Orange Fennel Salad Recipe

This orange fennel salad is a wonderful winter recipe. It's fresh and delicious, while still being easy to make.

It combines grapefruit, Cara Cara oranges, blood oranges, crunchy fennel, and soft mozzarella into a delicious and bright fruit salad.

This great recipe is a fantastic side dish or light lunch. If you love cooking with fennel, try more of our favorite fennel recipes.

Why You'll Love Citrus Fennel Salad

One of my favorite things about winter is all the citrus that’s in season! It’s just a riot of colorful, tangy citrus flavor.

This salad has three of winter’s most exciting citrus fruits - grapefruit, Cara Cara oranges, and blood oranges. These jeweled tone beauties are bright & juicy.

Grapefruit on its own can be a tad astringent for people but paired with the sweet, tangy oranges and the mellow mozzarella it really shines.

This salad recipe is a perfect side dish for 4 to 5 people. It’s easy to prepare in advance for a dinner party or it can be thrown together and served immediately.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love Citrus Fennel Salad
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• More Great Winter Salad Recipes
• Substitutions & Variations
• Storage
• Tips for Making this Recipe
• Orange Fennel Salad Recipe

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this juicy fennel orange salad recipe.

• Grapefruit
• Cara Cara Oranges (or Navel oranges)
• Blood Oranges
• Fennel Bulb
• Mozzarella
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Kosher Salt or Sea Salt

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Slice the fennel into thin rounds. Reserve some of the fronds to top the salad.

Slice the peels off the citrus fruit with a sharp knife and cutting board. Cut the citrus into thin slices.

One of the easiest ways to remove the tough outer skin of a piece of citrus is to cut off both its ends and then run a knife along the outside, removing the skin in vertical strips.

Be careful not to take too much flesh from the piece of fruit. Remove as much white pith as possible (use a paring knife if necessary). This way of cutting the fruit gives it an interesting geometric shape as well.

Arrange the grapefruit slices, orange slices, mozzarella, and raw fennel on a large plate or salad bowl.

Mix the olive oil, balsamic, and salt briskly in a small bowl to create a vinaigrette. Dress the salad with the vinaigrette right before serving.

Optional - Sprinkle the fennel fronds across the top.

More Great Winter Salad Recipes

If you like hearty winter salad recipes with fresh, seasonal ingredients - check out some of our other favorites!

• Cara Cara Orange Panzanella - this salad is a fun take on a bread salad with winter's most delicious orange - the Cara Cara.
• Spicy Thai Grapefruit Salad - a salad with a kicky dressing that's topped with crunchy peanuts.
• Winter Fruit Salad - a delightful and easy salad with some of winter's best fruit.

Substitutions & Variations

Want to make some changes to this salad or need to swap out ingredients? Try some of these!

• Citrus - if you can't find Cara Cara oranges or blood oranges, swap them out for navel oranges, clementines, or pomelo.
• Red Wine Vinegar - swap the balsamic vinegar for red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar.
• Greens - if you’d like to add another punch to this salad, dress it with some torn mint and basil, or serve it on a bed of arugula.
• Toppings - you can add some fun toppings like pomegranate seeds, crisp red onion slices, or nuts (pine nuts or pistachios for a crunchy texture).
• Pepper - you can add ground black pepper or white pepper to the salad as well.
• Onions - if you'd like an allium bite, feel free to add some sliced shallots or crisp red onions.

Storage

You can save this salad recipe for up to 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Tips for Making this Recipe

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Serving Recommendation - serve with a side of crusty bread to sop up the extra orange juice leftover.

Recommended Tools - I highly recommend using a chef's knife to cut the fruit. You may find a mandoline helpful to make the shaved fennel slices.

Diet/Allergy Alternatives - to make this recipe vegan/plant-based, swap out the mozzarella for some avocado. This salad needs some creaminess and either cheese or avocado will give you that.

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