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Enjoy a taste of paradise with this Tropical Fruit Salad. Layered with fresh fruit and lightly sweetened coconut chia cream, this easy recipe is fun, pretty, and healthy. Make it in individual glasses or in one decorative bowl to serve for breakfast, brunch, snack, or even dessert.
Layered Tropical Fruit Salad
This bright and fresh fruit salad recipe is so much fun to make and eat! Layers of your favorite tropical fruits give it the colors that will remind you of sunrise in paradise. Or maybe a sunset, I suppose, but when I think of fruit salad, I think of a bright and healthy way to start your day! You can certainly change up the fruit to whatever you have available or what looks best in the store, and you don’t have to layer it. The layers just make it look extra gorgeous, and remember, we eat with our eyes first.
But whatever you do, don’t skip the lightly-sweetened coconut chia cream. It takes just an extra couple of minutes, and it’s really what transforms a fairly basic fruit salad into something special. The light coconut flavor gives this a totally tropical island vibe, and by adding the chia, you get a creamy, luxurious texture.
So whether you are planning your Mother’s Day brunch menu, want a healthy dessert, or are just trying to pretend that your days are filled with sun, sand, and surf, you need to make this!
Ingredients
This recipe is very flexible. You can use your choice of sweetener depending on whether you want to make it strict vegan, refined sugar free, or even lower in carbs. And while I love the combination of flavors the the colors of a tropical sunrise from these fruits, feel free to substitute any with what you’d like to use.
For the coconut chia cream:
- Light coconut milk – You’ll need one can.
- Sweetener – You can use powdered sugar, a powdered sweetener like Swerve, honey, or maple syrup.
- Pure vanilla extract
- Chia seeds
For the layered fruit salad:
All of the fruit should be chopped into small chunks of similar sizes.
- Bananas
- Pineapple
- Mango
- Oranges – Use fresh oranges or canned mandarin oranges in juice that have been drained.
- Strawberries
Instructions
Make the coconut chia cream. In a small bowl, stir together the coconut milk, your choice of sweetener, vanilla, and chia seeds. Set aside in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to thicken. You can even prepare it the day before you plan to make or serve the fruit salad.
Prepare the fruit. Wash, peel, and cut the fruit into small chunks about the same size. Use a serrated knife to remove the peel, including the pith, from the orange, then cut between the membraned to separate the orange into segments. Keep all of the fruit separate.
Layer the fruit salad. Divide the chopped banana between eight glasses or bowls or one decorative serving bowl or trifle dish. Follow with the pineapple, mango, oranges, and strawberries. Divide the coconut chia cream between the eight dishes, gently laying it on top of the fruit.
Besides the fact that it is perfect for the colorful ombre effect, by putting the bananas on the bottom and then letting the juices of the pineapple and oranges flow down onto them, it helps keep the bananas from turning brown.
Storing Fruit Salad
Keep your tropical fruit salad covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it. While you can prepare it the night before, it is best to enjoy it within a day or two.
Make it a Meal
Fruit salad makes a great snack or a light and healthy dessert. But I especially love serving it with brunch. Here are some of my favorite brunch dishes to pair with this tropical fruit salad.
- Have a Stack. There isn’t much better than a breakfast of fruit salad and Almond Flour Pancakes.
- Scramble some Eggs. Keep that tropical taste going with easy Hawaiian Scrambled Eggs.
- Go Sweet and Savory. This is a light way to balance a hearty and satisfying breakfast of Gluten Free Biscuits and Gravy.
- Make Toast. Whether it’s Gluten Free Bread, Gluten Free English Muffins, or Gluten Free Plain Bagels, some toasty carbs with a smear of butter are perfect.
If cutting a bunch of fruit seems like a time-consuming tacks, here are a few of my favorite gadgets to make it quicker and easier. A Strawberry Huller makes prepping strawberries a breeze. One of the best tools, a Mango Splitter takes the hard work out of cutting the fruit away from the pit. Slice that pineapple in no time with a Pineapple Corer. And I always love my Serrated Utility Knife for easily segmenting an orange.
Layered Tropical Fruit Salad with Coconut Chia Cream
Ingredients
- 13 oz light coconut milk
- 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar honey, or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 2 large bananas
- 2 cups chopped pineapple
- 2 mangoes chopped
- 2 large oranges
- 2 cups chopped strawberries
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the coconut milk, powdered sugar or honey, vanilla, and chia seeds, and set aside in the refrigerator for at least a half hour (you can do this before you start cutting the fruit, or even the night before).
- Divide the chopped banana between eight glasses or bowls. Follow with the pineapple, mango, oranges, and strawberries.
- Divide the coconut chia cream between the eight dishes, gently laying on top of the fruit.
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Can be prepared the night before.
Did you make this?
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You should come visit Washington. We have been having a TON of sun (if you can believe that). Bring some of this awesome fruit salad with you
Well, I’ll be close going to Indulge in Portland in a few weeks.
Coconut chia cream (though we call it pudding) is one of my favorite snacks! I love the idea of using it to top a fruit salad. Plus, the colors here are gorgeous and remind me of summer. I hope spring comes soon for you!
Yes, that’s why I called it cream – kind of like a healthy whipped cream alternative! Thanks!
Wow! Great looking dish Brianne! We’ve recently “discovered” chia seeds and have been consuming it almost daily. You coconut cream sounds so tasty! Thanks for an idea for another use chia seeds!
They are surprisingly versatile!
Love the looks of this fruit salad, it would be great for breakfast!
Yes, we had it both with breakfast for dinner and the rest the next day for actual breakfast.
The fruit salad looks so pretty in the glass. I love the coconut milk! What a great way to top it off
It really added a little extra touch of the tropics.
I don’t think you can get more tropical than mango, pineapple and coconut! YUM!
Agreed!
Love all the fruit—so tropical!
Thanks!
Beautiful, it really does look like a sunrise!
We could also call it a sunset and have a healthy dessert. 😉
I thought the same thing. You think anyone would notice if I posted it again with a new name? 😉
This would be my dessert! It looks wonderful! I love chia and wouldn’t have thought of using it in the cream, but now I’m trying it!
I love the coconut chia cream!
I just bought my first chia seeds ever! This recipe looks like the perfect place to start—delicious!!!
I love the chia coconut cream! I have to make more recipes with it!!
This looks so good! I love all the fruit in there also! chia seeds are great!
Thanks! I loved that addition to make a standard fruit salad more interesting.
Love the vibrant colors and the chia just completes it beautifullyLovely recipe and my kids would love these for sure 🙂
Definitely a kid-pleaser!
Chias are such a cool, versatile ingredient. Love all the fruit in here. Can I have two please?
They are! And yes, you may!
It has been just miserable in MIchigan too. I cannot wait for Spring to spring!!! What a great use of the chia seeds. Thanks for sharing.
Come on, spring!!
This would definitely brighten up the start of any day! Sorry you are having snow is April. Come visit Georgia because the weather is incredible this time of year.
I need to go South!!
I’m ready for warmer weather here too, Brianne! Your salad may be just the thing to hold me over until it gets here!
It definitely brightens the day!