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With only 4 ingredients, Italian Fennel and Orange Salad is the perfect salad recipe, ready in under 5 minutes. Crisp slices of fennel, juicy orange, and a splash of olive oil make this a refreshing side dish with a natural citrus vinaigrette.
Why We Love This
This fennel orange salad is juicy, refreshing and most importantly, fast to prepare. The crisp, almost liquorice flavour of fresh fennel is the perfect pairing with the orange’s citrus kick.
It’s an easy recipe that’s budget friendly, especially when fennel is in season. The orange and olive oil work together to make their own salad dressing, no extra effort required.
Related: Greek Salad / Rolled Lamb Roast
What You’ll Need
Crispy, crunchy fennel pairs upwith sweet, juicy orange slices in this popular Italian salad recipe. Top with a dash of high-quality olive oil and a good sprinkling of cracked black pepper and sea salt and you’re done.
- Fennel – This bulbous herb is actually a member of the carrot family – even though it looks much more like celery with dill-like leaves. Fennel is at its freshest (and cheapest) when in season during autumn / winter. Keep a look out at your local supermarket or farmer’s market. If you can, pick a bulb with fennel leaves as they make a great garnish on the salad. Substitute with fresh celery or Chinese cabbage (bok choy). You could also experiment with a good sprinkling of powdered fennel or anise seeds to give that classic fennel “liquorice” flavour to the dish.
- Orange – Naval oranges work beautifully in this dish. For a unique look, swap it out for blood oranges.
How to Make It:
- Pop your crispy fennel slices into a bowl and top with the juicy orange slivers.
- Pour in the olive oil and give everything a good stir.
- Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste. (Optional: Garnish with fresh fennel leaves.)
Serve immediately or within 1-2 hours. Make sure it’s chilled for the crispiest texture.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Use High Quality Ingredients – especially with oil, make sure to use extra virgin olive oil for the best flavour depth. Many basic vegetable oils bring almost no flavour to a dish.
- To Slice the Fennel, first cut off all the stalks, then slice it in half from top to bottom. Cut a triangle shape from the centre of the bulb to remove the fibrous core. Then slice from top to bottom in strips.
- Play with Texture by slicing the fennel super thin or extra thick to see which style you like best! Using a mandolin can give you nice thinly sliced fennel.
- Fennel Tops – Save the tops of your fennel to use instead of salad greens, or pop them on top as a garnish.
FAQs
What is fennel?
Surprisingly, while the fennel bulb looks a bit like celery, and the leaves look similar to dill, fennel is actually related to the carrot family. It’s best known for it’s classic anise/liquorice flavour and crunchy texture. Everything from the bulb to the stalks, leaves and seeds can be used in cooking, but for this recipe we’ll be using the bulb. Also known as sweet anise, fennel 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!
How do you 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 salad with grilled chicken or pork, or seafood dishes such as grilled salmon or prawns. Italian cuisine or heavier dishes are a great place to start, so why not check out our Italian Dry Salt Roast Chicken,No-Cream Carbonara or Ragu.
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. It will be fine to eat the next day – it will just be a little juicier from the oranges and salt mixing.
Variations
- Add Extra Greens – Try adding fresh rocket / arugula, radicchio, mint or basil.
- Add Extra Bite – Add a splash of red wine vinegar or verjuice for a nice tart note alongside the citrus, or top with parmesan or feta cheese.
- Red Onion – Red onion is a popular addition, if using, make sure to macerate in some reserved orange juice before adding to the salad.
- More Veggies – Cucumber, roasted asparagus, capsicum or olives all work well in this salad.
- Nuts – For crunch, top with a sprinkling of shaved almonds, pine nuts, pepitas or sunflower seeds.
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!
Want more fresh salad ideas? These are some of our favourites:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating below!
4.64 from 11 votes
4 Ingredient Italian Fennel and Orange Salad
Prep 5 minutes minutes
Total 5 minutes minutes
Servings 4 side serves
With only 4 ingredients, Italian Fennel and Orange Salad is the perfect salad recipe, ready in under 5 minutes. Crisp slices of fennel, juicy orange, and a splash of olive oil make this a refreshing side dish with a natural citrus vinaigrette.
Ingredients
- 1 bulb fennel bulb washed and sliced into small, thin strips
- 1 orange peeled and sliced into thin slivers
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Metric – US Customary
Instructions
Pop your crispy fennel slices into a bowl and top with the juicy orange slivers.
1 bulb fennel bulb, 1 orange
Pour in the olive oil and give everything a good stir.
2 tbsp olive oil
Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste. (Optional: Garnish with fresh fennel leaves.)
Salt and pepper
Serve immediately or within 1-2 hours. Make sure it's chilled for the crispiest texture.
Video
Notes
- Use High Quality Ingredients – especially with oil, make sure to use extra virgin olive oil for the best flavour depth. Many basic vegetable oils bring almost no flavour to a dish.
- To Slice the Fennel, first cut off all the stalks, then slice it in half from top to bottom. Cut a triangle shape from the centre of the bulb to remove the fibrous core. Then slice from top to bottom in strips.
- Play with Texture by slicing the fennel super thin or extra thick to see which style you like best! Using a mandolin can give you nice thinly sliced fennel.
- How do you 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 Chickenor this super creamyNo-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. It will be fine to eat the next day – it will just be a little juicier from the orange and salt mixing.
- Add Extra Greens – Try adding fresh rocket / arugula, radicchio, mint or basil.
- Add Extra Bite – Add a splash of red wine vinegar or verjuice for a nice tart note alongside the citrus, or top with parmesan or feta cheese.
- Red Onion – Red onion is a popular addition, if using, make sure to macerate in some reserved orange juice before adding to the salad.
- More Veggies – Cucumber, roasted asparagus, capsicum or olives all work well in this salad.
- Nuts – For crunch, top with a sprinkling of shaved almonds, pine nuts, pepitas or sunflower seeds.
Wandercooks
Wandercooks is an Australian recipe site reaching millions of home cooks every year. Sarah and Laura are here to inspire you with hundreds of recipes from their favourite Japanese, Asian and Australian cuisines. As seen on Google, Today, People, Taste of Home, Buzzfeed and more.
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