, orange, or pineapple juice. Use a commercial anti-darkening preparation with fruits, such as Fruit-Fresh®*, and follow the manufacturer's directions.
Halved strawberries look best on a fruit tray when cut lengthwise. Remove the stems with a paring knife or corer. Then, simply cut the strawberries in half lengthwise. If your strawberries are on the large side, you may want to trim off any excess white core to improve the appearance.
Any bowl can be a vessel for fresh fruit, but look for styles that permit better air circulation all around to help maintain freshness. It is better to choose a ceramic or, preferably, a wire mesh bowl. Plastic or metal bowls tend to make fruit sweat which can speed up deterioration.
So, for 12 people, you'd need about three pounds of edible fruit. For 25 people, you'd need a little more than six pounds. For 100 people, you'd need 25 pounds. If the event is very long, or you're not serving at least three or four other dishes, scale up.
Melons (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon), mangoes and pineapple: These can all be cut 3 to 4 days in advance and kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Pomegranate seeds: Can be stored 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
The first tip for storing chopped fruit is to keep it in a container of fresh water. The water acts as a barrier, stopping the oxygen from reaching and browning your fruit.
Bags are the most used type of packing from plastic materials and they are manufactured from polyethylene or cellophane; an important utilisation is for dried/dehydrated fruits and vegetables.
The best way to serve grapes? Cut that big bunch of grapes down into small, single-serving clusters. Just grab some kitchen shears and snip the bunch down into groups of eight to 10 grapes. Pile the little clusters on your serving platter and they'll magically come back together into one big, beautiful bunch.
Once fruits and vegetables are cut, chopped, or cooked, they should be refrigerated in covered containers or frozen in plastic freezer containers. Avoid leaving cut, peeled and cooked fruit and vegetables at room temperature for more than two hours.
In fact, you can just chop up some of your favorite fruits, arrange them on a platter, and serve completely as is. If you want to get fancy, you can serve a fruit platter with a yogurt or cream cheese dip so your guests can dip and enjoy. Another option is to chop up some fruit and create an easy fruit salad.
On each side, put pineapple, in the middle will be red and yellow apples, oranges, pears, mandarins, kiwis, and bananas. The small red fruits like strawberries, raspberries, and dates will be used to fill holes, but do it gently. Finally, end with beautiful bunches of grapes.
Sliced apples and pears are perfect for fall fruit trays as they are in season and look great on a platter. Just be sure to soak them in lemon water and pat them dry before you add them to your platter.
Cut pineapple into 3/8-in. slices. Using small flower or star-shaped cookie cutters, cut out shapes from pineapple and watermelon slices. Thread assorted fruits onto wooden skewers.
Place melon on a serving tray or platter. Insert skewers into base. Garnish with lemon and mint if desired.
Your cut and sliced apples should be stored in resealable bags or airtight containers, and kept in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Yes, sliced apples will begin to turn brown as soon as you slice them—but you can easily prevent the browning.
By putting the fruits & veggies in sealed jars straight into the fridge. They last about twice as long as they would in the plastic, BUT they won't last that long… because you'll eat them before they have a chance to spoil.
How to Cut Oranges for Fruit Tray. Another very easy way to serve an orange on a fruit tray is to cut it into slices. I decorated the center with a flower from the peel and garnish it with mint greens.
Hulling the strawberries, or even just tearing off the leaves and stems, exposes the flesh of the fruit to air and bacteria, which will cause them to rot quickly. It's best to leave strawberries whole with leaves and stems intact until you're ready to use them.
A few favorites are strawberries, grapes, bananas, and apples. Depending on the season, you can add watermelon, kiwi, blueberries, or raspberries. Fruits like peaches and nectarines don't work as well because they are slippery and change color very quickly.
"People forget fruit grows outside. It can get contaminated, it could be from birds, animals or people's dirty hands. It's always a good idea to wash fruit under running water." Ms Buchtmann says it's fine to use a fruit bowl from a food safety perspective, but it's important to keep an eye out for mouldy fruit.
Making a fruit basket yourself is very easy. I have this simple 123 formula for fruit baskets: (1) fill basket with fruit, (2) wrap with plastic wrap, (3) add bow on top. That's all there is to it :) The whole process will take less than 5 minutes, and you'll have an awesome homemade fruit basket to give as a gift!
The enigmatic Sohma family shares a great secret: each member is possessed by spirits of the Chinese Zodiac, and when they are hugged by members of the opposite sex, they transform into their personal Zodiac animal!
You can use almost any fruit in a fruit basket depending on what the basket is going to be used for. Melons and citrus fruits are great for fruit baskets that are going to be used at wedding receptions, picnics, graduation parties, and other outdoor events because they are packed with water and healthy fruit juice.
3. Avoid mixing acidic fruits with sweet fruits. Acidic and sub-acidic fruits such as grapefruits, strawberries, apples, pomegranates, and peaches, should never be combined with sweet fruits such as bananas and raisins.
Fruits That Should Not Be Stored in the Refrigerator
Apricots, Asian pears, avocado, bananas, guava, kiwis, mangoes, melons, nectarines, papayas, passion fruit, pawpaw, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapples, plantain, plums, starfruit, soursop, and quince will continue to ripen if left out on the counter.
Wash and prep your fruit as soon as you get it home and put it in air tight containers the way you would eat it or as a fruit salad that's portable and ready to go for the rest of the week. If buying fruits and veggies in bulk doesn't work for you, buy frozen or pre-cut portions.
If you just want to eat fruit or serve fruits to guests, there's nothing wrong with cutting them up, putting them on plates, and serving them to guests. They can enjoy the fruit using their hands (if for example, you're serving apples or oranges), or using spoons (if you're serving mangoes).
In fact, you can just chop up some of your favorite fruits, arrange them on a platter, and serve completely as is. If you want to get fancy, you can serve a fruit platter with a yogurt or cream cheese dip so your guests can dip and enjoy. Another option is to chop up some fruit and create an easy fruit salad.
Indeed, as it is possible to serve dishes that can cater to between 25 – 40 people. In most cases, a catering tray will measure 12-inches by 10-inches. Clearly, you can use 2 half trays to feed a large crowd with the same amount as a full tray.
The new MyPlate encourages all plates to be filled with fruits and vegetables (50 percent), protein (25 percent), and grains (25 percent). Half of daily grain intake should be from whole-grain sources.
Can I cut fruit the night before? Cutting fruit doesn't take much time, but it's nice to have it prepped in advance for quick breakfasts and when you're entertaining guests. Make-ahead always makes life easier! A fresh fruit platter can be cut and arranged the night before and stored, covered, in the refrigerator.
Some of the best fruits to put on a serving platter are grapes, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, and cherries. How early can you prepare a fruit platter? You can make this platter up to one day before you need it. This is a great way to prepare for a party or get-together.
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