Citrus and Pomegranate Fruit Salad
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Reset and refresh with this bright, juicy fruit salad made with pomegranate arils, grapefruits, and oranges.
Looking to reset after the holidays? This light and refreshing fruit salad with oranges, grapefruits, and pomegranate seeds is just the thing. The fruits soak in their own juices, creating a beautiful magenta syrup you’ll want to sip straight from the bowl. It’s super easy to throw together with just three ingredients and works perfectly for a quick breakfast, a company brunch, or even a light and healthy dessert.
Pomegranates are filled with ruby-red seeds called arils, which burst with tart-sweet juice when you bite into them. They’re rich in vitamin C and antioxidants, making them a great winter treat. When shopping for pomegranates, choose ones that feel heavy for their size and have smooth, blemish-free skin. And if cutting one up isn’t your thing, pre-packaged arils are a great option—you’ll need about 1¾ cups.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Citrus and Pomegranate Fruit Salad
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin with the pomegranate. Before you cut into it, put on an old shirt you don’t care about because the juice squirts and stains and an apron alone won’t cut it. Starting at the crown, cut a cross into the fruit about halfway down.
Holding the pomegranate facing down over the bowl, break it apart into quarters. (Do this over a stain-proof surface.)
Squeeze each quarter firmly over the bowl to release the seeds and juices. Bend each quarter back to release more seeds. Don’t worry about getting all the seeds out. What you really want is the juice, so squeeze the fruit again to release the juice from any remaining seeds.
You’ll be left with this. In the bowl, you’ll have plenty of juice and seeds, along with some of the white membrane. Pick out any bits of the white membrane so all that remains are seeds and juice.
For the oranges and grapefruits, cut a slice off the top and bottom of each fruit so they sit flat on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, work your way around the fruits to remove all the skin and pith.
Cupping the fruit in one hand and working over the bowl, carefully cut the segments out from between the membranes. (Be sure to cut only until you reach the middle of the fruit!)
Firmly squeeze the remaining membranes over the bowl to release all the juices.
Taste the fruit salad and add up to 1 tablespoon of sugar, only if necessary.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve the fruit salad in bowls, so the juice can be spooned up with the fruit.
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Winter Citrus & Pomegranate Fruit Salad
Reset and refresh with this bright, juicy fruit salad made with pomegranate arils, grapefruits, and oranges.
Ingredients
- 1 large pomegranate (or 1¾ cups ready-to-eat pomegranate arils, with juices)
- 2 large navel oranges
- 2 pink grapefruits
- 1 tablespoon sugar, if needed
Instructions
- Place the pomegranate on a surface that won’t stain. Starting at the crown, cut a cross into the fruit about halfway down. Put a large bowl in the sink and, holding the pomegranate crown side down over the bowl, break it apart into quarters. Squeeze each quarter firmly over the bowl to release the seeds and juice, then bend each quarter back to release more seeds. (Don’t worry about getting all the seeds out. What you really want is the juice, so squeeze the pomegranate again to release the juice from any remaining seeds still attached to the fruit.) Pick out any bits of the white membrane so all that remains in the bowl are seeds and juice.
- For the oranges and grapefruits, cut a slice off the top and bottom of each fruit so they sit flat on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, work your way around the fruits to remove all the skin and pith. Cupping the fruit in one hand and working over the bowl, carefully cut the segments out from between the membranes. (Be sure to cut only until you reach the middle of the fruit!) Firmly squeeze the remaining membranes over the bowl to release all the juices. Taste the fruit salad and add up to 1 tablespoon of sugar, only if necessary. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve the fruit salad in bowls so the juice can be spooned up with the fruit.
- Note: Pomegranate juice will stain wooden cutting boards and some countertops. To be safe, you can cut pomegranates on disposable plastic shopping bags.
- Note: Nutritional information does not include the tablespoon of sugar.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 168
- Fat: 1 g
- Saturated fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 41 g
- Sugar: 28 g
- Fiber: 7 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 4 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Delicious! Very refreshing!
My husband and I can’t eat grapefruit due to medication interactions, and per your suggestion I substituted apple – and it was delicious! Thank you. We will enjoy this many times.
This looks so enticing and refreshing, but both my husband and I (and many of our senior friends) are restricted from eating grapefruit due to medication interactions. Do you have any suggestion for another fruit to combine with the oranges? Apples? Does pomegranate juice prevent oxidizing of non-citrus fruits?
Hi Judy, I do think apples would be a nice addition here. I don’t believe that pomegranate juice will help with the oxidation of the apple, but the juice from the oranges should. I’d love to hear how it turns out with the apples!
How far ahead can this be made?
Hi Hanna, you can get away with making this a day or 2 ahead. Hope you enjoy!
I went looking for (out-of-season) pomegranates, but on a whim called Trader Joe’s – who rescued me! They sell packages of pomegranate seeds! Fresh, yummy, and yes, saved me tons of time. This salad is the perfect solution for our bounty of Arizona citrus. Thank you Jenn for another fabulous recipe!
I loved this, what a great dish! I really like that it didn’t have any sugar added to it. It’s completely worth it to take the time to cut the citrus right and once you get the hang of it, it’s a quick task. This was healthy and delicious, will be making it again soon!!
I would like ideas about what I can substitute in place of pomegranates in this salad; the citrus fruits are still great this time of year, but pomegranates are gone (I was putting them in everything for a while there!).
Kathy, you can replace the pomegranate with your favorite in-season fruit– berries or bananas would be nice.
I loved this citrus salad. Especially as a pick me up in the winter. My one trouble is that the grapefruit ended up being a little too tough and chewy. I think it was because I didn’t properly cut out the interior membrane. If you have any tips, please let me know. Thank you!
Hi Joanna, I’m not sure if you noticed, but I have some pictures above the recipe showing the best way to remove the membranes from citrus fruits. It’s best to hold the grapefruit, orange, etc. in your hand and use a sharp knife to cut the segments out from between the membranes. Little more labor intensive, but worth it!
Great recipe! It was a nice citrus boost for the winter time. I had a hard time figuring out how to cut the membrane of the orange and pomegranate out so we just chewed through them. Next time I will work harder to find and cut those parts out. Also make cure you don’t have any cuts on your hand! Boy does it sting!
Hello, re the way you get the Pomegranate seeds out. The best way I have found is to cut the fruit in half , squeeze out the juice and then hit the back of the fruit with a wooden spoon or similar. All the seeds pop out with minimal membrane attached and if there is some then you can easily pic them out. The whole process takes about a minute. Cheers Rosie