Cherry tomatoes are the sweet surprise ingredient in this Tomato Fruit Salad with Berries and Watermelon. It's full of fresh and vibrant flavor.
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If you're like me and like to read cookbooks, food dictionaries, and the like, I must ask: have you ever checked out The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg? (Many thanks to my sister for giving me my copy!) This book lists every ingredient you can think of and the flavors that go with it. I find it fascinating.
While reading about possible flavor combinations for tomatoes, I was surprised at the number of fruits that are listed.
Tomatoes, of course, are actually fruits, though I always think of tomatoes as savory. Perfect for savory dishes like my cheddar and tomato strata!)
However, The Flavor Bible lists many fruits as delicious partners for tomatoes, including watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberries, raspberries, and oranges!
This means, therefore, that we need to start thinking of a tomato as a fruit—and make it a part of fruit salad recipes.
The fruit in this Tomato Fruit Salad are just a few: strawberries, watermelon, and raspberries. Paired with sweet and brilliantly hued cherry tomatoes, the combination does not disappoint.
Why you'll love this recipe
It's a little different, but I promise fruit salad with tomato tastes really delicious. This easy tomato watermelon salad recipe is a tasty way to celebrate the summer bounty of fruits and tomatoes! (It's just one of many tomato recipes you can find here!)
And if you're a New England gardener like me, let's face it: there are always too many tomato plants in the garden and more tomatoes than we sometimes know what to do with! The good news is that our garden-grown cherry or grape tomatoes are absolutely divine in this salad.
Whole cherry tomatoes are naturally bite-sized; the pleasant pop as you bite into a ripe cherry tomato is a fun contrast to the soft fruits.
I really like how yellow cherry tomatoes look combined with chunks of red fruit, but red or orange cherry tomatoes will also be lovely here.
The slight acidity of the tomatoes is a nice foil to sweet strawberries and watermelon. Raspberries are quickly cooked down with a little sugar before they join the party. This sweet-tart sauce ties the salad together.
🔪 How to make Tomato Fruit Salad with Berries and Watermelon
Ingredients:
- Raspberries: They're for the sauce
- Sugar: Use granulated sugar to cook the raspberries
- Strawberries: Use the plumpest, sweetest fresh strawberries you can find
- Watermelon: Sliced into cubes
- Cherry Tomatoes: Choose the sweetest varieties in any shade you like
- Spearmint: Fresh leaves of the herb are the finishing touch to the salad
Cook the raspberries
Cook the raspberries with some sugar on the stovetop to make a quick sauce. Press through a sieve and let the sauce cool to room temperature.
Slice the strawberries
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Hull the strawberries and slice them into chunks. Place them into a large bowl.
Add the other fruits and the tomatoes
Add the cubed watermelon and cherry tomatoes to the bowl.
Stir in the raspberry sauce
Gently stir the cooled raspberry sauce with the fruit and tomatoes to mix them together and coat everything with raspberry.
Garnish with mint
Spoon the salad into serving bowls and snip the spearmint leaves over the tops. Enjoy!
FAQs
Tomatoes have been part of so many savory dishes for so long—from pasta sauce to pizza to casseroles to salsa to ketchup—that I think we just completely forget that they're actually a fruit! Not only that, but ripe tomatoes (especially local and garden-grown tomatoes in season) have lots of natural sweetness.
There's no reason NOT to include tomatoes in fruit salad, and I hope this recipe for Tomato Fruit Salad with Watermelon and Strawberries convinces you of that!
Tips:
- Choose the freshest and sweetest fruit possible for this salad, to get the best possible flavor! Locally grown and in-season fruits and tomatoes are ideal choices whenever possible.
- If you can't get spearmint leaves, look for and use regular mint leaves which may be more readily available.
The Tomato Fruit Salad with Berries and Watermelon recipe is below. Here are more salad ideas for you, too!
💬 Tell me what you think of this sweet salad! Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Tomato Fruit Salad (with Berries and Watermelon)
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Ingredients
- 6 ounces red raspberries, rinsed
- 1½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- 16 ounces fresh strawberries, washed and air-dried
- 2 cups cubed watermelon (1-inch cubes)
- 1½ pints small cherry tomatoes, rinsed
- 3 leaves of fresh spearmint, rinsed and air dried (plus more for garnish, optional)
Instructions
Prepare the raspberry sauce:
- Place the raspberries and the sugar into a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir the raspberries and sugar together over the heat for 3-5 minutes, just until the raspberries break down and begin to simmer.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Press the cooked berries through a fine-mesh strainer with a rubber spatula—discard the seeds. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
Slice the fruit:
- Remove the tops from the strawberries and slice them into small chunks. Place the cut strawberries into a large bowl.
- Add the cubed watermelon and the cherry tomatoes to the bowl.
Finish the salad:
- Once the raspberry mixture has cooled, pour it over the fruit and tomatoes in the bowl. Gently toss the fruit and tomatoes until they are coated with raspberry.
- Spoon the salad into a large serving bowl or individual serving bowls.
- Use kitchen shears to snip the spearmint leaves over the top of the fruit salad. Add a few whole leaves as garnish if you wish. Serve it immediately.
- Store leftover fruit salad for up to 24 hours in the fridge.
- Makes about 4 cups.
Notes
- Choose the freshest and sweetest fruit possible for this salad, to get the best possible flavor! Locally grown and in-season fruits and tomatoes are ideal choices whenever possible.
- If you can't get spearmint leaves, look for and use regular mint leaves which may be more readily available.
Nutrition
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