Clicky

Fresh Fruit Platter with Dips

5 from 4 votes
Jump to RecipePinSave to Favorites

This post may contain affiliate links. See my privacy policy for details.

A fresh fruit platter might not be the first thing people gravitate towards at a party, but it usually ends up being the most popular by the end of it. Sweet, crunchy, and accompanied by a few different sweet dips, a fruit platter provides a healthy, sugary and delicious snack no matter the season.

For this fruit platter, you can make three dips: a basic brown sugar fruit dip, a more complex Cannoli Dip, or a Cream Cheese Fruit Dip.

Fruit platter with fruit and dips

Fresh Fruit Platter with Dips

While most people probably focus on the dips that accompany a fresh fruit platter, the real trick is trying to get the fruit right.

This means not only picking the correct contrasting fruits but also cutting and preparing them so that they work well on the dipping station.

You want them easy to pick up, with clear handholds, while also still being large enough to be able to pick up a large amount of dip.

The choice of fruit is up to you, but fruit preparation is tricky no matter what you choose, so here’s some advice for how to prepare some of the most common choices.

types of fruit for a fruit platter, raspberries, blueberries, grapes, apples, watermelon, oranges, mangoes, pineapple and kiwis

Watermelon – How To Cut & Prepare

Watermelon is, thankfully, very easy to prepare for a fruit tray because you just need to get the flesh out of the fruit and onto the plate.

You have an important choice, however; do you cut the melon into slices or ball out the flesh?

For cutting into slices, the easiest thing to would be to cut your watermelon in half and then cut it into half again.

Take your melon quarter, and then cut thin wedges out of the fruit, making sure that some of the rinds are on each piece. This rind acts as a convenient little grip for guests to pick up the fruit, letting them eat the flesh and discard it like a banana peel.

For a bit of a prettier presentation, you can just use a melon baller to scoop out the melon onto the plate. You will need to stick some cocktail sticks into a container at the side of the platter to make dipping easy, though, as otherwise, your guests will walk away with sticky fingers and dip all over their hands.

a melon baller with balls of watermelon scooped out

How To Get Your Strawberries & Kiwis Ready

Strawberries and kiwis are a great combination, which is why you can always find tons of different recipes featuring both fruits.

Cutting strawberries is super easy – just take a sharp paring knife and cut them in half. However, instead of removing the green tops like you usually would when preparing strawberries, leave them on; the green top provides a handy grip for partygoers.

Kiwis are a little bit trickier – although all parts of the fruit are technically edible, including the tougher outer skin, most people prefer to only eat the peeled flesh.

To make it easier, cut the kiwis in half and then separate the halves into smaller wedges, but leaving them still attached at the base of the fruit. This will make little cut sections, almost like a divided blooming onion, that guests can take off and dip at their leisure. This way, people can make the choice about the skin themselves.

strawberries and kiwis with a knife on a white board

How To Cut Up Your Apples

Cutting apples are nice and simple, as they only need to be cut into little wedges, leaving a little bit of skin on each of them. While you could peel them all, the skin not only gives a beautiful color contrast, but it is also where the majority of the nutrients in the fruit reside, so why waste it?

The only slightly tricky bit is removing the apple core. You can either cut the apple off of the wedges using a sharp knife, removing each side of the now squared apple core, or you can use one of those apple corers.

how to slice apples for a fruit platter

What Other Fruits Could You Use?

The fruits listed here are just a few of the very best and most common choices to pair with this recipe, but there’s no reason to stop there.

You could cut up some oranges into wedges, as long as you don’t mind a lot of orange peel littering everywhere.

Raspberries and blueberries are in season and cheap, so I eat them while I can during the summer months!

You could chop up a peeled pineapple and serve them as sticks for a more acidic, tropical bite. Or you could just go super old school and serve some grapes.

fruit platter on a white board

The Dips

The dips shown here are just a few of my favorite fruit dip recipes.

The most simple is definitely the Fruit Dip being made of just cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla, and it serves as the perfect starting point for all kinds of recipes.

The Cream Cheese Fruit Dip acts as a slight upgrade, adding some marshmallow fluff and some much-needed sweetness to the recipe.

Or, you could go really fancy and make a chocolate chip-infused Cannoli Dip.

The best part of these dip recipes, though, is how customizable they are. Use them as a base and add in whatever ingredients you prefer to make your custom fruit dip for your party.

Looking for some delicious savory party Dip recipes? Try these savory recipes out:

Rotel Dip, The BEST Velveeta Cheese Dip

Hot and Cheesy Artichoke Dip

The Best Taco Dip

Enjoy! Fruit is at it’s best right now, so enjoy!

Love,

Karlynn

 Pin This Recipe To Your Dessert Recipes Board and Remember to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST!

How to prepare fruit for a fresh fruit platter, and three delicious recipes for different fruit dips to serve on the platter.
EMAIL YOURSELF THIS RECIPE!
Enter your email to get this recipe emailed to you, so you don’t lose it and get new recipes daily!

Fresh Fruit Platter with Dips

How to prepare fruit for a fresh fruit platter, and three delicious recipes for different fruit dips to serve on the platter.
5 from 4 votes
Prep Time
30 minutes
Course
Dessert
Cuisine
American
Servings
10
Calories
340
Author
Karlynn Johnston

Ingredients
 

  • 1 cup fresh raspberries
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1-2 tangy apples
  • 1 cup cantaloupe or honeydew melon balled or chopped
  • 6-8 pineapple spears
  • 1-2 cups red and green grapes
  • 1-2 cups watermelon sliced or chopped
  • 1-2 kiwi fruit
  • 1 mango
  • 1 orange
  • 1 batch cannoli dip
  • 1 batch cream cheese fruit dip
  • 1 batch fruit dip

Instructions
 

  • Clean, peel and slice fruit as desired.
  • Prepare the dips of choice, then cover in bowls with plastic wrap. Refrigerate everything until ready to serve.
  • To serve, place the dips on a large platter or cutting board, then arrange the fruit around the dips. Serve with toothpicks and forks for the fruit.

Recipe Notes

  • Calories depend on how much dip you eat etc

Nutrition Information

Calories: 340kcal, Carbohydrates: 88g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 9mg, Potassium: 816mg, Fiber: 10g, Sugar: 67g, Vitamin A: 1236IU, Vitamin C: 295mg, Calcium: 90mg, Iron: 2mg

All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.

Made this recipe?

Share a photo of what you made on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thekitchenmagpie or hashtag it #thekitchenmagpie.

Please rate this recipe in the comments below to help out your fellow cooks!

Learn to cook like the Kitchen Magpie

A Very Prairie Christmas Bakebook

Cookies, Candies, Cakes & More: Vintage Baking to Celebrate the Festive Season!

Learn More

a copy of Flapper Pie cook book

Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky

A Modern Baker’s Guide to Old-Fashioned Desserts

Learn More

The Prairie Table

Suppers, Potlucks & Socials: Crowd-Pleasing Recipes to Bring People Together

Learn More

Karlynn Johnston

I’m a busy mom of two, wife & cookbook author who loves creating fast, fresh meals for my little family on the Canadian prairies. Karlynn Facts: I'm allergic to broccoli. I've never met a cocktail that I didn't like. I would rather burn down my house than clean it. Most of all, I love helping YOU get dinner ready because there's nothing more important than connecting with our loved ones around the dinner table!

Learn more about me

Reader Interactions

Comments & Recipe Tips Share a tip or comment!

Leave a Comment or Recipe Tip

Recipe Rating