Crisp fennel, juicy oranges, tart pomegranate seeds, creamy avocado, and peppery arugula come together for a refreshing and vibrant winter fennel orange salad. Tossed with a bright orange vinaigrette, this salad is both nourishing and packed with flavor—a perfect way to wake up your taste buds in cold weather.
If you're not acquainted with fennel, it’s time to meet one of my favorite vegetables! With its crisp texture and mild, sweet anise flavor, fennel is really versatile. The pale green-white bulb is topped with celery-like stalks and feathery fronds. Fennel shines raw in salads for a refreshing crunch or cooked until tender in soups and sides. Wondering if you can eat it raw? Absolutely—it’s delicious!
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Why You'll Like This Recipe
- It's a delicious winter and cold weather salad.
- Great combination of flavors.
- Easy homemade orange vinaigrette.
Recipe Ingredients
Fennel Salad
- Fennel: Buy a medium fennel bulb, save feathery fronds for garnish.
- Orange: Gets what looks best, a cara cara, valencia, or navel orange.
- Avocado: For a buttery, creamy addition. Be sure it's ripe.
- Lettuce greens: Baby arugula adds a nice peppery flavor.
- Pomegranate seeds: For their beautiful ruby color and sweet-tart flavor.
Orange Vinaigrette
- Oil: Choose extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil.
- Orange: You need the juice, instead of vinegar.
- Garlic: Just a small clove for some punch.
- Dijon: A little mustard emulsifies the dressing and adds flavor.
Please see the recipe card for measurements, salt, and pepper.
Substitutions and Variations
- Make a champagne vinaigrette, using champagne vinegar instead of the orange juice.
- If you're not a fan of arugula, try red lettuce, butter lettuce, or mixed baby greens.
- Substitute other citrus such as grapefruit, blood oranges, or mandarin oranges for extra color and flavor.
Recipe Instructions
- Step 1: Wash the salad greens.
- Step 2: Slice the fennel (see help below if you're not sure how).
- Step 3: Peel the orange and slice crosswise into rounds then segments.
- Step 4: Peel and slice or dice the avocado.
- Step 5: Shake the vinaigrette ingredients together in a jar or whisk until smooth in a small bowl.
To assemble the fennel orange salad, add the greens to a large bowl and toss with a little of the orange vinaigrette. Scatter the rest of the ingredients over the salad. Add the pomegranate seeds. Serve extra dressing on the side.
How to Cut Up Fennel
If you've never cut up a fennel bulb, here's how. Chop the top stalks off of the fennel, flush with the top of the bulb. Save a little of the feathery fronds for garnish. Discard the stalks as they are tough and not very usable (you can use them in this green juice recipe).
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Trim a thin slice off of the bottom of the bulb, then slice in half top to bottom. Next, cut out the pyramid shaped core for larger bulbs or leave it for smaller ones. Lay the halves flat and cut into thin slices.
Alternatively, if you have a handheld slicer or a mandoline, you can thinly slice or "shave" the fennel for the fennel orange salad.
Chef's tip: Should you core fennel? The smaller the fennel bulb, the more tender the core. It's the pyramid-shaped area you see when you cut it in half vertically. In baby fennel or small bulbs, the core is tender enough to leave in for raw preparations like salads. If it's a larger bulb, cut it out. It's less necessary for cooked dishes where the core softens with cooking.
Serving Suggestions
Fennel orange salad is a refreshing side salad with grilled or baked fish (like this pan roasted halibut), roast chicken, or a grain-based dish like quinoa.
To make it heartier with protein, try adding grilled shrimp, steamed salmon, leftover or rotisserie chicken, or chickpeas.
Make Ahead Tips
Fennel orange salad and the orange vinaigrette can be made ahead of time, in part. Be sure the salad greens are clean and ready, slice the fennel, segment the orange, and make the vinaigrette. Dice the avocado just before serving so it's fresh and bright green. Keep everything in airtight containers separately and assemble when ready to serve.
For the pomegranate seeds, purchased a container or buy a whole pomegranate and seed it yourself. Here's help on how to open a pomegranate.
Leftover fennel orange salad will keep for a day without the dressing.
Recipe FAQs
Sawp out the pomegranate seeds for dried cranberries, sliced strawberries, or raspberries for a pop of sweetness and color.
Yes, cheese is a nice addition, Try crumbled feta, goat cheese, or shaved Parmesan.
Nice nut options for more crunch include sliced almonds, toasted walnuts, pistachios, or sunflower seeds. Toasted pumpkin seeds are also terrific.
More Recipes With Fennel
Looking for other ideas on what to do with fennel? Juice it! It's wonderful in this celery fennel green juice. it's also terrific added to soups, along with the usual onion, celery, and carrot. The soup recipes below have fennel.
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you make this fennel orange salad, please add your comment. I appreciate your feedback and enjoy hearing from you. If you loved it, please give it a 5-star rating! They really help other readers.
📖 Recipe
Fennel Orange Salad with Orange Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 medium fennel bulb save feathery fronds for garnish
- 1 large orange
- 1 large ripe avocado peeled and quartered
- 5-6 ounces baby arugula leaves
- ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 pinches ground black pepper
Orange Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ orange juiced
- ½ teaspoon creamy Dijon mustard
- 1 small garlic clove finely chopped
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
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Instructions
Prep the fennel bulb
- Trim top stalks off of the fennel bulbs, flush with the top of the bulb. Save the feathery fronds for garnish. Save the stalks for another use such as green juicing. Trim the bottom of the bulb, then slice in half top to bottom. Next, cut out the pyramid shaped core (if there is one). The larger the bulb the more core it will have. Small fennel bulbs hardly have that core. Lay flat halves and cut into thin slices.
Prep the orange
- To prep the oranges for the salad, cut a thin slice off the top and bottom of the orange. Place the orange flat on the cutting board and cut away the peel, following the curve of the fruit with a sharp knife. This is called to "supreme" an orange. Slice the orange crosswise into slices.
Make the vinaigrette
- For dressing, whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients until smooth.
Assemble the salad
- Pile greens on a plate. Top with orange slices, pomegranate seeds, avocado quarters and fennel. Drizzle with the vinaigrette. Alternatively, toss the greens with a little dressing in a large salad bowl, add the fruit and fennel, and serve extra dressing on the side.
Notes
- If you're not a fan of arugula, try red lettuce, butter lettuce, or mixed baby greens.
- Substitute other citrus such as grapefruit, blood oranges, or mandarin oranges for extra color and flavor.
Mimi Holtz of Mimi Avocado says
What a beautiful salad! Love your photos! Thank you so much for linking to my site and also for linking to our family farm site for fresh avocados. Very nice of you to support a family farm!!
Sally Cameron says
You bet Mimi! Got to support our farmers. You guys are really important! And I LOVE avocados. So good for you!
Denise says
Nice recipe, I will try it next weekend. I love oranges in salad.
Madonna says
I love this salad, although I have not had it with avocado. Can't wait to try it.
Sally Cameron says
Thanks Madonna. They add nice healthy fat, and of course buttery, creamy flavor. Avocados in everything. And the poms are nice too. Such pretty color and their sweet-tart flavor is a nice off-set.