15 Delicious Ways To Upgrade Canned Fruit

Canned fruit is a super convenient, tasty snack or treat straight out of the tin. However, there are quite a few ways to upgrade it that'll leave you wanting more. From grilling to deepen flavor to adding citrus to topping with something simple like whipped cream, canned fruit is the perfect canvas for an array of improvements. 

Growing up, canned fruit was somewhat of a staple in my family's pantry. Not only was it a relatively healthy snack, but it allowed my parents to keep fruit on hand without worrying about it spoiling. As an adult, I think of it much the same way — and I've tried many of the following canned fruit upgrades. But I also searched food blogs and a myriad of recipes to help compile a list of the 15 best ways to upgrade canned fruit.

Keep reading to learn what my years of experience and research taught me — so the next time you reach for a can of fruit you know exactly how to improve it and fully enjoy it.

Citrus is known for brightening flavor and balancing acidity in a world of recipes, and it is more than capable of doing the same for canned fruit — no cooking required. Simple and quick, this is one of my all-time favorite ways to elevate canned fruit. It has instant results. Plus, both lemon and lime juice easily lift the heavier taste of canned fruit that's been marinating in sugary syrup or juice. Adding a squeeze of citrus also cuts through some of the overbearing sweetness of some canned fruits.

When it comes to choosing whether to use lemon or lime juice on my canned fruit, I don't get bogged down with the details. I use whichever I happen to have on hand, and while that's typically limes, lemons work just as well. After all, lemon and lime juice are often interchangeable. My only recommendation is to start slowly. I love a bright, potent citrus boost, but a little bit goes a long way with canned fruit. You want to use enough to diminish sweetness and brighten flavor, but not so much that it is all you taste. In addition, don't be afraid to use different kinds of citrus like grapefruit and orange. They all lead to delicious results.

If you like spicy foods as much as I do, this upgrade is for you. While it may be somewhat unexpected, sprinkling ultra-sweet canned fruit with Tajin seasoning (a blend of chili peppers, lime, and sea salt) or chili powder is just what you need to take it from ordinary to exceptional. Both seasonings give canned fruit a bold infusion of heat that balances sweetness to perfection. Tajin also adds a touch of citrus, which we know is yummy with canned fruit. If you aren't familiar with Tajin — many people aren't — I highly recommend acquainting yourself with it. I love Tajin (for cocktails and more), so it's what I use — and let me tell you, it's a showstopper.

I lived in Mexico for a couple years, and you can find street vendors all over selling large chunks of fruit coated in Tajin and chili powder — these carts are extremely popular among locals and tourists alike. So, while this flavor combination is nothing new, it isn't quite as common in the United States. But it should be. Adding a spicy kick to fruit, canned or fresh, is just my kind of treat. Seriously, I'm starting to drool just thinking about it.

Fruit sauces are delicious on a number of different foods. They add a final flourish of color and abundant flavor that instantly elevates a myriad of dishes. Lucky for you, canned fruit makes an ideal fruit sauce — all you have to do is pop it in a blender for a few seconds and viola — you have a versatile, tasty fruit puree. If your puree seems a bit thick, the juice or syrup in canned fruits is perfect for thinning it out. It already has all the same flavor and turns up sweetness beautifully.

My favorite way to use fruit puree is as a topping on ice cream, but it's tasty drizzled over cheesecake, chocolate cake, pie, and much more. I like to stir it into Greek yogurt and then eat it topped with granola. You can also save the syrup in a canned fruit cocktail to make a sweet ham glaze. Something tells me it would be tasty on ribs and chicken too.

Canned fruit is the perfect thing for leveling up plain cream cheese. Not only is this upgrade simple to execute, but thanks to the variety of canned fruits, it allows you to create yummy flavors you can't buy pre-made. Anything from mandarin oranges to mangoes to pears and more can easily be folded into plain cream cheese — and you're unlikely to find these flavors in a store-bought tub.

Once you whip up a tasty flavorful cream cheese, you can use it any way you like. Slathering fruity cream cheese on bagels is an obvious choice, but that's not the only thing this creamy spread is good for. It makes a wonderful addition to charcuterie boards, sandwiches, and more. I can't wait to make a strawberry and cream cheese waffle sandwich using canned fruit.

Fruit-infused cream cheese also makes a deliciously sweet cheese ball, perfect for dipping. Coat the exterior in your favorite nuts and your basic cream cheese becomes a gourmet appetizer with layered textures and flavors. Using your newly created fruity cream cheese for baking isn't off the table either. It tastes yummy baked into brownies, cookies, and any sweet treat that benefits from its rich texture.

