Fennel Salad with Parmesan

This shaved fennel salad is light and refreshing, pairing the raw vegetable with apple, lemon, and Parmesan cheese.

“I thought I didn’t like fennel salads, until I tried this one.” That was my dad after taking a few bites of this salad, and what an endorsement! This delightful fennel salad is one anyone can enjoy despite any preconceptions, pairing the shaved raw vegetable with sweet apple, zingy lemon and savory Parmesan cheese. Delicate fennel fronds make a feathery garnish, and each bite is irresistibly crunchy with a pop of acidity. Welcome to our (and your?) new favorite side dish, versatile enough to pair with fish, chicken, or vegetarian mains beautifully.

Ingredients in fennel salad

There are several common flavor pairings with the licorice bite of fresh fennel. A common Mediterranean pairing is fennel and orange, like this Fennel Orange Salad. This shaved salad features fennel and apple, another ideal pairing where the sweetness of the fruit offsets the licorice crunch of the vegetable. Here’s what you’ll need for this salad:

Fresh fennel heads, plus fennel fronds for garnish
Apple
Parmesan cheese
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

How to cut fennel

The most difficult part of this fennel salad? Thinly slicing the fennel! This vegetable can be tricky if you haven’t worked with it before. Here are the basic steps to how to cut fennel: or head to this video tutorial for more!

Chop off the stalks and root end. Using a large chef’s knife, chop off the fennel stalks. Save them because you’ll use the wispy parts, the fronds, in the salad. Cut off the root end.
Remove outer layers. Remove any tough outer layers of the fennel and discard them.
Slice in half, then in half moons. Slice down the center of the fennel bulb. Place it on its cut side and cut very thin half-moon slices parallel to the root end.

Remember to save those wispy parts: the fennel fronds! They look a bit like dill, and infuse even more fresh flavor into the salad.

Tips for fennel salad

This fennel salad is ultra simple: toss all the ingredients together with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. It makes for beautifully fresh flavor with very simple ingredients. Here are a few more things to note with this fennel salad:

Serve immediately, or refrigerate until serving. It’s best right away, but you can refrigerate for a few hours if necessary.
It lasts up to 3 days refrigerated. It does lose some flavor over time, so refresh the flavors with more salt, lemon juice or lemon zest as needed.
Other flavor adders? Add a crunchy nut like chopped pecans, walnuts, or pistachios. Add sliced shallot for another savory element. Or swap apples for oranges and add thinly sliced red onion.

More fresh fennel recipes

Fresh fennel is a unique vegetable that adds intrigue in flavor: its raw licorice flavor is softened when cook. Here are a few ideas to try after this fennel salad:

Make Perfect Roasted Fennel
Try Fennel Orange Salad
Add it to Tuscan Soup with White Beans or Best Ever Lentil Soup
Try our 10 Favorite Fennel Recipes

This fennel salad recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.