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Citrus and Pomegranate Fruit Salad

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Reset and refresh with this winter fruit salad made with juicy pomegranate arils, grapefruits, and oranges.

Spoon in a bowl of citrus and pomegranate fruit salad.

Looking to reset after the holidays? This refreshing fruit salad with oranges, grapefruits, and pomegranate seeds is just the thing. The fruits are soaked in their own juices, creating a refreshing magenta syrup that you’ll want to drink straight from the bowl. It’s super easy to throw together with just three ingredients and is perfect for a quick breakfast, a company brunch, or a light and healthy dessert.

Pomegranates are filled with glistening ruby-red seeds called arils, which burst with juice when eaten. They have a tart and sweet flavor, similar to citrus fruit, and are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants. To find a juicy pomegranate at the store, look for one that feels heavy for its size and has blemish-free skin. If you prefer not to deal with  cutting up a pomegranate, you can also find pre-packaged arils ready to eat at the store—you’ll need about 1¾ cups.

What You’ll Need

citrus pomegranate fruit salad ingredients

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.

cutting a cross into the pomegranate

Holding the pomegranate facing down over the bowl, break it apart into quarters. (Do this over a stain-proof surface.)

pulling apart pomegranate quarters

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.

releasing the pomegranate arils into the bowlYou’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.

pomegranate arils in bowlFor 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.

cutting the skin and pith off of the grapefruitCupping 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!)

cutting the segments out of the orangeFirmly squeeze the remaining membranes over the bowl to release all the juices.

squeezing the orange juice out of the orangeTaste the fruit salad and add up to 1 tablespoon of sugar, only if necessary.

fruit salad in bowl

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve the fruit salad in bowls, so the juice can be spooned up with the fruit.

Spoon in a bowl of citrus and pomegranate fruit salad.

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Winter Citrus & Pomegranate Fruit Salad

Reset and refresh with this winter fruit salad made with juicy pomegranate arils, grapefruits, and oranges.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Total Time: 30 Minutes

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Note: Pomegranate juice will stain wooden cutting boards and some countertops. To be safe, you can cut pomegranates on disposable plastic shopping bags.
  4. Note: Nutritional information does not include the tablespoon of sugar.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • 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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Comments

  • 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

  • Thank you for inspiring me to try new recipes. Your photos and clear directions make it easy. This was the first time I’d eaten a pomegranate and I discovered how delicious they are. My knife skills are progressively improving.

  • CAN YOU MAKE THIS THE NIGHT BEFORE

  • Thank you for this festive, healthy recipe, and the helpful tutorial and photographs. Now I know how to section citrus fruits!

  • I made this fruit salad for New Year’s Eve dessert. It was delicious, beautiful and simple.
    I actually found it difficult to section the oranges as pictured so I instead cut in half like a grapefruit, ran my kn

  • Exactly what I needed to start the new year. Easy and absolutely refreshing. I felt wonderful after eating this and can’t wait to devour the rest tomorrow! Thanks again Jen, your recipes are amazing.

  • To seed a pomegranate mess free, just dig out the top with a small knife, score it in quarters. Fill a bowl with water, and pull the pomegranate open into quarters into the water. Bend each quarter back and seed into the water. The white pith will float to the top. Pour the water off with the white pith, and strain. Perfect, and mess free.
    The salad looks stunning!

  • My granddaughters and I made this recipe with white grapefruit and navel oranges fresh from the yard plus some store bought pink grapefruit. Very refreshing and colorful dish! Sectioning the fruit was time consuming because we made a large bowl but it was well worth the effort.

  • So simple and so delicious. In my part of the world you have to make it when pomegranates are in season. When I wanted to repeat this recipe, pomegranates were no longer available.

    • — Renée Finlayson
    • Reply
  • A delicious and refreshing dish. The pomegranate seeds added both color and crunchiness. The entire family enjoyed it!

  • I made this fruit salad for a club meeting. It was a big hit, and people were using this salad to top someone else’s dessert. Luckily the other person wasn’t offended. My knife skills are not the best, so my salad wasn’t as pretty as Jenn’s.

