29 Famous Red Fruits

Strawberry is a popular fruit known for its bright red color, sweet flavor, and juicy texture. Though it was mentioned in ancient Roman texts, the modern strawberry was created in Europe in the 18th century by cross-breeding wild American and Chilean varieties.

Also known as garden strawberries, modern strawberries boast an alluring heart-shaped appearance and a wonderful sweetness mixed with some acidity. They aren’t actually berry fruits but rather aggregate fruits that are formed from multiple ovaries rather than just one.

With their beautiful shape and sensual red color, wild strawberries were considered a symbol of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, in ancient Rome.

Did you know strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside, numbering around 200 per fruit? Remember this fact the next time you eat fresh strawberries or use them in jams, desserts, salads, and smoothies.

Watermelon is a large berry fruit with a hard green rind and sweet, juicy, red flesh. Domesticated in Africa over 4,000 years ago, it is now a common summer fruit in many parts of the world.

A unique feature of watermelons that sets them apart from other red fruits is their exceptionally high water content, which can reach 92% or more. Therefore, watermelons are a highly hydrating snack and dessert in their fresh form.

Alternatively, you can add watermelon slices to fruit salads or blend them to prepare juices and smoothies. In addition, grilled watermelons are a common sight at many BBQ parties.

Cherry is a small, round stone fruit that comes in various shades of red, from bright to dark. Originating from regions between the Caspian and Black Seas, it has been enjoyed since ancient times, as evidenced by its depiction in art and literature

The fleeting cherry season often lasts from late spring to early summer, producing fruits with smooth, shiny skin and succulent flesh surrounding a hard pit.

Most cherry varieties come in two major categories: tart and sweet cherries. The former is best for cooking, while the latter is more suitable for eating in raw form.

Cherries are often eaten fresh, but they are also popular in baking, preserves, and liqueurs. The short season, unpredictable yields, and high production costs contribute to the high price of this stone fruit.

Tomato is a versatile fruit and vegetable that is mostly available in a deep red color. Hailing from the Americas, it was historically a staple in the diet of the indigenous Aztecs and Incas.

In the 16th century, Europeans brought tomatoes back to their home and spread them throughout the Old World, triggering a widespread culinary transformation. Tomatoes became an irreplaceable part of many cuisines, especially those of the Mediterranean.

There are many different tomato varieties with diverse appearances, from small cherry-sized fruits to large beefsteak varieties. Their taste can range from acidic to sweet, making them a key ingredient in salads, sauces, and numerous dishes.

Throughout the world, people dedicate a large proportion of tomato crops to processing, from canned tomatoes to juice, ketchup, sauce, and paste.

Red raspberry is a small, soft aggravate fruit that has a vibrant red color, a hairy texture, a hollow core, and a sweet-and-tart flavor. The other significant variety is the black raspberry.

Red raspberries first appeared in Asia Minor and North Africa. Popular in temperate regions worldwide, they are at their most abundant in summer.

The majority of red raspberry varieties are small, soft-textured, and sweet yet mingled with tart undertones. The riper they are, the sweeter and more intense their flavor will become.

Red apple is the most popular type of apple, a popular pome fruit that historically spread from Central Asia to every corner of the globe. There are countless red apple varieties worldwide, namely Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji, and Granny Smith.

Depending on the varieties, apples can be crispy or juicy and sweet or tart or a mix of both. In the apple season, which lasts from late summer to fall, many people love crunching on shiny red apples, juicing them, or using them to make baked goods, fruit salads, and cider.

Have you ever wondered why apples float in water? They contain a lot of air, approximately 25% of their total volume, so they are less dense than water and have the ability to stay afloat.

Pomegranate is a tasty fruit that is red from the inside out. Beneath its thick, reddish skin is a large number of juicy, ruby-red arils that offer a complex blend of sweet and tart goodness.

Native to Iran, pomegranates thrive in high temperatures and a dry atmosphere. Today, Central Asia, tropical Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, and the Indian subcontinent are regions that cultivate this fruit.

