This Shaved Fennel and Celery Salad comes together quickly and has such a delicious light lemon vinaigrette and wonderful crunch. It’s the perfect side salad for rich and hearty dishes like pasta or braised short ribs.
Can I just say that this salad makes me so happy? I love it for its crunchiness, its tanginess, its easiness. Seriously, this salad takes all of 10 minutes to prepare.
How to Make Fennel and Celery Salad:
- Toast those pine nuts – Get a skillet going on medium-high and toast them until they’re golden brown. Be sure to keep a bit of a close eye on them so they don’t burn. It will take about 5-10 minutes.
- While the pine nuts are toasting, thin slice the fennel and celery. I’ve got a mandolin at home, but it find it pretty easy to thin slice the veggies just using a sharp knife.
- Then toss it all together – Squeeze in some fresh lemon juice, drizzle some good-quality olive oil over the top.
- To finish it all off – A big handful of nutty parmesan cheese and those beautifully golden pine nuts.
This fennel and celery salad is so fresh and bright and crunchy. The little bits of celery and sharp fennel blend so nicely with the light citrus dressing, and that shaved Parmesan and the toasted pine nuts add a wonderful buttery, nuttiness. I love to serve it alongside rich and hearty dishes like my Italian Sunday Gravy, this Lemon Mascarpone Risotto, or this Easy Chicken Piccata.
This salad is also great because you can make it ahead of time, which means it’s perfect for bringing to a potluck or packing along for lunches. I would say that the taste is best the day you make it, but it still maintains its crunchy bite for a few days. If you’d like to make it way in advance, say a few days prior, I would just reserve the lemon juice and olive oil and toss that in at the end.
Shaved Fennel and Celery Salad
Ingredients
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 1 large fennel bulb (very thinly sliced)
- 5 celery stalks (very thinly sliced)
- ½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and pepper (to taste )
- 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the pine nuts. Toast for 5-10 minutes, until golden brown, stirring occasionally and keeping an eye on them so that they don't burn.
- Meanwhile, thin slice your fennel and celery and chop the parsley - Add them all to a large bowl.
- Toss fennel, celery and parsley with lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and sprinkle with shaved Parmesan and toasted pine nuts.
Notes
- Unlike lettuce based salads, this salad retains its great crunch for a couple of days, so be sure to save any leftovers!
- Store any leftover pine nuts in the freezer - They'll stay fresh for much longer this way.
Nutrition
If you loved this Fennel and Celery Salad recipe I would appreciate it so much if you would give it a star review! Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished salad and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings.
This recipe was originally published in December 2014. It was updated in February 2018 to revise the photographs. The recipe remains the same.
Wine Pairings for Fennel Salad:
- This salad would pair nicely with a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris. These wines have a herbaceous, mineral quality that pairs amazingly well with this salad.
More Fennel Recipes:
Seared Scallops with Fennel & Blood Orange
Salty Dog with Fennel and Rosemary
This salad is seriously all I need after the indulgent Christmas period.. definitely a recipe I will be making!
This was absolutely delicious!
I’m SO glad you loved it Darlene! It’s one of my favorites as well. Can’t wait to make it again!
Loved the crunch and the light citrus dressing. I didn’t have pine nuts so subbed in toasted sliced almonds and chopped walnuts. Also out of parsley so mixed in some arugula. Amazing!
Those swaps that you made sound delish Josie!
do i have to cook the fennel? otherwise its quite hard or can we eat fennel that way?
Hi Jo – You do not cook the fennel. It is much like the celery and should have a bit of crunch to it. Just make sure that you are removing the core and slicing thin. I hope you enjoy it!
Love the addition of celery in here for even more crunch. Looks fabulous!
Thanks Kelly – It’s one of my favorite salads!
What a fabulous looking salad. I bet it’s got a lot of flavor and crunch!
It’s super bright and refreshing for this summer heat!
Mmmmm. This looks super refreshing and shaved Parmesan obviously rocks!!
Obviously Lorena! A good parmesan cheese is just SO good!
I love this. It looks so fresh and delicious. Pinning to make next time I see some fennel.
I’ve had a few delicious fennel salads while dining out and have never made one at home, will have to now!
That sounds sooo good. I love the fennel taste but sometimes it is too much–this sounds perfect!
I tried this fennel and celery salad soooo delicious will definitely make it again
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!