If this isn’t the most beautiful, vibrant, and tropical fruit salad that you’ve ever seen, we don’t know what is. Serving it in the dragon fruit shell is completely optional, but it will definitely increase your like count on Instagram. The actual flavor of dragon fruit is mildly sweet, so long as it’s ripe. More often than not, people describe the taste as being a blend of kiwi and pear. The texture is even similar to that of a ripe kiwi. It’s a striking fruit, exhibiting a vibrant pink outside and a white flesh dotted with small black seeds.

Dragon fruit exhibits a rich nutritional profile, offering protein, fiber, iron, magnesium, and vitamins C & E. It also offers powerful antioxidants like betalains and carotenoids, both of which help to neutralize free radicals. Dragon fruit may be the featured ingredient in this fruit salad, but it’s not the only tasty, nutrient-dense fruit in the mix. Sticking with similar textures, we have the vitamin C-rich kiwi that offers a tart flavor that accents the dragon fruit. You need a couple ingredients to balance the tartness, though. You can’t simply bombard your palate with tart flavors!

Both the mango and papaya balance the tart flavors with their sweet and tropical flavors. Now, if you can get your hands on a Hawaiian papaya, your taste buds will thank you. They are much sweeter than your typical papaya that comes from Mexico, but have a slightly higher price tag. Last but not least, we round out the fruit salad with beautiful, luxurious strawberries. They set off all of the other ingredients in this fruit salad. In fact, you can make the argument that strawberries tie the dish together, but you be the judge of that and let us know in the comments below.