Christmas Fruit Wreath Kabobs
~ These Christmas Fruit Wreath Kabobs are perfect as a Christmas party appetizer, or as a fun alternative to fruit salad for a holiday brunch! So easy to make, and to swap in different fruits. We even show you how to make fruit cut-outs if you’re feeling extra fancy! ~
This Recipe Is: • Ready in 30 Minutes or Less • Make Ahead • Vegan (and Vegetarian) • Gluten Free • Paleo •
Have you ever noticed how, when you’re at a party where there are lots of decadent, unhealthy options, most people are surprisingly happy to see things like a veggie platter, hummus dip, or a fruit tray?
Little by little, those simple, fresh options disappear … amongst happy comments about how nice it is to have something light and refreshing to munch on.
This seems to be especially true during the holiday season – when there’s one food-filled celebration after another, and Christmas cookies, gooey desserts, and heavy winter foods are everywhere.
People are so DELIGHTED to see juicy, fresh fruit!
But …
Whenever I’m bringing food to a holiday party or potluck, I love to make it feel celebration-worthy. Something a little more special than a typical fruit tray.
Luckily, it’s really easy to do, and everyone will be impressed. And so grateful that somebody bothered to bring the fruit!
Ok, so let’s get to the details.
There’s plenty of wiggle room here, for you to change up the fruit you use, the kabob skewers you choose, and even the shapes of your fruits.
I’ve got tips and creative ideas for you, but here’s the basic game plan …
What Fruits to Choose
This can vary depending on what’s in season where you live, or what happens to look good at your grocery store on the day you shop. But here are some top suggestions:
Red Fruits
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Watermelon
- Red grapes (although these sometimes are too dark or look more purple than red)
Green Fruits
- Kiwi
- Green grapes
- Honeydew melon
White Fruits (and Cake!)
- As you can see in my photos, I’d generally suggest you go for red and green fruits. But you could work in white if, for example, you can find a creamy white melon that’s in season.
- Bananas are also an option if you really want some white, but you’d want to add them only at the very last minute, so they don’t turn brown.
- Another idea, which would take your Holiday Fruit Kabobs more into dessert territory: add cubes of angel food cake. I do this with the dessert version of my Red, White and Blue Fruit Kabobs, and it works great!
Which Skewers to Choose
The most important consideration here is that you want the skewers to be short enough that you can arrange them in a wreath shape around your platter.
So, you’re not going to want to go with 10- or 12-inch bamboo skewers like you’d use for grilling shish kabobs.
The little Christmas tree skewers you see in my photos are 4 inches long (plus the decorative little tree), which is a pretty standard size for cocktail picks.
Besides making sure you get the right size, the sky’s basically the limit here! Have fun!
Amazon has LOTS of adorable Christmas skewers to choose from – that’s where I ordered the picks you see in my photos.
From darling Santas and reindeer and snowmen … to tastefully understated red and green and gold balls, you have so many festive options!
How to Make Christmas Fruit Kabobs and Build Your Wreath
Step #1 – Prepping and Cutting Your Fruit
Start by rinsing whatever fruits you’ve chosen, and peeling them (if needed).
Then cut larger fruits like melons and even kiwis into bite-size pieces. Raspberries and most strawberries will be left whole, of course.
For melons, you can either quickly cube them, or (to make them look more professional) you can use a melon baller to make spheres.
If you don’t have a melon baller tool, a measuring spoon works in a pinch (like I’m doing here).
Bonus points!
If you want to get really fancy, you can use small Christmas-themed cookie cutters to make shapes out of wide slices of melons, or even to make golden stars out of slices of mango.
You can also get star shapes by cutting slices of star fruit (aka carambola), like I do for my Christmas Fruit Salad – but star fruit can be tricky to find in stores in northern states.
If you’re going to thread your cut-out shapes onto your skewers, they’ll need to be fairly small, since your skewers are probably only about 4″ long. I find that I can only get about 4 bite-size pieces of fruit onto a 4″ cocktail skewer, so there’s not a lot of room for larger shapes.
I stuck with a few small watermelon stars on my kabobs in the photos. (For my Halloween Fruit Kabobs, or when I make Fruit Bouquets, you can see that I use lots of bigger cut-out shapes, but I’m also using much longer, kabob-sized skewers, which gives me more room.)
Other fun ideas: try stacking your shapes in the center of your fruit dip (like the mango stars in my photos). Or scatter a few larger shapes on top of your Kabob Wreath, instead of actually threading the larger cut-outs onto the kabobs themselves.
Step #2 – Building Your Kabobs (and Choosing a Pattern)
Once you’ve got all your fruit ready to go, stop for a sec before you start threading it onto your little skewers, and decide if you want to have any sort of pattern.
You might want every single kabob to have the same pattern, like maybe: watermelon-green grape-strawberry-kiwi. Or maybe, as I did for my photos, you’re gonna start with a strawberry at the top of each kabobs, and then alternate green and red fruits (of any kind, so there’s variety).
Or hey hey … maybe you’re in a hurry and you’re threading fruit on those skewers as fast as you can, in whatever order each one happens to get.
It’s all good! There’s no right or wrong here!
Whatever you decide, just start filling your tiny kabob picks with fruit. Easy!
Step #3 – Creating Your Wreath
As you make your kabobs, lay them around the outside of a round platter.
The platter I’m using in my photos is 13 inches in diameter (across the middle), which is the perfect size to accommodate my 4-inch kabob skewers.