In many cultures, pomegranates are a symbol of prosperity, fertility, love, life, and other auspicious elements. They’re also widely used in cooking, from garnishing salads and dishes to creating syrups and juices.

Grapefruit is a natural citrus hybrid of the orange and the pomelo, featuring yellow, orange, or red peel and pink, white, or deep red pulps. It has a sweet and tart flavor, but the redder the juicy flesh is, the sweeter it will be.

First documented in Barbados during the 18th century, grapefruits are now mainly produced in China, Vietnam, Mexico, and the US. This citrus fruit suits subtropical regions and is mainly available from winter through early spring

Red grape is a small round berry fruit with a long history, dating back to ancient Eurasian civilizations thousands of years ago. Generally, red grapes are considered sweeter than green grapes and on par with black or purple varieties.

The Crimson Seedless and Red Globe are among the most famous red grape varieties. Both can be enjoyed fresh, added to fruit salads, dried as raisins, and used in juices and smoothies.

Of course, it goes without saying that red grapes are the fundamental ingredient for red wine.

Cranberry is a small red berry native to North America, where it grows in sandy bogs and marshes. It has a history of use by Native Americans for food, dye, and medicine.

Besides having a vibrant red color, cranberries are notable for their tart, bitter taste. Their most popular application is to prepare cranberry sauce, a must-have accompaniment for Christmas and Thanksgiving turkeys.

Other popular cranberry-based products include jams, juices, and dried cranberries, most of which are sweetened with sugar. Unsurprisingly, the US is the world’s largest cranberry producer, followed by Canada and Chile.

Red guava is a tropical fruit from Central America but is now grown in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Its interior is usually dark pink or red, while the exterior can be green, yellow, or even blood-red to match the flesh.

The taste of red guavas is a sweet blend of strawberries and pears, not to mention the floral and musky aromas. Ranging from crunchy to tender in texture, guavas are often eaten raw but can be used in cooking and whipping up juices or smoothies.

The red color has no effect on the flavor of guavas, but it adds a visual appeal to the fruit. While the seeds inside the guava are edible, they are rather hard and should be spit out for safety reasons.

Lychee is a red tropical fruit native to South China and Southeast Asia. Its sweet and fragrant flavor has charmed countless fruit lovers throughout the ages.

Adding to the appeal is that lychees are easy to peel. Once you get rid of the red, bumpy skin, the sweet and floral-smelling white flesh is all yours to enjoy, whether you want to eat it on its own or toss it into a salad, smoothies, and desserts.

In classic Chinese traditions, lychees are a symbol of love and romance, as one of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty once spared no expense in getting this fruit for his favorite concubine despite the astronomical costs of the task.

Blood orange, also known as raspberry orange, is a distinct type of orange with deep red flesh. Created in the Mediterranean around the 18th century, it is mainly grown in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and parts of the US.

Compared to other types of oranges, blood oranges are sweeter and less acidic, delivering a raspberry-like flavor that resulted in its alternative name. Their blood red color comes from the high content of anthocyanins, an antioxidant type with various health benefits.

The blood orange makes a fantastic substitute for normal oranges in many recipes, such as cocktails, juices, desserts, and marmalades. But eating it raw is also a brilliant idea.

Rambutan is a Southeast Asian red fruit belonging to the soapberry family. It grows in clusters on trees, thrives in humid tropical climates, and is typically harvested in summer.

Rambutans consist of leathery skin covered in soft, greenish-red spines and sweet, juicy white flesh inside. Indeed, their name came from the Malay word for hair, referencing their hairy appearance.

The sweet-and-tart taste of rambutan is comparable to that of grapes but with an extra touch of tropical aromas. To eat this hairy fruit raw, simply cut the skin and remove it, pop out the flesh, discard the seed, and enjoy.

Red pear is a special type of pear with dark red or bright crimson skin. Its earliest variety is the Red d’Anjou, which originated in the 1950s in the US.

