Fruit salads are delicious side dishes at parties and family get-togethers, but unfortunately, they quickly lose that fresh appearance and taste within a day of being assembled. In fact, I used to feel a need to have my day-old leftover fruit salad along with my breakfast, lunch and dinner just to make sure it didn’t go to waste!

Until one day it dawned on me that it didn’t need to be this way; it is possible to keep enjoying that fruit salad long after its creation date. How is this….? I’ll tell you: Freezing. If you use frozen fruit for smoothies or for putting in desserts, then do yourself a big favor and freeze that leftover fruit salad! After I figured out this handy-dandy trick, not one piece of fruit salad ever went to waste.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Line a baking sheet with plain ol’ plastic wrap. Or, if you have a very reliable non-stick baking sheet, that will do on it’s own.

2. Spoon out your fruit salad onto the sheet in a single layer with the goal of leaving a little bit of space between each piece of fruit, all while leaving the majority of the juices behind.
3. Next, place that sheet in your freezer and allow the fruit to freeze overnight.
4. The next day, peel all of the frozen fruit off from the sheet, (it should come loose pretty easily) and place in a re-sealable plastic bag or airtight storage container.

5. Squeeze as much excess air out of the bag as possible, seal it up, and then place that bag o’ fruit near the other frozen produce in your freezer so that they can all make friends.

So, you may be wondering: “What if I skip steps 1-3 above and just pile all of my fruit into a re-sealable bag, put it in the freezer and call it a day?” Well, you certainly can do that, but you’ll end up with this:

Yep; one giant fruit salad ice cube.

Taking the few extra minutes to lay the fruit out on a sheet and then freeze overnight means you’ll have individually frozen pieces of fruit in the morning – a much better way to go!

I love using frozen leftover fruit salad in my smoothies and shakes because the variety of fruit makes for some real deliciousness. Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments below!