This fruit dip recipe is the perfect combo of creamy, fluffy, sweet and tart! It’s perfect for all of the best fruits of summer and comes together in under 15 minutes! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Easy Fruit Dip (No Marshmallow Fluff!)
I can’t think of a single thing better for pairing with your favorite summertime fruit than today’s quick and easy fruit dip.
Many fruit dip recipes start with marshmallow fluff as the base, but I wanted something a little bit different with a better flavor (and less over-whelming sweetness). Ultimately, I ended up basing today’s recipe off of my no-bake cheesecake, and truly it could probably just as well be called a “cheesecake dip”.
This recipe is simple, but because we’re making everything from scratch you will need to dirty a dish or two more than you would if you were simply peeling open a tub of store-bought whipped cream. I promise you, it’s worth it! Let’s get right to it.
What You’ll Need
- Cream cheese. This is the base of our fruit dip and the primary flavor. I have only tried this recipe with full-fat, brick-style cream cheese and so that is what I recommend.
- Powdered sugar. This adds sweetness to the recipe and I add it in two parts. Half is stirred in with the cream cheese first to help evenly distribute the sweetness and to help cream the cream cheese. The other half is used to whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks — the sugar adds stability to the whipped cream and helps make the dip somewhat fluffy.
- Vanilla extract. This deepens the sweet flavors of the dip.
- Lemon or lime juice. A splash of citrus juice adds a subtle but fresh tartness to the dip. Orange juice would be another fine choice, but if you don’t have any juice on hand you can simply omit this.
- Sour cream. A small bit of sour cream enhances the tartness and subtle tang of the dip.
- Heavy cream. While many fruit dip recipes rely on store-bought whipped cream to make their dip fluffy and sweet, we’re making my homemade whipped cream instead (and the little bit of extra work is going to pay off BIG time when it comes to taste!). Folding this into the dip gives us a beautiful, light and creamy consistency.
- Fruit! For dipping, of course, Use your favorite fruits. Larger fruits like strawberries are ideal, but you can also skewer smaller fruits like raspberries, grapes, and blueberries and serve them on a skewer.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How To Make Fruit Dip
- Beat together cream cheese, half of the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a splash of lemon or lime juice until smooth and creamy. Make sure there are no lumps! If you’re using an electric mixer, start on low speed and then gradually increase the speed, otherwise you’ll end up with a kitchen that’s coated in a fine layer of sugar dust.
- Add sour cream and stir again until ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- In a separate bowl (preferably a cold metal one — this will help your cream beat faster and become more stable once whipped), beat together cold heavy cream with the remaining half of the sugar. Beat until you have stiff, fluffy cream. It should resemble Cool Whip in its consistency (but will taste so much better!).
- Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and use a spatula to fold the two together until you have a smooth mixture. Try not to over-do the mixing, as you don’t want to entirely deflate the cream you just spent all that time whipping!
For best results, chill the dip for at least an hour to let the flavors really meld together and develop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Blackberries, strawberries, and pineapple slices are great choices. For smaller fruits (like blueberries, grapes, and strawberries) it helps to spear them on a toothpick or skewer first to make dipping easier.
Besides fruit, you can also serve with graham crackers or even crisp chocolate chip cookies.
Prepare 1-48 hours in advance of serving. Store in an airtight container (or simply cover the dip with plastic wrap) and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. If you’ve stored longer than an hour or two, it may be helpful to the overall consistency of the dip to briefly stir before serving.
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Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
Fruit Dip
Ingredients
- 16 oz (450) cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice
- ¼ cup (55 g) sour cream
- 1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream
- fruit or graham crackers or other preferred dippers
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Combine softened cream cheese, approximately half of the powdered sugar (½ cup/75g), vanilla extract, and lemon juice in a large bowl and and stir until smooth (an electric mixer or stand mixer is best for this).16 oz (450) cream cheese, 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice
- Add sour cream and stir again until completely combined.¼ cup (55 g) sour cream
- In a separate bowl, combine heavy cream and remaining powdered sugar (½ cup/75g) and use an electric mixer to beat until you’ve achieved stiff peaks (the mixture should be thick and fluffy).1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream
- Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and stir gently by hand until smooth and completely combined.
- Serve immediately or chill, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days/until ready to serve.fruit or graham crackers or other preferred dippers
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Sally
AMAZING!! Just AMAZING!! The store was out of Marshmallow Fluff so I tried this recipe and let me tell you I will never go back to the former recipe I used! Thank You!! 🙂
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Sally! 🙂
Nancy Adkins
How much is one serving?
Sam
Hi Nancy! This will make 12 servings. Unfortunately I haven’t measured it out in cups to give you an amount.
PJ Tomlian
I am puzzled that your measurements for powdered sugar (in grams) keeps changing. In some recipes you list 125 g. for 1 cup, in others you have it at 125 g. Why does it change? On my bags of powdered sugar, it actually states 30 g. per 1/4 c, which would make it 120 g. for 1 cup.
Sam
Hi PJ! 125g is my standard for powdered sugar. There was just a typo on this one. I’m sorry for the confusion. I will update the recipe. 🙂
Crystal
Yummy! 😋 Easy and fast to make
Brandy
Absolutely phenomenal! Made it twice now. So incredible with Graham crackers. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Leslie
This is the best fruit dip I’ve ever had. I make it all the time. It is making me famous. I am often asked to bring it.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Leslie! 🙂
Frank
I just made this to go with a fruit arrangement that was sent to us. It was super easy and crazy yummy. Who actually needs fruit, anyway?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you loved it, Frank. And absolutely–no judgement here! Sometimes a spoon is the best vehicle for dipping 😆
Brooke
Do you think regular whipping cream would work as opposed to heavy?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yes! Enjoy, Brooke 😊
Annabel
So delicious! I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and it came out delicious. I love how it isn’t too sweet, I would just eat it by the spoon if I could!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Annabel! I’d be lying if I said I haven’t had a few spoonfuls of it myself. 😉
DOROTHY CARLSON
hi Sam I tried this recipe very good with strawberrys and fresh pineapple Also when I put the heavy whipping cream and powder sugar together
before putting it in with cream cheese I put a spoonful of whip on top of jello it is good too
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Dorothy! 🙂
Terry
Hey Sam! I ALWAYS read the entire article & noticed a boo-boo.
In step 4 of the instructions above the actual recipe – where the whipped cream is added to the cream cheese – you write about not over-blending so as not to deflate the EGG WHITES.
Oops! Must have been a Monday morning lol
Sam
Oh dear! Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention, Terry! Fixed! 🙂