Besides the Red d’Anjou, red pears come in two other major varieties: Bartlett and Starkrimson. However, all three are usually labeled as just red pears on the market.

The Red d’Anjou is mild and sweet with a hint of citrus flavors. The Red Bartlett, also known as the Williams pear, is similarly sweet yet juicier, while the Starkrimson comes with an extremely soft texture and floral undertones.

Like ordinary pears, red pears are available mainly in the fall and winter months. They can be enjoyed fresh, in salads, baked goods, or as a complement to cheeses.

Red plum, also known as blood plum, is an offshoot of the regular plum, a round or oval-shaped stone fruit native to China and Europe. They feature scarlet to dark purple skin and a yellow, juicy, sweet-tart exterior.

You can eat red plums fresh or use them in cooking and baking. These fruits are a versatile ingredient for jams, desserts, pies, and even savory sauces.

To find the best and freshest red plums, check out the farmers’ stores and markets between May and October.

Redcurrant, also known as red currant, is a small berry fruit mainly grown in Western Europe and the US. Its season takes place in midsummer.

Redcurrants are famous for their glossy ruby-red appearance and tart flavor. While these berries can be eaten fresh, their pronounced sourness makes them more popular in beverages, jams, ice cream, and cooked dishes.

Wax apple, also known as Java apple or rose apple, is a tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia. It has a bell shape with a pale red to deep crimson color and a waxy exterior, hence the name.

Still, wax apples have no resemblance to actual apples in terms of smell or texture, though they have a subtly sweet taste. Texture-wise, wax apples are crunchy and refreshing since they have a high water content, while their smell is mild and floral.

This Southeast Asian red fruit grows best in warm, humid climates and is available mainly from late spring through summer. Eat it fresh or use it in salads, desserts, and drinks.

Prickly pear is an interesting cactus fruit native to the Americas. While it comes in many colors, the red variety is the most popular.

The exterior of a prickly pear is covered in red skin with small, spiky thorns, whereas the yellow or deep pink interior is soft, juicy, and pleasantly sweet. With such a flavor profile, Prickly pears are ideal for raw consumption, juices, jellies, and candies.

The prickly pear plant has sharp barbed spines, so getting its fruits requires the right tool and careful handling.

Blood lime, also known as Australian blood lime, is an enchanting citrus fruit resulting from a hybrid between an acid mandarin and Australian finger lime. It was created by an Australian scientific government agency in the early 2000s as a salt-resistant crop.

Harvested in winter, blood limes have a round or elongated shape and are smaller than conventional limes. They are also less aromatic, but their stimulating blend of sweetness and tartness makes them an excellent choice for beverages, sauces, and marinades.

Besides, the eye-catching red-orange or burgundy color of blood limes is a visually striking addition to various dishes.

Red banana is a group of banana varieties with reddish-purple skin and cream-colored or pink flesh. It was first commercially available in the late 19th century and has since become popular in many countries around the world.

Despite being more expensive than their yellow cousins, red bananas have a slight edge as they are softer and sweeter, with notes of berries. They are also available in various sizes to suit different preferences.

Whatever you can do with yellow bananas, you can do with the red ones as well, such as eating them fresh, using them in cooking and baking, and making smoothies out of them. The colorful twist they provide is well worth the price!

Red dragon fruit, also known as red pitaya, is a common variety of dragon fruit, a stunning tropical fruit of Central American origin. It is now grown in many regions worldwide, with Vietnam, China, and Indonesia ranking as the world’s largest dragon fruit producers.

All dragon fruits have bright red leathery skin with green scale-like stems, but they come in different varieties depending on the color of the flesh. Regular ones boast white kiwi-like seeded pulp, while red dragon fruits sport red or deep purple flesh.

Thanks to a higher sugar content, red dragon fruits are much sweeter than their white cousins and can add a vibrant touch to fruit salads, desserts, and beverages.

