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This delicious Fennel Orange Salad recipe is crisp, refreshing, and the perfect winter salad. It’s made with crunchy fennel, juicy oranges, soft butter lettuce leaves, and fresh mint all drizzled with a delicious balsamic vinaigrette.
Dreaming up a delicious winter salad is always fun. Using ingredients like sliced fennel and bright citrus is a strict departure from the salads of summer and a welcome change.
As with all salads, having a good balance of flavors, textures, and colors is important. In this salad, the anise-flavored fennel provides a welcome crunch against the soft butter leaves and the sweet orange segments. Fresh mint offers a refreshing reprieve against the bitter red onions, and it’s all tied together with a delicious balsamic vinaigrette.
As with any salad, you can easily choose your own adventure. Goat cheese is an obvious addition to this salad, but I wanted to keep it strictly plant-based so it could offset the many rich dishes on your holiday table. Dress it up or down as you see fit.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Balsamic vinaigrette: It’s easy to make homemade balsamic vinaigrette, but it’s fine to substitute your favorite balsamic vin from the store, too.
- Butter lettuce: To prepare butter lettuce, place the head on the cutting board with the stem facing up, and leaf-side down. Using a sharp knife, remove the stem by inserting the knife at an angle, and gently rotate the head of lettuce. Remove the stem, take apart the leaves, rinse the leaves to remove the dirt, and pat dry. Tear into pieces by hand to prevent bruising the leaves.
- Fennel bulbs: To prepare the fennel bulbs, trim the stalks off the top (reserve any frilly fennel fronds for garnish on your salad if desired). Then, trim off the thick root end of the bulb. Remove any tough outer layers, then slice the bulbs as thinly as possible (a mandoline is helpful for paper-thin slices).
- Oranges: Any oranges will do, such as classic navel oranges, but I always look for blood oranges or cara cara oranges when they are in season. Grapefruit segments could work too!
Step-by-step instructions
- To make the vinaigrette, in a small bowl or in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Whisk or shake to combine.
- Cut 1/4-inch slice off the top and bottom of an orange and stand it upright on end. Following the contour of the fruit, slice off the peel and membrane in thick strips.
- Lay orange on its side and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Repeat with remaining oranges. In a large bowl, add butter lettuce, fennel, orange slices, red onion, and mint leaves.
- Drizzle with the vinaigrette and toss to combine.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 8 cups Orange Fennel Salad, enough for 4 servings, 2 cups each.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The oranges, fennel, and red onions can be sliced up to 3 days in advance. Store separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator. Wrap the washed, dried lettuce leaves rolled in a clean kitchen towel in the refrigerator.
- Custom balsamic: Craft your dream dressing by adding orange juice, lemon juice, or orange zest to your extra virgin olive oil.
- Lettuce: I love how the butter lettuce lets the other toppings shine. Arugula, mixed field greens, or romaine would also work in this side dish (but will have a stronger flavor).
- More toppings: Customize your salad with feta cheese, goat cheese, toasted walnuts, toasted pine nuts, toasted pecans, pomegranate seeds, or even black olives. To elevate this to a lunch salad, add a portion of grilled chicken.
Frequently Asked Questions
The best way to cut fennel for salad is to shave it on a mandoline. Fennel goes into a salad raw, and since it is very sturdy, you will enjoy it the most when it’s cut into paper-thin slices. A sharp knife can do the trick, too.
Enjoy the bulb of the fennel plant in soups, salads, or roasted. To prepare fennel, trim off the green stems and the very bottom of the white bulb. Reserve some of the bright green fronds for garnish if desired. Shave, slice, or chop the white fennel bulb as desired, depending on your recipe.
Fennel pairs well with the flavors of butter, fish, lemon, olives, oranges, tomatoes, shellfish, chicken, apples, and beets. Here are some flavor combinations to try:
fennel + onions + potatoes + chicken
fennel + lemon + mint + orange + olives
fennel + lemon + Parmesan cheese + parsley
fennel + apple + pecorino cheese + arugula
fennel + garlic + onions + tomato
Fennel is a delicious accompaniment to chicken, fish, and shellfish, and less so to lamb, pork, and other meats.
Fennel has a sweet anise flavor similar to black licorice.
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Fennel Orange Salad
Ingredients
For the balsamic vinaigrette (see note 1):
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad:
- 4 oranges peeled, pith removed, and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds (see note 2)
- 4 cups butter lettuce leaves torn into 1-inch pieces (see note 3)
- 2 small fennel bulbs trimmed and thinly sliced, (2 cups or 8 ounces, see note 4)
- 1 small red onion halved and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup minced fresh mint leaves
Instructions
- To make the vinaigrette, in a small bowl or in jar with a tight-fitting lid, add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Whisk or shake to combine.
- Cut 1/4-inch slice off the top and bottom of an orange and stand it upright on end. Following the contour of the fruit, slice off the peel and pith in thick strips. Lay orange on it’s side and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Repeat with remaining oranges.
- In a large bowl, add butter lettuce, fennel, orange slices, red onion, and mint leaves. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and toss to combine.
Notes
- Balsamic vinaigrette: It’s easy to make homemade balsamic vinaigrette, but it’s fine to substitute your favorite balsamic vin from the store, too.
- Oranges: Any oranges will do, but I always look for blood oranges when they are in season for a more dramatic salad.
- Butter lettuce: To prepare butter lettuce, place head on cutting board with the stem facing up, leaf-side down. Using a sharp knife, remove the stem by inserting the knife at an angle, and gently rotate the head of lettuce. Remove the stem, take apart the leaves, rinse the leaves to remove the dirt, and pat dry. Tear into pieces by hand to prevent bruising the leaves.
- Fennel bulbs: To prepare the fennel bulbs, trim the stalks off the top (reserve any frilly fennel fronds for garnish on your salad if desired). Then, trim off the thick root end of the bulb. Remove any tough out layer, then slice the bulbs as thinly as possible (a mandoline is helpful for paper-thin slices).
- Yield: This recipe makes about 8 cups Fennel Salad, enough for 4 servings, 2 cups each.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.