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This Shaved Fennel Salad is light, crunchy, and dressed with a homemade citrus dressing. Whip this versatile winter favorite up in 20 minutes!
Shaved Fennel Salad is made with thinly sliced fennel, apple, celery and a flavorful dressing. Don’t let its simplicity fool you – it’s packed with bright, fresh flavor and makes for the perfect quick and easy side dish to serve with your favorite main.
Table of Contents
All About Fennel
This bulbous vegetable is one I look forward to seeing pop up in my local grocery stores every winter and early spring. It’s particularly popular in Italian cuisine and used in a variety of sides, salads, pastas, vegetable dishes, and rice dishes. It’s also commonly used in Italian sausage and meatballs (plant-based versions, too!).
This cold salad is a side dish you’ll find yourself craving despite the chilly weather. It highlights fennel’s natural black licorice-like flavor – a flavor I personally love! Serve alongside a hearty plant-based main or eat on its own directly out of the serving bowl (I won’t judge).
What You Need for Shaved Fennel Salad
This simple salad is primarily made with shaved fennel, tart apple, and celery, then tossed with a basic dressing made from the following 5 ingredients:
- Orange juice and zest: Its sweetness compliments the strong anise flavor in the shaved fennel. For a stronger citrus flavor, I recommend adding a teaspoon of orange zest.
- Lemon juice: An acidity that balances and brightens the sweet and salty flavors.
- Olive oil: High quality olive oil helps the dressing ingredients stick to the shaved vegetables and adds a lovely mouth feel to this crunchy side dish.
- Kosher salt: Adds both savoriness and helps draw excess water out of the vegetables, keeping the salad light and crisp.
- Fresh dill: Compliments the similar flavors in the shaved fennel. Feel free to add as much or as little fresh dill as you like.
How to Make a Shaved Fennel Salad
- Trim the fennel bulb and celery sticks, then core the apple. Finely slice the fennel, apple, and celery using the thinnest setting of your mandoline.
- Transfer the fennel, apple, and celery to a large bowl and add orange juice, orange zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and dill to the bowl.
- Mix well then refrigerate for 15 minutes to soften.
- Serve immediately as desired.
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Use a mandolin. Although you can thinly slice the fennel using a knife, I strongly recommend a mandoline, otherwise the vegetables may be cut too thick and be tough to chew. If you are new to working with a mandoline, read this basic article to help you learn how to use a mandolin slicer safely!
- Wash your fennel and celery thoroughly. Both of these vegetables grow directly in the soil and can have dirt hidden in their many layers. Before slicing, rinse under cool water, rubbing any visible dirt and debris clean.
Serving Suggestions
This fennel salad makes a great crunchy snack or side dish. It can even be used as a slaw on things such as BBQ Tempeh Tacos, Wholesome and Healthy Vegan Beet Burgers, or a Chickpea Salad Sandwich.
If you’re looking for more basic salad recipes, you’ll also love this Simple & Delicious Tomato Cucumber Basil Salad, this Crunchy Cucumber Dill Salad and this Quick & Tasty Crunchy Ginger Cabbage Slaw!
How to Store Shaved Fennel Salad
This fresh salad will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Freezing is not recommended.
For best, prolonged freshness, store in an airtight glass container or jar such as a mason jar.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, fennel is a vegetable in the carrot or parsley family. It’s closely related to herbs such as cumin, dill, and star anise.
Nope! Fennel can be consumed either raw or cooked. I personally prefer enjoying it raw, but if you prefer its more sweet in flavor, add it in with the other aromatics in soups and stews.
If you’ve never cooked with fennel before, it looks like a cross between celery and dill. For this recipe you’ll need the fennel bulb – reserve the fronds and stalks for garnish and making homemade vegetable broth.
Follow this simple visual tutorial to learn How to Cut a Fennel Bulb.
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Shaved Fennel Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bulb fennel
- 1 green apple
- 3 sticks celery
- Juice of 1/2 navel orange
- 1 teaspoon orange zest optional, for a stronger orange flavor
- Juice of 1 small lemon ~2 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill chopped
Instructions
- Prep: Trim the ends of the fennel bulb and celery sticks and remove the apple core. Use a mandoline on the thinnest setting to finely slice the fennel, apple, and celery. You can also use a knife, but I strongly recommend a mandoline, otherwise the vegetables may be tough to chew.
- Mix: Transfer the fennel, apple, and celery to a large bowl. Add the orange juice, orange zest (if using), lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and dill to the bowl. Mix well and let sit for at least 15 minutes in the fridge, to allow the salt to soften the vegetables.
- Serve & Store: Mix again and serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
We so enjoyed this winter salad! Loved the sweet and tangy crunch of the apple.
Glad you enjoyed it, Trish!
What a beautiful winter salad! Love the shades of green and the citrus-based dressing.