Food & Cooking Recipes Quick & Easy Recipes Quick & Easy Salad Recipes Fennel and Orange Salad 5.0 (1) It's the bright, fresh side your meals need. Close Credit: Brie Goldman Prep Time: 10 mins Total Time: 10 mins Servings: 8 Jump to recipe Our easy fennel and orange salad calls for only four ingredients—fennel bulbs, oranges, olive oil, and white-wine vinegar—and is a crunchy, tangy side that comes together in mere minutes. It makes a delicious accompaniment to anything from roasted salmon to baked tofu to marinated chicken thighs. And while it can certainly be prepared year-round, it’s especially tasty in winter when oranges are at their peak. Pulling it together couldn’t be simpler either: Just whisk up the two-ingredient dressing, slice the fennel and oranges, and toss it all together. Vibrant and tangy, it’s the perfect way to brighten up even the coldest of winter days. How to Store Oranges to Keep Them Juicy, According to Citrus Experts How to Prep Fennel For This Salad A fennel bulb might look intimidating, but the process to cut it up is quite simple: Pull off the bright green, feathery fronds and reserve them for the salad, then cut off the stalks where they meet the white bulb (freeze the stalks to use in a future vegetable or fish stock, or discard).If the outside layer of your bulb is brown and/or limp, peel it off and discard it. Trim the bottom off and quarter the bulb lengthwise. Inside, you'll see a solid white core, which you should slice off and discard.Place each quarter cut side down on your cutting board and slice it crosswise into thin pieces. If you're preparing fennel for a cooked application, you can opt to leave the core in and either chop or slice the whole bulb. The core will soften as it cooks and won't be as firm and tough as when raw. How to Make Fennel and Orange Salad Ahead of Time You can make this salad a few hours before you plan to serve it—any longer than that and the fennel may start to lose its crunch.If you'd like to get some advance prep done: Slice the fennel and oranges and refrigerate them separately up to one day ahead. Be sure to capture any juice that's released when you're prepping the citrus; transfer it to a small bowl, whisk in the oil and vinegar, and refrigerate dressing until you're ready to serve. Directions Credit: Brie Goldman Make dressing: In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar and oil; season with salt and pepper. Credit: Brie Goldman Credit: Brie Goldman Prep orange: Using a sharp knife, slice off both ends of each orange. Following the curve of the fruit, cut away the peel and white pith. Halve orange from top to bottom; thinly slice crosswise. Credit: Brie Goldman Place oranges in bowl with dressing; add fennel: Transfer oranges, along with any juices that have accumulated on work surface, to bowl with dressing. Add fennel and, if desired, fronds. Toss to combine. Credit: Brie Goldman How to Store Leftover Fennel and Orange Salad Any leftover fennel and orange salad can be refrigerated for up to four days. Note that it will get softer over time. Before serving, you may want to refresh the salad with more olive oil, vinegar, and salt to taste. What to Serve With Fennel and Orange Salad This vibrant salad makes a delicious accompaniment to many different types of dishes. Salmon: With its tangy dressing and crunchy texture, it's a perfect match for rich, tender salmon, like this butter-roasted recipe or these golden-brown, pan-seared fillets. Chicken: If poultry is more your speed, try this salad alongside this apricot-Dijon-glazed chicken recipe or these fragrant, garlic-roasted chicken breasts. Pork: Keep the citrus theme going by serving the salad with these orange-and-honey-glazed pork chops or bring even more crunch to the party with our crispy pork cutlets. Variations This salad is delightful in its simplicity, but if you want to take things up a notch, try one of these easy variations: Swap in grapefruit for some or all of the orangesFold in some sliced or chopped avocado before servingAdd a few pinches of ground cumin and/or coriander to the dressingChange out the white-wine vinegar for sherry vinegar for a more complex flavorTop with toasted chopped hazelnuts or sliced almonds for extra crunchToss in some baby arugula, spinach, or coarsely chopped watercress 5 More Fennel Recipes to Try Chicken, Fennel, and Artichoke Fricassee Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta Farro Salad With Fennel, Golden Raisins, and Radicchio Pappardelle With Quick Fennel Ragu Roasted Fennel and Artichoke Hearts Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.