Test Kitchen Tip: Put a Small Bowl in the Middle (Even Temporarily)
To make it easier to build your wreath in an even circle all around your platter, try putting a small, round bowl in the center as a guide.
Works great if you’re serving your cute little Christmas Fruit Kabobs with a fruit dip, since that bowl will end up being your dip container.
But no worries if you’re not gonna offer fruit dip. You can still place the empty bowl there, as your guide while you build the wreath, and then carefully lift it up and away once you’ve got your wreath shape established.
You can stack the kabobs as high as you wish, depending on how many people you’re serving. (For reference, I have 29 kabobs in the wreath in my photos.) Alternatively, you can make extra kabobs and keep them in the fridge, replenishing your Fruit Wreath with additional skewers throughout the party.
That’s it! You’re done!
And oh my goodness … doesn’t your Christmas Fruit look sooooooo much cuter than if you’d just piled it all on a serving plate?
More festive, more Christmas-y, more inviting, more WOW!
Yay, you! For a tiny little bit of extra effort, your party contribution to that buffet table is so impressive and totally screams FESTIVE!
Oh! But one last thing we have to talk about.
Totally optional, but you might want to offer some fruit dip, right?
What Fruit Dip to Serve (If Any)
I mean, honestly, this Christmas Fruit Kabob Wreath is completely darling without a bowl of fruit dip in the middle.
So, no pressure to add dip if you’re not feelin’ it.
But if you do want to, I 100% suggest our Healthy Sugared-Vanilla Yogurt Fruit Dip. OMG I love that stuff. It’s sweet and creamy, but not naughty (because Santa’s watching, right??). I’ve been making it for years, and every time I do, we absolutely fall in love with it, all over again.
If you’re shooting for dessert vibes (and maybe adding angel food cake like I suggested in the section on “White Fruits (and Cake!)” above, then maybe go with a rich chocolate dip. Our popular 3-Ingredient Chocolate Dip is easy to make, and it’s decadent served warm (like lava dip) or at room temperature (so you don’t have to stress about keeping it warm all throughout a party).
Make-Ahead Tips
Exactly how far ahead you can make your Christmas Fruit Wreath will depend on how delicate your fruit is.
For example, raspberries don’t tend to hold up for very long, and should only be used if you’re making your fruit kabobs just a few hours ahead.
But grapes and most other fruits can generally hold up pretty well for at least a day ahead, usually even two.
Even if you’re using delicate raspberries and don’t want to build your kabobs too far in advance, you can still complete steps like cutting your melon and cutting your decorative shapes 1-2 days ahead of time. That way, you can very quickly assemble your kabobs right before the party.
Keep your prepared fruit or finished fruit kabobs in the fridge, covered in plastic, until it’s party time.
More Light and Refreshing Christmas Recipe Ideas
If you need other ideas for quick-and-easy party foods that are also gonna have that lighter, fresh vibe that people start craving when the Christmas foods start getting too heavy, then maybe you’ll also like one of these …
So festive, right?!?
And, for even more Christmas party or holiday potluck recipe ideas, check out these inspiration-packed recipe collections:
Falalala … wishing you the very merriest Christmas season! And hoping it’s filled not only with delicious, nourishing recipes, but also with dear family and friends to share it all with!
Happy holidays, friends!
~ by Shelley
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Christmas Fruit Wreath Kabobs
Ingredients
Green Fruit Choices
- Green grapes
- Honeydew melon
- Kiwi
Red Fruit Choices
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Watermelon
- Optionally, red grapes can work, but they are sometimes too dark in color or appear almost purple instead of red
White Choices (Note that I don't generally use white, preferring to stick with reds and greens)
- Bananas (but these turn brown quickly, so you should only use them if serving immediately)
- White melons like golden honeydew and crenshaw (these can be tricky to find in the winter)
- Cubes of angel food cake (to make this more of a dessert platter)
For Serving (optional)
- Your favorite fruit dip (see suggestions in step #4 below)
- Mangos or star fruit (carambola), or additional melon (for cutting out decorative shapes)
Instructions
- Rinse and (if needed) peel the fruits you've chosen. Cut larger fruits such as melons into bite-size pieces (or use a melon baller). You can also use small cookie cutters to make cut-out shapes like Christmas stars (as shown in the article above).
- Thread fruits onto the kabob skewers, alternating colors and types of fruit in whatever pattern you wish. For typical 4-inch appetizer kabobs, you will probably get about 4 pieces of fruit on each skewer. (These are the skewers I used in my photos.)
- Arrange the kabobs in a circle around the outside of a large platter (the platter in my photos is 13 inches in diameter). It's helpful to place a small bowl in the center of the platter as a guide. You can either remove the bowl later, or leave the bowl in the center of your wreath and fill it with fruit dip. You can pile the kabobs as high as you'd like, making more kabobs to serve at larger Christmas parties (or replenishing your Fruit Wreath with additional kabobs throughout the party).
- Optionally, serve with whatever fruit dip you like, garnished with cut-out stars from mangos or melons, or slices of star fruit. For dips, we highly recommend our favorite Healthy Sugared-Vanilla Yogurt Fruit Dip, or (if you're adding cubes of angel food cake to make this more of a fruit dessert) our popular 3-Ingredient Chocolate Dip.
Notes
Nutrition
* Nutrition information should be considered an estimate only, and may vary depending on your choice of ingredients or preparation. No guarantees are made regarding allergies or dietary needs. Always consult a physician or dietician for specific advice and questions.
