Learn how to assemble and serve Fruit on a stick made with fresh fruit and served appetizer style or kabob style from a dietitian! It will quickly be your kids' new favorite snack!
Serving fruit on a stick (or dipped in chocolate) is an easy way to increase exposure, acceptance, and variety to the foods your kids eat.
As a dietitian mom, I try to keep a variety of fresh fruit on hand at all times. My kids are just like the rest, in that they come home looking for snacks... even when they have snack time in their class at the end of the day, just sayin' 😉
Still, it's one thing to have fruit in the fridge and another to serve it in a way that my kids will actually eat it.
Seriously though, I know it may sound strange but taking the extra step to put pieces of fruit on a toothpick or longer bamboo kabob style stick, can make all the difference in how much fruit your kids decide to eat.
I mean, I don't know about you, but if I'm going to spend time cutting up a bunch of fruit, I certainly want my kids to eat it, lol! This is why I change up how I serve it.
If you've been following my stories on Instagram, you know I make fresh fruit salad all the time, especially during the school year. Still, I understand that having the same thing every day can get old.
So, while it doesn't seem like there's much of a difference between serving fruit on a stick or serving it all tossed together as a fruit salad, kids view them differently. Introducing (drum roll, please 😉 ), fruit on a stick, including a few different ways to serve it.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy Fruit on a stick is easy to make and easy to serve. Making food that kids like really isn't that complicated. For this recipe, all you need to do is cut up fruit and put pieces of fruit on a stick. That's it! Once assembled, the sticks of fruit can be served alone as a light snack or as a side to everything from breakfast sandwiches on busy mornings to turkey burgers for dinner.
- No baking or cooking Such a time saver!
- Made with fresh fruit Fruits have natural sugar that appeals to kids. Fruit also provides fiber, a variety of vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients.
- Allergy friendly Fresh fruit is naturally free of the 8 most common food allergens.
- Kid-Approved Kids love to eat fruit off of a stick! It allows kids to see when they are being served both familiar and new fruits.
- Family-friendly Fruit kabobs aren't just for kids. 😉
What You Need to Make Fruit on a Stick
- Bamboo skewers, toothpicks, or lollipop sticks. Lollipop sticks are nice because they don't have sharp ends.
- Pieces of fresh fruit. I like to use a combination of fruit and change it up depending on what I have on hand. Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, mango, kiwi, pineapple, grapes, mandarin orange segments, and melon all work great for serving on a stick.
- Chefs Knife If you will be cutting your own fruit.
Dietitian Tips
Clearly fruit on sticks should not be served to very young children. But, for older kids, tweens, and teens who can sit down to eat AND pull fruit off of a stick safely, this snack or side dish made with fresh fruit is a game changer!
Research has shown that most kids are not eating enough fruit or vegetables. This is why it's helpful to serve fruits and vegetables in ways that appeal to kids, like putting it on a stick!
Either put all of your kids' favorite fruit on a stick or alternate their favorite fruits with fruit that is new to them. You can also serve it with something for them to dip the pieces of fruit in, like yogurt or a fruit dip.
While most of the time fruit kabobs are served as a snack, they can also be served as a side dish with sandwiches or wraps for lunch, or with pretty much any dinner.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Rinse and drain the berries. Wash the grapes.
- Cut up melon.
- Peel clementines and separate the segments.
- Place one piece of fruit on a stick at a time.
- Leave room at the end of each stick so that it can be held.
Ways to Serve Fruit on a Stick
- As is Fruit on a stick can be served 'as is.' My guess is that your kids will be asking you for a fruit skewer before you finish assembling them all.
- With yogurt and granola Fruit at the end of a toothpick can be dipped into yogurt and then into granola. It's sort of like a mini fruit and yogurt parfait. Yum!
- Topped with honey and shredded coconut I got this idea from my work. They had a special and served fruit skewers drizzled with honey and sprinkled with shredded coconut. Delicious!