Heating up canned fruit, either on the grill or under the broiler leads to deep, rich flavors that can only be described as drool-worthy. I prefer grilling, but when firing up the BBQ sounds like too much of a task, the broiler works too. It won't add the smoky element you get on a grill, but it provides delicious results nonetheless. Either way, canned fruit doesn't need long to reach the ideal charred texture, so this upgrade is super quick.

My favorite canned fruit to grill is pineapple. It can be eaten as a tasty side dish or incorporated into various recipes like grilled pineapple tacos and kebabs. It also tastes amazing on pizza with jalapeño. Other canned fruits that taste yummy grilled or broiled include peaches, mangoes, pears, and Mandarin oranges. Just like pineapple, they are delicious all by themselves but make yummy toppings and recipe additions as well.

Canned fruit is perfect for making smoothies and blended cocktails. It's soft, sweet, and mixes into drinks with ease. In addition, the juice or syrup that comes in the tin can be incorporated, so you get to use every last drop of sugary goodness.

As you probably know, there are countless ways to drink fruit, and smoothies can be made with almost any ingredients. Leafy greens, nut butter, yogurt, seeds, avocado, and more are all welcome. Still, in my opinion, no smoothie is complete without at least a small amount of fruit. Maybe that's because I like to pack my smoothies with spinach without actually tasting it — fruit is perfect for masking ingredients that are slightly bitter.

Canned fruit also makes a wonderful addition to tropical cocktails like daiquiris, mojitos, and margaritas. Mango daiquiris and piña coladas are my top picks, and lucky me, canned mangoes and pineapples are perfect for mixing up these drinks. I also enjoy a small amount of pear or peach puree in my champagne. Pear is a bit out of the ordinary, but peach and champagne is pretty common. It's called a bellini.

In colder months of the year, you may be looking for a sweet treat that warms you up, and fruit compotes made with canned ingredients are just the thing if you want to keep it simple. Compotes are quick and easy to make, and all you need is a couple of canned fruits and some warming spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg. An extra dash of sugar, brandy, and chopped nuts doesn't hurt either. Still, they aren't necessary if you buy canned fruit in heavy syrup because it's plenty sugary and provides enough liquid that nothing else is needed.

Regardless of what you put in your fruit compote, it can easily be baked until bubbly. However, I prefer using a slow cooker because the delicious aroma fills my home. Plus, I typically make a compote for holiday dinners, so the stove and oven are pretty full with other dishes.

Fruit and chocolate make an iconic duo, and while you won't find canned strawberries worth dipping (they usually come as a sauce intended for pie filling), pineapples, pears, mangoes, and peaches all taste super yummy with a drizzle of chocolate on top. I like dark chocolate, but really, any type will do. If you want to keep things simple, Hershey's chocolate sauce is a fantastic choice, but I prefer heating dark chocolate myself because once the fruit is dipped and the sauce cools, it hardens, making it easier and less messy to enjoy. It also looks more like a complete dish, not just an afterthought.

Unlike fresh fruit, canned fruit comes in a sugary syrup or juice, so it must be drained properly before you attempt to coat it in chocolate. If not, the chocolate will quickly slide off of your fruit, defeating the purpose entirely. So, I recommend not only leaving your canned fruit in a colander for a few minutes but maybe even patting it dry with a clean paper towel before dipping.

When you think of salsa you probably envision a chunky sauce made with tomatoes, cilantro, lime, and salt. While this is traditional, straying from the basics and adding fruit leads to eye-catching, flavorful results you are bound to love. Plus, it's a surefire way to upgrade your canned fruit, particularly mangoes and pineapples. The addition of cilantro, salt, and lime makes the fruit pop. The fruit also balances out acidity and gives salsa a fun twist.

Grilled pineapple salsa is a classic salsa rendition. In fact, chances are good you've heard of it before. It tastes phenomenal with tortilla chips or on tacos and grilled meats. Mango salsa is another popular rendition that is easily made with canned fruit. It is tasty served on coconut shrimp salads, crab tostadas, and more. One of the best things about using canned pineapple and mango for these recipes is that you can buy it diced, so it's super easy to add.

Soaking fruit in alcohol is a time-honored tradition kept alive by college partygoers, sangria lovers, and more. When fruit is soaked in alcohol for a few hours it becomes a tasty, loaded treat suitable for consuming as-is or adding to an array of desserts and drinks. While fresh fruit is the usual choice, there's no reason canned fruit isn't suited for the task. It needs to be properly drained first, so as not to dilute the booze, but adding a touch of sugary syrup isn't the end of the world.

