This Citrus Fennel Salad is so bright and full of flavor! Perfect for when citrus is in its peak season, this salad is so simple. Add some thinly sliced fennel, a light dressing, creamy burrata cheese (my favorite cheese), and garnished with the warm heat of a flavorful chili crisp!
One of the few things I like about wintertime is that citrus is in season! It's so much sweeter and juicier in the winter, which makes it the perfect time to make a citrus salad like this. Using citrus fruits like navel oranges, blood oranges, and red grapefruit, along with raw fennel bulb AND the fennel fronds makes a perfectly light delicious winter citrus salad.
Table of Contents:
🎥 Watch the video of this recipe
Why you'll love this Citrus Fennel Salad
- This citrus and orange salad is so bright and light! It makes a great light lunch or easy appetizer.
- Topping the fennel citrus salad with burrata and chili crisp makes it have such an interesting and unique flavor and it makes it so that the taste of fennel isn't too pronounced!
- All of the bright citrus makes this packed full of vitamin C! Perfect for cold & flu season!
🥘 What you need for this recipe
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Oranges - You can use navel oranges, valencia orange, juicy cara cara oranges, or whatever kind of orange you prefer!
- Blood Oranges
- Grapefruit - Any grapefruit variety is fine, use your favorite.
- Lime Juice - Fresh or pre-juiced.
- Whole Fennel Bulb - Use a whole bulb of fresh fennel with the fronds attached! The fronds will be used for garnish!
- Burrata Cheese - The only cheese that could work as a substitute for this is stracciatella, which is basically the inside of burrata. If you can't find either, you can chop up some fresh mozzarella or use mozzarella pearls. Also, you can hack your own stracciatella cheese using this method!
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Garlic Clove
- Honey - Maple syrup or agave works as well.
- Chili Crisp - I used momofuku chili crisp for this, but any kind will work! Lao gan ma is one of the best.
Tools and Equipment
- Sharp Knife
- Cutting Board
- Mandoline
📋 How to make Citrus Fennel Salad
Step 1: Prep the Citrus
Begin by slicing the top and bottom off of the orange so that it is flat and exposes the inside fruit. Set the orange flat on one side, vertically.
Take a sharp knife and cut off the peel and all of the white pith, going in vertical strips from top to bottom. The end result should look like a naked orange, still round, with no white pith remaining.
Repeat this with the blood orange and the grapefruit. Then, slice the orange and blood orange into thin slices (rounds).
For the grapefruit, you can slice it like the other fruits, but I prefer to supreme the grapefruit. To do this, take the "naked grapefruit" and slice next to the vertical lines to pull out grapefruit wedges without any of the pith.
Over a medium sized bowl, slice about ½ a bulb of fennel with a mandoline over the bowl.
Step 2: Make the Dressing
In a small bowl or measuring cup, grate 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, add lime juice, honey, olive oil and a pinch of salt. TIP: Add any remaining juices from the cutting board from the other citrus for more flavor.
Whisk until well combined and emulsified.
Combine the dressing with the sliced fennel and toss to coat.
Step 3: Assemble
On a serving plate, layer the citrus slices and wedges along with the dressed fennel. Add as much or as little of the fennel as you like. Drizzle any remaining salad dressing over the citrus.
Tear open burrata and place over top of the salad. Drizzle with chili crisp oil and add flaky sea salt on top. Garnish with fennel fronds!
💭 Expert Tips & Tricks
- This recipe is super versatile, it would also be great with some thinly sliced red onion or some smashed castelvetrano olives or maybe even some creamy avocado and fresh mint leaves. Feel free to mix it up!
- For tips on segmenting the grapefruit, refer to this tutorial video. Also, feel free to use that method for all the citrus if you prefer.
- This salad is a great side dish for the winter months! Citrus is in peak season this time of year, so it is extra juicy and sweet!
Recipe FAQs
Fennel salads are usually a simple salad with thin shaved fennel. The crunchy fennel is often tossed with a light dressing and also often served with citrus fruits and other simple ingredients.
Fennel is an interesting flavor, many say it tastes like black licorice. However, I don't think the flavor is offensive and I find it rather mild and pleasant. Texture-wise, it is like a radish.
You guessed it, citrus goes great with fennel! Pretty much any and all citrus will pair very well with a fennel-based dish.
Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
Citrus Fennel Salad with Burrata & Chili Crisp
Ingredients
- 1 Blood orange
- 1 Naval orange or any "regular" orange
- 1 Grapefruit
- 1 large Fennel bulb with fronds
- 2 Burrata
- Chili Crisp of choice (momofuku or lao gan ma)
For the Dressing
- 1-2 cloves Garlic grated
- 1 Lime juiced
- 3 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Honey or Agave
Instructions
- Begin by slicing the top and bottom off of the orange so that it is flat and exposes the inside fruit. Set the orange flat on one side, vertically.
- Take a sharp knife and cut off the peel and all of the white pith, going in vertical strips from top to bottom. The end result should look like a naked orange, still round, with no white pith remaining.
- Repeat this with the blood orange and the grapefruit. Then, slice the orange and blood orange into thin slices (rounds).
- For the grapefruit, you can slice it like the other fruits, but I prefer to supreme the grapefruit. To do this, take the "naked grapefruit" and slice next to the vertical lines to pull out grapefruit wedges without any of the pith.
- Over a medium sized bowl, slice about ½ a bulb of fennel with a mandoline over the bowl.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, grate 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, add lime juice, honey, olive oil and a pinch of salt. TIP: Add any remaining juices from the cutting board from the other citrus for more flavor.
- Whisk until well combined and emulsified.
- Combine the dressing with the sliced fennel and toss to coat.
- On a serving plate, layer the citrus slices and wedges along with the dressed fennel. Add as much or as little of the fennel as you like. Drizzle any remaining salad dressing over the citrus.
- Tear open burrata and place over top of the salad. Drizzle with chili crisp oil and add flaky sea salt on top. Garnish with fennel fronds!
Notes
- This recipe is super versatile, it would also be great with some thinly sliced red onion or some smashed castelvetrano olives or maybe even some creamy avocado and fresh mint leaves. Feel free to mix it up!
- For tips on segmenting the grapefruit, refer to this tutorial video. Also, feel free to use that method for all the citrus if you prefer.
- This salad is a great side dish for the winter months! Citrus is in peak season this time of year, so it is extra juicy and sweet!
CC says
I love citrus salad one of my favorites. This citrus salad has a great dressing and the added buratta makes the salad crisp and creamy . It was a big hit at Christmas Eve family gathering