Perfect Shaved Fennel Salad Recipe

This fennel salad recipe is absolutely perfect with shaved fennel, a lemon dressing, buttery pine nuts, briny olives, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

When we tasted this shaved fennel salad for the first time, our reaction was immediate: Wow! It’s crunchy, a little salty, tangy, and so delicious that it’s hard not to stop at one serving.

If you already love fennel, this is a must-make. And if you’re on the fence, this might be the recipe that convinces you. I won’t go as far as to say it will change your life, but I do think you’ll be thinking about it long after the bowl is empty. For more, try this arugula fennel salad with orange.

Key Ingredients

• Fennel: Choose fennel bulbs that are mostly white with pale green tops. They should feel firm and heavy for their size, without browning or soft spots. For this recipe, we use the bulb (the bottom part) and a handful of the feathery green tops. You can save the stalks for homemade veggie broth or chicken stock.
• Lemon Vinaigrette: Inspired by this lemon vinaigrette, you will combine fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
• Shallot: To add a little bite to the salad, I add thinly sliced shallot (half a small shallot does the trick). To cut through some of the raw onion bite, leave the sliced shallots in the lemon vinaigrette for 5 to 10 minutes before tossing the rest of the salad ingredients.
• Pine Nuts: These add a bit of crunch and buttery flavor. I love them, but if you cannot find them or they are too expensive, substitute sunflower seeds, pepitas, sliced almonds, or chopped cashews.
• Parmesan: I love Parmigiano-Reggiano and shave it into the salad. Pecorino-Romano would be nice, too. A crumbled feta or even creamy goat cheese would be different, but quite lovely in this salad.
• Olives: Choose green olives, such as Castelvetrano. Kalamata olives will be too briny/salty in this salad.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make My Favorite Fennel Salad

Tip 1: Make the vinaigrette. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together the lemon dressing ingredients (lemon juice, lemon zest, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, pepper, and olive oil). Then, add thinly sliced shallots. Set the bowl aside for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the shallots to soften and sweeten up a little (the lemon juice tones down their sharp onion flavor).

Tip 2: Prep the fennel. Fennel can look funny if you’re not familiar with cooking it. Most of the time, you’ll buy fennel bulbs with long stems attached. Here’s what to do for this salad:

1. Cut the stalks off each bulb.
2. Pull off about 2 tablespoons of the green, feathery fronds and reserve them. Discard the stalks or save them for broth.
3. Trim the hard, browned bottom of the bulb.
4. Stand each bulb upright and slice it in half from top to bottom.
5. Use a paring knife to remove the hard core by cutting a small triangle around it.
6. Using a mandoline, thinly slice the fennel crosswise (about ⅛-inch thick).

Tip 3: Putting the salad together. Toss everything into the bowl with the vinaigrette and shallots (the sliced fennel, toasted pine nuts, parmesan, and chopped olives). Then use tongs to give it a really good toss. You can serve it right away, but the fennel softens and tones down slightly with a rest in the fridge.

Serving Suggestions

This salad works anytime you want something fresh and crunchy on the side. I especially love it with chicken Milanese or pork Milanese. It’s incredible next to pan-roasted chicken, baked salmon, and fish sticks and it works really well as a slaw with pulled pork or even carnitas (not traditional, obviously, but still delicious).

This also works really well as a Thanksgiving salad or for the holidays! I love it next to roasted turkey.

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