I worked in several bars that made batches of sangria and occasionally, canned fruit was used. After it soaked in wine and other alcohols for a few days, it gave the sangria all the yummy flavors fresh fruit would, and honestly, you couldn't tell the difference. I have also made more jugs of jungle juice than I should probably admit, and canned fruit is perfect for this. It adds to the complex fruitiness of the flavors and helps dull the overwhelming alcohol taste, something jungle juice is known for.

Soaking slices or pieces of pear, pineapple, or peach in your favorite alcohol and then simply eating isn't a bad idea either. Each sliver is kind of like a shot, but with a playful element that people love, especially on warm days.

Fruit parfaits are a delicious, eye-catching breakfast, snack, or dessert. While they are already incredibly easy to put together, using canned fruit makes constructing a tasty parfait even less complicated. After all, there's no need to clean and slice fruit. Instead, all you have to do is open a can or two, drain, and you're good to start layering. Obviously, adding canned fruit to other tasty ingredients like yogurt and granola helps upgrade it as well, so it's a win-win.

I make fruit parfaits at home all the time. Admittedly, I don't always take the extra time to layer my parfaits in an aesthetically appealing way. Even so, they take canned fruit to new heights, so don't worry if your parfait doesn't turn out like a picture-perfect dish. The flavors mesh regardless of appearance. There aren't any real rules to making fruit parfaits, so you can use any ingredients you like. However, yogurt, granola, and whipped cream are classic options. Honey and coconut flakes are also yummy.

Canned fruits are perfect for baked goods. Once cooked into yummy crusts and doughs, it's virtually impossible to tell if they were made with fresh or canned ingredients. In addition, you can find quite a few canned fruits steeped in sauces intentionally designed to be used in cobblers and pies. Truly, it couldn't be more straightforward. Of course, using your canned fruit this way upgrades it exponentially too. Score!

Almost any type of canned fruit can be used to make baked goods. Plus, there's a nearly limitless number of recipes that call for fruit. Anything from mango muffins to berry tarts to peach cobbler to strawberry pie to fruit crumble is the ideal canvas for canned fruit.

Executing this upgrade takes considerably more effort than most of the other tips on this list. Still, there's no arguing it doesn't improve canned fruit in new and exciting ways. It may not be your go-to choice, but it's a fantastic option.

Another incredibly easy way to upgrade canned fruit is to mix it into a fruit salad. You can buy a single can of fruit cocktail, but I find mixing up my own is even better. It's not like there's anything wrong with pre-mixed fruit cocktail, but combining canned fruits myself allows me to add only the ones I like best (goodbye bright red cherries), and also looks like I made at least a little bit of effort. Appearance isn't everything, but a bowl of canned fruit cocktail is instantly noticeable, and mixing your own looks a bit more curated.

Once you have the fruit you want combined in a bowl, you can continue upgrading by topping it with things like honey, coconut flakes, and more. Or, you can simply enjoy it as-is. A splash of tequila is my topping of choice as long as there aren't any kids around. Either way, combining canned fruits to make a tasty "salad" couldn't be easier.

I thought making sorbet from scratch would be pretty involved. However, unbeknown to me, all you need to make it is fruit and simple syrup. Considering that's what you get in a can of fruit, it's the perfect thing for making a one-ingredient sorbet. Actually, I was shocked when I learned how easy it truly is.

To make sorbet with canned fruit all you need to do is freeze and blend it, and not necessarily in that order. Some people prefer to freeze an entire can, slide the contents out, and blend it until creamy. However, you can also start by blending and then pouring your puree into molds for freezing. If you don't have popsicle molds, ice cube trays work just as well. Either way, what you get is a creamy, sweet, deliciously cool treat perfect for hot summer days. I haven't tried this upgrade yet, but I'm definitely going to give it a whirl with diced mangoes.

Light, fluffy, and sweet, whipped cream is a classic dessert topping — and guess what? It pairs perfectly with fruit of all kinds, whether it's fresh or canned. If you also buy your whipped cream in a can, this upgrade couldn't be easier. Seriously, all you have to do is open a can of fruit, spoon it into a bowl, and garnish with whipped cream. Cool Whip is another fantastic choice, especially if you enjoy a smoother texture and slightly sweeter taste.

Store-bought whipped cream is beyond convenient, but making a batch at home isn't tricky. All you need is heavy whipping cream, sugar, a touch of vanilla extract, and a hand mixer. Other special tools, like a canister that holds N2O cartridges, further simplify making whipped cream — but there really is no need buy one, unless you plan on making whipped cream regularly. Regardless of the tools you use, homemade whipped cream allows you to add tasty flavors that further enhance canned fruit. For example, lemon curd whipped cream would be a delicious addition. Bourbon whipped cream wouldn't be bad either.