Fennel Apple Salad
Refreshing and vibrant, this fennel apple salad is made with shaved fennel, crisp apples and peppery arugula , tossed with a simple Dijon vinaigrette and topped with chopped, toasted walnuts.
What I love about this fennel and apple salad
Have you guys hopped on the spiralizer bandwagon yet? I’m sure you’ve at least noticed that zoodles (zucchini noodles) are all the rage on Pinterest right now. If you haven’t, go look right now. I had been wanting to try them for months, but I just hadn’t gotten around to it. Thankfully, OXO sent me their new Spiralizer – the fancy one that has a crank – and I’ve been spiralizing things ever since.
So what did I think about zucchini noodles? I’m only half impressed. Some recipes I’ve tried have turned out great, and some have been a bit on the watery side. But, guess what. You can use a spiralizer for other vegetables. I used it to make this fennel apple salad.
How cool do these onions look? I had to cut the noodles up so they wouldn’t go on forever, but I love how uniform and thin the spiralizer cut them.
Here’s what you’ll need to make it
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And, in honor of my favorite television show – Gilmore Girls – I added walnuts to the fennel salad. I’m sure very few people, and only crazy/psycho fans like myself would get the reference, but it’s there. I’ve actually been thinking about trying to make everything they’ve ever mentioned on the show as a sort of challenge for myself. It serves as great inspiration, and would require me to watch every single episode again. I’ve been especially motivated by all this news of the upcoming revival on Netflix. But, I’m not 100% committed yet. I don’t know what do you guys think? Is it worth the challenge?
Either way this salad is super tasty, and only requires 6 ingredients. I even used store-bought dressing, which is something I rarely do. It’s the French vinaigrette by Brianna’s, which is nothing like most American French dressings (thank goodness it’s not orange). It’s my go-to favorite for bottled dressing. I am not getting paid to say this, I genuinely think it’s a good product.
How to make fennel apple salad with walnuts & arugula
Spiralize the apples, fennel, and onions. The result you get with spiralizing is a very thin slicing and the texture of this really makes the salad.
Toss the salad in a large bowl so there is plenty of room to dress the salad. Mix in the dressing well, and top with chopped walnuts. Serve immediately after dressing.
FAQs and tips on making this fennel and apple salad
The flavor of fennel goes extremely well with sweets like the apple in this salad.
When you are preparing your fennel for this recipe you will want to use the bulb. It is best sliced extra thin. You can use the rest of the plant for other recipes though, all of it is edible.
Fennel is compared to aromatic spices like anise, licorice or tarragon.
More apple recipes you’ll love:
- Apple pie bars
- Apple rosemary chicken and dumplings
- Maple bourbon apple tarts
- Cinnamon apples
- Apple cider sangria
Fennel Apple Salad
Refreshing and vibrant, this fennel apple salad is made with shaved fennel, crisp apples and peppery arugula , tossed with a simple Dijon vinaigrette and topped with chopped, toasted walnuts.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
- 1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced
- 1 large apple, cored and thinly sliced
- 2 cups baby arugula
- 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
For the dressing:
- 1 lemon, juiced (about 2 tablespoons)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together until smooth.
- Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and mix in the dressing.
- Before serving, adjust seasoning with salt & pepper in needed.
- Category: Salad
- Method: Mixing
- Diet: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 0
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 0 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 0 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: Fennel apple salad, apple fennel salad, fennel salad, apple salad, apple salad recipe, apple recipe, fennel recipe
Published: March 22, 2016. Updated: September 7, 2023.
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Watching Gilmore girls as we speak and dreamt up the idea of a spiralized fennel and apple salad…. did a quick search on Pinterest and here I am! Thanks for the great recipe – and the walnuts!! ????
This comment totally made my weekend! I have since realized that there was also supposed to be goat cheese in in, but that will have to be another post. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
What about the walnuts?
any tips for spiralizing fenel??
Just go for it. It’s going to make a bit of a mess, but just chop of the fronds and keep the base to attach it to the spiralizer.
Do you make the dressing? If so what do you use?
Hello!
What is the walnut quantity you used? (I’m getting ready to make this; the recipe, reprinted in Pine Straw magazine last summer, inspired me to buy the Oxo Spirilizer and look up the original, sine they left off the walnuts, as well.
For those of us new to spirilizing, could you possibly note which blade you used for each ingredient, especially when it’s not obvious?
I can tell you used the ribbon blade on the apples, but what about the onion and the fennel? (Though I suppose it’s not critical, since I’m pretty literal with recipes, especially the first time I make them, that info would be helpful.)
I like the idea of the goat cheese that you mentioned; I’ve got both some nice feta and some ricotta salata in the fridge, and I bet either of those could be nice, too.
For your reader who asked about a recipe for French Vinaigrette, here’s the one I used, should others also prefer to make their own:
Basic French Vinaigrette
from epicurious.com
YIELD: Makes about 1/2 cup ACTIVE TIME: 5 minutes TOTAL TIME: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons red- or white-wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 to 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
PREPARATION
In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt; let the mixture stand 10 minutes. Whisk in the mustard, then add the oil in a very slow, thin, steady stream, whisking constantly until the dressing is emulsified.
Season with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
DO AHEAD: The vinaigrette can be prepared ahead and refrigerated, in an airtight container, up to 1 week.
Tried this tonight, REALLY GOOD! Here are a couple of mods that I did. 1) grilled the fennel before slicing thin (another depth of flavor). 2) added honey to the dressing (about 2 TBSP). It just needed something sweet 3) added pecans (didn’t have walnuts) and it turned out PERFECT!!