- Tahin This is for more adventurous eaters. Tajin is a chili lime seasoning from Mexico that goes especially well with tropical fruits like mango, pineapple, papaya, and watermelon. All you need to do is sprinkle it on the fruit before serving. Fun fact: I was first introduced to Tajin in Costa Rica where it was served with fresh mango.
- Tajin and fresh lime While Tajin adds incredible flavor by itself, a drizzle of freshly squeezed lime in addition to Tajin enhances the flavor even more.
Helpful Tips
- The time it takes you to make this will depend on the kind of fruit you use and whether you choose to cut your own melon and pineapple or buy it pre-cut.
- Bananas, pears, and apples brown easily once they are exposed to air. So, if you will be using these fruits, cut them just before assembling the skewers to serve.
- Fruit on a toothpick is easier to dip than fruit on a longer skewer.
- Do not serve fruit on a stick to very young children.
- The ends of toothpicks and bamboo skewers are sharp. Only serve fruit on sticks to older children who are able to sit down to eat and are able to eat these in a safe manner.
- Make sure there aren't any splinters in the bamboo skewers or toothpicks before placing fruit on them.
Questions You May Have
Fruit kabobs, fruit skewers, fruit sticks, or fruit wands. They all mean the same thing, which can be confusing. This is why I decided to keep it simple and call it 'fruit on a stick' 🙂
You sure can! Depending on the fruit you use, they can be made up to 24 hours in advance and stored in the refrigerator in a resealable food-safe plastic bag.
If you will be using banana slices, pear, or apples, I would wait until just before serving to put the fruit onto sticks.
Cantaloupe, Honeydew melon, watermelon, and pineapple can be cut ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.
Grapes can be washed ahead of time but should not be cut before putting them on a stick.
It depends on the fruit. Frozen mango chunks should definitely work. Frozen pineapple pieces are usually pretty small, but you could try it.
A lot of fruit softens when it defrosts which makes it hard for the pieces to stay on a stick.
More Easy Snack Recipes
How did you decide to serve fruit on a stick? Please share this post with a friend and leave a comment below to let me know! Also, a 5-star rating is the best compliment!
Don't forget to tag me @carrots.and.cookies on Instagram if you post a pic of your fruit display so I can see it!
📖 Recipe
Favorite Fruit on a Stick
Equipment
- 6 bamboo skewers or you can use 12 toothpicks or 6 lollipop sticks.
Ingredients
- 6 berries Blackberries, strawberries, or raspberries. Rinse well under cold water and set aside.
- 12 grapes Seedless grapes. Washed.
- 1 clementines Seedless and easy to peel. can also use easy to peel, seedless mandarins.
- 2 pineapple rings Cut into chunks or triangle shaped segments.
- 2 kiwi Peeled and sliced.
- ½ mango Peeled and cut into chunks.
Instructions
- Peel and cut pineapple and mango into chunks.
- Peel clementines and separate the segments.
- Peel and slice the kiwi. Cut each slice in half.
- Place 5-7 pieces of prepared fruit on each bamboo skewer or place 2-3 pieces of fruit on each toothpick (if using).
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Do not serve fruit on a stick to very young children.
- The ends of toothpicks and bamboo skewers are sharp. Only serve fruit on sticks to older children who are able to sit down to eat and are able to eat these in a safe manner.
- The fruits listed give you an idea of what works well on fruit skewers.
- Chunks of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon also work very well for fruit skewers and can be used in place of any of the fruits listed.
- Make sure there aren't any splinters in the bamboo skewers or toothpicks before placing fruit on them.
- Prep time will vary depending on how much of the fruit you have to cut up before assembling.
- Apples, bananas, and pears brown easily once they are cut. So, if you will be using them to make fruit skewers, wait until just before serving to cut them into pieces and add them to the sticks.
- Buying pre-cut fruit will cost more but it will also save you a lot of time.
- See the post for a few different ways to serve fruit on a stick.
- Fruit on a toothpick is easier to dip than fruit on a longer skewer.
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