  • We love ths salad & have it every holiday for our fruit salad & every day if I can get it made. Thanks so much!!

  • I love pomegranates but they are messy. I like to cut them in a bowl of warm water so I don’t stain my hands or anything around me. It keeps the mess contained and the seeds in a bowl.

  • This is great in the winter. I love it for fall as soon as soups start sounds good, I start craving tangy fruits. I usually cheat and get the pre-cut pieces of fruit for faster assembly but I have made it from the whole fruits and it tastes even better.

  • I have made this salad too many times to count. Once I used 15 pomegranates from Costco, they were huge. But everyone in my family inhales this salad so it was worth the time and effort. And it’s so healthy.

  • This is a fabulous salad or whatever you want to call it. I make a double recipe. it keeps very well for several days.

  • Even though this is more of a brunch item, I brought this to an evening gathering last month.

    It is a simple recipe, and I liked how easy it was to get the seeds out of the pomegranate. My knife skills need work though–I had a hard time cutting the citrus into nice looking slices, but nobody minded except for me!

  • I’ve always enjoy your especially this Winter Citrus and Pomegranate Fruit Salad. So easy to make and your instructions are so clear. I love it. The sweet and tart flavor from the fruit are so refreshing. The only thing is that my kids think it’s a little too tart for them. So, I separate a little bowl for them and toss theirs with a little drizzle of agave before serving and they loved it.

    amy [at] utry [dot] it

  • I loved this. I don’t really like dealing with whole pomegranates, so I just bought the seeds (they have them at Trader Joes and Costco when they are in season).

  • I served this wonderful salad at our family Christmas Brunch. It is so delicious and healthy. I am totally addicted and I can’t seem to get my fill. I am making it almost everyday. I am dreading the end of pomegranate season.

  • My sister-in-law introduced this to our family and she adds fresh chopped mint-it’s delicious! 🙂

  • It seems to be delicious.
    It is very beautiful.
    I would like to have come to eat.
    Is it good also for health?

  • My kids loved this salad too!

    • — meredith Lovelss
    • Reply
  • I love this salad! I have made it many times and can’t wait till i can get fresh grapefruit and pomgranates again to make more. Thank you so much!

  • This is great! A very healthy vitamin enriched salad!

  • This would be a perfect salad to have when company is over. It is so beautiful!

  • This was the perfect complement to your asian slaw…so very refreshing…. I made this for tea time and people wanted to drink the juice left over in the bowl 🙂

  • Loved this! It tasted as good as it looked.

  • This was wonderful, light and lovely flavors. My kids enjoyed it. too! I wish the fruit would cut itself though!

    • — meredith Lovelss
    • Reply
  • I LOVE the mix of this salad and it is beautiful!
    Great blend of flavors and colors!!!!

  • So lovely! I could really go for this right now. Fresh and light, perfect winter fruit salad.

  • Thank you for the directions on seeding a pomegranate-great flavor for a cumbersome fruit. This salad turned out as beautiful as it was healthy.
    I’m on a very caloric restrictive diet and not a particularly big dessert eater. This can serve as a lovely dessert, breakfast or side and the flavors blend into a citrus heaven!

  • This is soooo good! The left over was even better the next day.

  • Such a bright, pretty, and delish salad.

  • Delicious, healthy, and colorful! Plus, it has Zero Weight Watchers points, which means I can eat all I want. Yum!!

  • My local supermarket did not have pomegranites this past week, but I found them today and bought three so I can make your delicious and beautiful salad more than once. Thanks for the recipe, Jenn!

  • What a perfect salad for a healthy lifestyle! Love the combo of citrus with the pom! Happy New Year!

  • This is such a beautiful and tasty salad. The colors just make me smile.

  • What a beautiful salad. As I am writing this, I am eating a simple orange and grapefruit salad sprinkled with a little organic honey. Next time, the pomegranate goes in, too. Thank you for the idea.

  • So simple and pretty! Love it!

  • What a beautifully healthy salad!!!

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