Fruit Salad with Anise Cinnamon Syrup

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Ready for an unexpectedly delicious and easy fruit dessert? This anise fruit salad features a flavorful simple syrup that adds a touch of sweetness and special something to a medley of fruits. With a present but not overwhelming flavor, this anise cinnamon syrup is the secret to making the best fruit salad.

Anise fruit salad in a glass serving bowl with a spoon.

Stay with me now, but this anise fruit salad is the very best fruit salad I have ever eaten. I know, anise!

The sharp licorice notes in anise extract can make it a polarizing ingredient, but it's an essential and beloved element in anise cookies and other Italian baking recipes. The good news here is that we're using whole anise seeds and not ultra concentrated extract.

Whole anise seeds are mellower than extract, and provide more complex spiced and earthy notes along with a tamed licorice flavor. Infused in a simple syrup with cinnamon, the pair makes a shockingly delicious dressing for a bright melon and berry fruit salad.

Reasons to Love Anise Fruit Salad

The dressing. Whole anise seeds and a cinnamon stick provide a unique flavor to an infused simple syrup that adds such a special touch. Anyone I serve this to can't get enough! Plus you can add as much (or as little) syrup as you like to control the sweetness.
It's a great fruit salad for a crowd. As written this recipe yields between 11-12 cups of fruit with a generous enough portion of syrup to coat more if needed.
This mix of fruit is optimized to last for a bit in the fridge. None of the seven kinds browns quickly or mushes up very fast.

Best Fruits For Fruit Salad

Chopped fruit and berries on a large plate.

There's lots of wiggle room here for you to mix and match fruit depending upon what you like and have on hand. You don't have to use all seven varieties! All of these fruits are good options for fruit salad as they don't brown too quickly (like apples or pears) or quickly become mushy (bananas, ripe stone fruits).

Cantaloupe
Pineapple
Kiwi
Strawberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
Raspberries

You may notice this is a fruit salad without grapes. That's only a personal preference, substitute in sliced green or red grapes if you like.

Anise Syrup Ingredients

Simple syrup ingredients in separate containers text labeled with their names.

Anise Seeds: These are whole (not ground) and can be found in the baking aisle with the dry spices if your store stocks it. This is not the same thing as star anise. Do not substitute with anise extract.
Cinnamon Stick: These come in all different sizes, so a measurement of "one stick" can really vary. Use one about four inches in length (they can be carefully cut down to size).
Lemon Juice: Just a little to temper the sweetness.
Sugar & Water: Equal parts for a classic simple syrup base.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Simmer syrup. Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and simmer for at least 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool, then thoroughly chill.
Strain. Pour the infused syrup through a fine mesh strainer so it's smooth.

Simple syrup in a pan infused with anise seeds and a cinnamon stick.

Strained anise cinnamon syrup in a glass measuring cup.

Dress. Prepare all fruit and add to a large bowl. Pour in syrup (not all).
Adjust and serve. Take a taste and see if you'd like more syrup to be added before briefly chilling/serving.

Simple syrup being poured into a bowl of sliced fruit and berries.

Stirred together anise fruit salad in a large glass bowl.

Tips and Tricks

Fruit Size - Slicing roughly uniform, bite-sized pieces of fruit will make this salad easy to eat.
Garnish - While not necessary, fresh mint leaves acts as a colorful garnish with complementary flavor.
Prep Ahead - Fruit like pineapple and cantaloupe can be sliced and chilled the day before for easier day-of prep. Hold off on rinsing the berries until making the fruit salad as they are best kept as dry as possible in the fridge to ward off spoilage.
Leftover Syrup - This will stay for 1-2 weeks when refrigerated, or it can be frozen for an even longer life. Use it to toss with fruit for a quick single-serving treat, or add it to mocktails or cocktails that call for simple syrup for a fun flavor twist.

Fruit salad tossed in anise cinnamon syrup in a serving bowl garnished with mint leaves.

Recipe FAQs

Can you put bananas in fruit salad?

Technically yes, though I am not a fan. The banana flavor really overwhelms and their softer texture is quicker to mush up and become unpleasant.

Can I use a different type of anise - anise extract, star anise, etc.?

Please do not use anise extract in this recipe as it will be way too potent. I have only made this fruit salad dressing with anise seeds and not star anise pods so I couldn't say for sure how the substitution would taste. The two are actually in different plant families but feature similar flavors.

How far ahead of time can you make fruit salad?

This anise fruit salad is best served within a day of preparing, ideally within a hour or two of assembling. Kept refrigerated it will last for several days, but some fruit (raspberries in particular) will become mushier as time goes by.

More Fruit Recipes

Recipe Inspiration - This anise fruit salad was inspired by a recipe in my mom's 1991 edition of The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts. I was really intrigued by the addition of anise seeds to fruit salad syrup, but otherwise made a fair amount of changes: omitted salt, added the cinnamon stick, switched up the fruit, held back on the quantity of syrup, etc.

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