I’ve been on what I’m calling a slaw salad kick, where all my salads recently have resembled slaw. And the latest in the lineup is this shaved fennel salad, which is my love letter to fennel – a very underappreciated veggie.
Now, unlike the majority of my salads, this fennel salad is simple and unfussy. The base of this salad is shaved fennel (duh), shaved cabbage, loads of dill, roasted pistachios (for crunch), and grapefruit. All tossed together with a grapefruit honey dijon vinaigrette that is good enough to drink on its own.
If I had to choose a favorite seasonal salad for January, it’d be this one. It’s perfect!
Shaved Fennel Salad Ingredients
Outlining everything you need for this shaved fennel salad!
- Fennel: Duh! My fennel bulb was giant, so if your fennel is on the smaller side, use two bulbs.
- Green cabbage
- Dill: I go heavy on the dill because I firmly believe that it magically makes salads taste better!
- Pistachios: These are just here for crunch – feel free to omit them if you like.
- Grapefruit: You’ll need the grapefruit zest, juice, and flesh – nothing going to waste here!
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Honey
- Lemon juice or champagne vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt
A Few Notes
- If you’re new to working with fennel, linking a great video here on how to prep the bulb. Or you can watch my video on how I prep this salad!
- Highly recommend using a mandoline for this salad – especially if you want that slaw-like texture. Linking the mandoline I use here – it has three settings and works amazing!
- As with all my recipes, each ingredient is there for a reason. So please make the dressing as stated – you need both the lemon juice/vinegar and grapefruit juice to create the perfect balance of acidity in the salad.
- If you feel like this salad is missing something, add salt. Fennel and cabbage are two veggies that need a lot of salt to bring out their flavor, so add a little at a time until you feel like it’s balanced.
Serving Suggestions
This salad is super versatile and would pair well with almost anything. I like making this along with some sort of protein – like my tofu nuggets. Or you could add this to a sandwich; think toasty sourdough, turkey/tofu, and this fennel slaw. It would be perfect!
And that’s for this salad – don’t forget to leave a rating and review below!
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Citrusy Shaved Fennel Salad
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3–4 servings 1x
- Category: Salads
- Cuisine: American
Description
This shaved fennel salad with citrusy grapefruit vinaigrette is the perfect zesty and fresh slaw salad to embrace winter produce.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced or mandolined (300 g)
- 1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced or mandolined (150 g)
- 1 small bunch dill, roughly chopped
- 2 grapefruits worth of flesh, save 1/2 of 1 grapefruit for the juice and zest
- 1/2 cup (65 g) roasted unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped
Grapefruit Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
- 1 tsp grapefruit zest
- 3 tbsp (35 g) grapefruit juice
- 3 tbsp (30 g) olive oil
- 1 tbsp (10 g) champagne vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 tbsp (12 g) honey
- 2 tsp (9 g) dijon mustard, adjust to preference
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
Instructions
- Prep the fennel. Cut the stalks and fronds off the fennel. Save the stalks for stocks/soup, or I also like to give the stalks to my dog – they’re great for their teeth and have a ton of health benefits. For the bulb, slice it in half lengthwise and use your knife to remove the tough inner core.
- Prep the salad. Use your mandoline on the thinnest setting to slice the fennel and green cabbage, then add both to a large serving bowl. Add in the dill, grapefruit, and pistachios. Set aside.
- Make the grapefruit honey dijon vinaigrette. To a jar, add all of the vinaigrette ingredients and whisk together well. Alternatively, you can blend the dressing or use an immersion blender. Taste and adjust for salt as needed.
- Assemble and serve. Pour half of the dressing over the salad and toss with tongs (or you can use your hands; it’s easier). Adjust for salt as needed and add more dressing as needed. Serve immediately.
- Prepping ahead of time/saving. This salad tastes best fresh, but if you do want leftovers, only dress the amount of salad you plan to eat.
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