Introducing our delicious Fennel and Orange Salad recipe – it’s a real crowd pleaser! This Italian orange salad with fennel and cracked pepper is the perfect side dish, but you can also enjoy this refreshing winter salad on its own for lunch or dinner. Only four ingredients are needed for this quick and easy salad recipe.
Why We Love This Recipe
This Italian orange salad with fennel is juicy, refreshing and oh so satisfying. The crisp, almost ‘liquorice’ flavour of fresh fennel and sweet juicy orange ignite with a sprinkling of cracked black pepper.
With only four ingredients, it’s a quick and easy salad recipe that’s budget friendly too! In less than 5 minutes, this delicious salad is a light and satisfying side dish, a super quick snack, or a healthy lunch.
Fennel (also known as sweet anise) is a star ingredient in Italian cuisine – for good reason! It’s not only healthy, full of vitamins, minerals and fibre, it also enhances the flavour of your dish!
What is Italian Fennel and Orange Salad
Crispy, crunchy fennel pairs up with sweet n’ juicy orange slices in this popular 4 ingredient Italian salad recipe – best enjoyed in autumn/winter when fennel is at its freshest. A dash of high-quality olive oil and a good sprinkling of cracked black pepper bring this dish home into the ultimate deliciousness!
What You’ll Need
- Fresh fennel – sliced into small strips
- Orange – finely sliced
- Sea salt and cracked black pepper
- High quality olive oil
How to Make Fennel & Orange Salad
- Super simple recipe here guys, just pop your crispy fennel slices into a bowl with your juicy orange slivers and give them a good swirl.
- Pour in your olive oil and sprinkle with a tasty amount of salt and cracked black pepper.
- Transfer to a serving platter and serve chilled!
Cook’s Tips
- For the best flavour use a high quality olive oil. It will lift your salad from YUM to DELISH!
- To experiment with texture try slicing the fennel super thinly or extra thick and see which style you like best!
FAQs
What is fennel?
Fennel is a bulbous herb with tall, wispy fronds that look very similar to dill, but is actually more closely related to carrot! Every part of fennel, from the roots to the fronts, can be used in cooking, but this recipe uses just the bulb.
We love fennel for it’s sweet, punchy liquorice flavour and super crunchy texture. It’s not hard to see why it’s so popular in Italian cuisine, especially for salads like today’s fennel and orange salad!
How to choose the perfect fennel?
Fennel is in season from fall/august through winter. For the tastiest, crispest fennel, choose a medium size fennel with smooth, firm, white skin and no brown spots. If the fennel is too large or old, it can loose its bright fresh flavour.
What goes with fennel and orange salad?
Pair this delicious orange and fennel salad with grilled chicken or pork, or seafood dishes such as grilled salmon or prawns. Italian cuisine is a great place to start, so why not check out our Italian Dry Salt Roast Chicken or this super creamy No-Cream Carbonara.
Can this salad be made in advance?
Fennel and orange salad is best eaten within 1-2 hours of preparation. Keep it in the fridge until just before serving so the fennel stays nice and crunchy.
Variations & Substitutes
- For an extra burst of flavour and texture, try adding fresh rocket, finely chopped peppermint leaves and/or toasty almond sliced.
- You can substitute fresh fennel for celery or Chinese cabbage (bok choy). Why not experiment with a good sprinkling of powdered fennel or anise seeds to give that classic fennel “liquorice” flavour?
So there you have it! A super simple, seriously delicious salad. Just 4 ingredients, and only 5 minutes? It doesn’t get much easier than that!
Need a main dish to pair it with? Serve it alongside:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating below!
Equipment
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Salad bowl for serving
- Salad tongs or utensils for serving
Ingredients
- 1 fennel bulb washed and sliced into small, thin strips
- 1 orange peeled and sliced into thin slivers
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt & cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pop your crispy fennel slices into a bowl with your juicy orange slivers and give them a swirl.
- Pour in the olive oil and sprinkle with a tasty amount of salt and cracked black pepper.
- Transfer to a serving platter and serve chilled.
Notes
Tips
- For the best flavour use a high quality olive oil. It will lift your salad from YUM to DELISH!
- To experiment with texture try slicing the fennel super thinly or extra thick and see which style you like best!
FAQs
- What is fennel? Fennel is a bulbous herb with tall, wispy fronds that look very similar to dill, but is actually more closely related to carrot! Every part of fennel, from the roots to the fronts, can be used in cooking, but this recipe uses just the bulb. We love fennel for it's sweet, punchy liquorice flavour and super crunchy texture. It's not hard to see why it's so popular in Italian cuisine, especially for salads like today's fennel and orange salad!
- How to choose the perfect fennel? Fennel is in season from fall/august through winter. For the tastiest, crispest fennel, choose a medium size fennel with smooth, firm, white skin and no brown spots. If the fennel is too large or old, it can loose its bright fresh flavour.
- What goes with fennel and orange salad? Pair this delicious orange and fennel salad with grilled chicken or pork, or seafood dishes such as grilled salmon or prawns. Italian cuisine is a great place to start, so why not check out our Italian Dry Salt Roast Chicken or this super creamy No-Cream Carbonara.
- Can this salad be made in advance? Fennel and orange salad is best eaten within 1-2 hours of preparation. Keep it in the fridge until just before serving so the fennel stays nice and crunchy.
Variations & Substitutes
- For an extra burst of flavour and texture, try adding fresh rocket, finely chopped peppermint leaves and/or toasty almond sliced.
- You can substitute fresh fennel for celery or Chinese cabbage (bok choy). Why not experiment with a good sprinkling of powdered fennel or anise seeds to give that classic fennel "liquorice" flavour?
Nutrition
12 Comments
Steph @ Steph in Thyme
20/06/2016 at 10:47 pmI’m obsessed with fennel. It’s so refreshing and pairs so well with citrus. This looks divine!
Wandercooks
21/06/2016 at 10:35 amIt’s like a match made in heaven isn’t it?? Thanks Steph, hope you enjoy! 🙂
Wandercooks
21/06/2016 at 11:12 amAwesome Steph! We were always lovers of licorice, and then when we found fennel – mind blown – haha!
Jessica {Swanky Recipes}
19/06/2016 at 5:58 amI love a good salad recipe. With it heating up outside, I don’t like to eat anything too heavy for lunch or dinner and often find myself making mostly salads during the summer months. This recipe sounds incredible!
Wandercooks
20/06/2016 at 4:22 pmUs too Jessica, the last thing you want in summer is an hour in front of the stove. Five minutes for a cooling salad sounds much more to our liking! 😛
Donna
19/06/2016 at 2:16 amOh yum, I will be trying this soon for sure. I have been growing my own fennel this year, and the garden has just exploded with so much of it I cant keep up – always looking for new recipes to use it in, so this will be perfect 🙂
Wandercooks
20/06/2016 at 4:21 pmOh so jealous Donna, nothing like fresh produce straight from the garden, especially one so flavourful as fennel. Hope you enjoy and let us know how you go! 🙂
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
18/06/2016 at 7:12 amI love fresh and simple recipes like this one. I wonder what it would taste like if I added a tiny dusting of chilli flakes in too.
Wandercooks
20/06/2016 at 4:20 pmOooooh GREAT idea, definitely trying this next time! 😀
Tara
18/06/2016 at 12:14 amYum! I am always looking for new ways to use fennel. This looks so light and refreshing. Love how easy it is to put together.
Wandercooks
20/06/2016 at 4:16 pmThanks Tara! It’s such an under-utilised ingredient, we can’t wait to try more delicious ways to use it! 🙂