Summer Fruit Salad with Serrano Mint Syrup

This summer fruit salad is made with a blend of watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe, and tossed in an easy syrup made with mint and a hint of serrano!

Serve this refreshing summer fruit salad and be the star of any gathering!  Made with watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew, it’s incredibly refreshing… plus it’s tossed in a mouthwatering syrup made with mint and hints of serrano pepper.  The heat gives this fruit salad a uniquely delicious flavor!

It’s officially time to start enjoying all the great cookout/bbq foods, and it’s hard to beat a great summer fruit salad!  They’re so refreshing, so vibrant, and most of all, so easy to make!  If you can chop, you can make a fruit salad.  Traditionally a fruit salad has a multitude of types of fruits, like blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, grapes, etc (and I have plans to make one of those for you all and post it here this summer), but for this one… I chose to stick to the melon family.  Melons are sweet, with such beautiful colors, plus you can chop them in such fun ways.

For this particular summer fruit salad, I chose to use my trusty melon baller and make bite size, popable little balls of sweetness.  But you could absolutely slice the melons into about 1 inch thick slices, then take a mini cookie cutter and cut them into fun shapes (like stars for the 4th of July perhaps?).  Or you can keep things casual and simple with a classic cube shape 🙂

Some of you might be wondering if I’ve lost my ever-loving mind by adding a hot pepper to this summer fruit salad.  I know, I know… it sounds a little weird.  But trust me, you really don’t taste the pepper, since you just steep the serrano pepper in the syrup, then remove it before tossing the fruit with the syrup.  It’s more of a subtle kiss of heat that really sets off the sweetness of the fruit and the brightness of the honey/lime/mint in the simple syrup!

However, if you’re really worried about it, or don’t have one on hand and don’t want to make another trip to the store, you can leave the pepper out and still have a great tasting syrup!

Actually making this summer fruit salad doesn’t take very long at all, but you do need to let it chill out in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, so factor that in.  I like to make the salad up in the morning, then take it to the cookout/bbq later that afternoon.  Not only does it let the fruit get all nice and chilled (who wants warm fruit salad?), but the flavors really mesh together as it sits, so you’ll have a better tasting fruit salad if you let it chill.

I like to garnish my dish with a sprinkling of fresh mint and lime zest, but that’s totally optional.  I know some people don’t really care for leaves of fresh mint, no matter how finely you mince them 🙂

As you all start planning your Memorial Day/July 4th/Summer BBQ menus, I hope you give this summer fruit salad with serrano mint syrup a shot!  Don’t forget, if you try it, snap a photo, share it on Instagram and tag me @the_chunky_chef.  I LOVE seeing all your creations!!

Speaking of summer menus, here are a few of my other absolute favorite recipes!!

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!

Summer Fruit Salad with Serrano Mint Syrup

5 from 2 votes

Author: The Chunky Chef

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Calories: 96

Servings: 12 servings

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This summer fruit salad is made with a blend of watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe, and tossed in an easy syrup made with mint and a hint of serrano!

Ingredients

• ▢ 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/3 cup water
• ▢ 1/4 cup lime juice
• ▢ 3 Tbsp honey
• ▢ 1/2 tsp serrano pepper, minced
• ▢ 1/4 cup fresh mint, minced
• ▢ 2 tsp lime zest
• ▢ 4 cups EACH: cubed or balled honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon
• ▢ additional fresh mint and lime zest, for garnish

Instructions

• To a small saucepan, add granulated sugar, water, lime juice, honey and serrano pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly and cook 4-5 minutes, until slightly thickened.
• Remove from heat, add lime zest and minced fresh mint.  Let cool completely.
• In a large bowl, add cubed or balled fruits.  Set aside.
• Strain syrup through a fine mesh sieve.  Add syrup to fruit salad bowl and toss to coat.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, stirring a couple of times.

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Nutrition Disclaimer

The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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