Keep in mind that the juice from red dragon fruit can stain your hands and clothes. Also, it’s completely harmless if you notice your stool turns red after consuming red dragon fruits.

Lingonberry, also known as cowberry and mountain cranberry, is a small, red, and acidic berry native to the Arctic tundra and the boreal forests in North America and Europe. It has a rich history in Scandinavian and Eastern European cuisines.

Lingonberries love cold climates and the wilderness. Their season is rather short, lasting from late summer to early fall.

Because of their sharpness, lingonberries are best cooked and sweetened to prepare jams or sauces. Lingonberry jam is the traditional accompaniment for both sweet and savory dishes in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe.

Red chokeberry is a common variety of the chokeberry, which is indigenous to North America. It has a shiny red appearance and an extremely sour taste that gives this berry fruit its name.

Although red chokeberries are a little milder than black chokeberries, both are unfit for fresh consumption. People usually process them into jams, jellies, syrups, and wines to take full advantage of their high vitamin and antioxidant content.

Due to their hardiness and attractive foliage, red chokeberries are often planted for ornamental purposes.

Strawberry tree, also known as chorleywood, is a small red berry fruit from the Mediterranean region and Western Europe. It has a fairly similar shape to common strawberries yet grows on an evergreen shrub or small tree.

A typical strawberry tree fruit has a rough outer skin, a spherical shape, and a slightly sandy texture. Flavorwise, it is mildly sweet and tart but far less flavorful than real strawberries.

Therefore, the best way to enjoy strawberry tree fruits is to turn them into jams, jellies, and alcoholic beverages.

But if you prefer to consume strawberry tree fruits fresh, give them time; these fruits can remain on the tree for up to a year, becoming sweeter the longer they stay.

The red mombin is a plum-like fruit native to Central America and Southern Mexico. It goes by many other names, such as hog plum, ciruela, jocote, Spanish plum, and purple mombin.

The fruit of this plant is plum-like, slightly oval, with shiny and firm skin. The fruiting season for red mombin lasts from July to September. During this period, small, oval fruits with deep red or purple skin pop up, inviting people to bite into their juicy, fibrous, sweet-and-tart flesh.

Red mombins are mainly enjoyed fresh or dried or boiled to store for later. You can also use them in jams, jellies, and alcoholic beverages

Red durian is an exquisite type of durian with deep red creamy flesh in Southeast Asia. It is a rare breed mainly available in a few selected regions in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Although red durians are a little less sweet than yellow-fleshed varieties, their flavor comes with delicious notes of caramel or toasted almonds. However, the pungency of red durians is even more significant than that of other varieties.

Besides adding red durians to smoothies and desserts like other fruits, locals in Malaysia and Indonesia also use these fruits in savory dishes, including fish soups and fried durians.

Ackee, also spelled as akee, ache, or achee, is a tropical fruit that originated in West Africa but is now widely grown in the Caribbean. It is especially popular in Jamaica as the main ingredient for the country’s national dish, ackee and saltfish.

Ackee sports a peculiar appearance. This fruit showcases a bright red color and an oval or oblong shape when closed yet reveals soft, creamy-white flesh around shiny black seeds when opened.

The taste of ackee is mild, mellow, and buttery, but raw and unripe fruits are poisonous and require cooking to neutralize the toxins. Because of its toxicity, ackee is not allowed to be brought into the US

Red bell pepper is a highly versatile version of the bell pepper, a globally famous fruit vegetable of Central and South American origin. It is also the sweetest among all bell peppers, offering an extra fruity undertone.

While red bell peppers are available year-round, their peak season is in summer and fall. Their culinary applications are endless; you can grill, roast, stir-fry, and sauté them, not to mention chop them up to add to salads.

Did you know that red bell peppers are one of the few members of the pepper family that have no capsaicin, the compound responsible for the spiciness in chili peppers?

I have just shown you the most famous red fruits in the world. Next, I will take you to the amazing world of yellow fruits that are just as delicious and healthy.