This Shaved Fennel Salad with stone fruit is an easy 6 ingredient salad that tastes restaurant-quality. The anise flavor of the fennel pairs perfectly with ripe fruit for a side salad that works well with almost any protein.
What can be better than a 6 ingredient, salad?! Maybe one that makes the most of in season produce like peaches and nectarines. We first made this Shaved Fennel Salad when I got one too many peaches from the farmers market and I needed a fun, summery way to make the most of the sweet and oh so delicious stone fruit. And what pairs better with sweet stone fruit, than crisp thin slices of fennel?
Fennel might just be the most underrated vegetable in the produce aisle. With its crisp bite, gentle anise flavor, and dill-like fonds, it deserves far more love—especially in raw preparations. When shaved paper-thin, either with a sharp knife or a careful pass over the mandolin, fennel transforms into something delicate and salad-worthy, like ribbons of cool crunch.
For this salad, it gets tossed with juicy stone fruit—peaches, plums, nectarines, whatever’s ripe and fragrant—creating a contrast that’s bright, sweet, and completely irresistible. It’s the kind of summer salad that feels like a secret because it’s so easy to make.
If you like this salad, you’ll love this Peach & Burrata Salad, and this Mediterranean Orzo Salad.
Ab’s Tip: We love using the fonds from the fennel on this one. Not only does is bring a beautiful texture to the salad, they’re delicious and means less waste!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe:
- It’s great for peak summer stone fruit. Whether it’s peaches, plums, nectarines, or whatever you can get your hands on, these fruits bring fresh, vibrant flavors to the salad
- 6 ingredient salad. This salad doesn’t involve turning on your oven, in fact there is zero cooking. It’s simple, fresh and comes together quick.
- Restaurant salad right at home. This salad not only tastes good, but it looks beautiful too. It really brings restaurant quality to your own backyard.
Ingredients:
- Fennel: Thin slices of shaved fennel as a crisp bite, and the fennel fonds add a layer of depth and beauty.
- Stone fruit: Peaches, plums, nectarines, you can use whatever you want to bring that sweet flavor.
- Fresh basil: Another winner in the summer is fresh basil and it is the perfect finishing touch to this.
- White wine vinegar: Adding a little acid to this salad brings the whole thing together.
- Olive oil: A drizzle of good olive oil adds the perfect finishing touch and balances out all the flavors.
- Red pepper flakes: Adding just a touch of heat to balance the sweetness of the stone fruit.
How to make this Shaved Fennel Salad:
1. Slice fruit into wedges and add to a bowl.
2. Remove fennel fonds and slice bulb in half. Remove stalks and root. Using a mandolin or just carefully with a knife, thinly slice the fennel. Add to bowl with the peaches.
3. Add pepper flakes, olive oil and vinegar and mix together gently
4. Top with slices of fresh basil and fennel fonds.
Expert Tips:
- Shave the fennel with a mandoline: When you eat fennel raw, it really tastes best when cut paper thin. A mandoline is really the only way to get those thin, crisp pieces. If you need to use a knife, carefully cut as thin as you possible can.
- Prep the fennel by removing the root and the core. Cut off the end of the fennel bulb and chop in half. This will allow you to remove the core before you begin slicing.
- Add whatever stone fruits look the most ripe and in season. This salad is versatile, allowing for adding whatever stone fruits you want all summer long.
- Make this salad your own. The fennel and stone fruit is a great salad on its own, but could easily be paired with a cheese, or nut. I would suggest parmesan, feta or a blue cheese, and really any nut like a walnut, pine nut, hazelnut etc, would be delicious.
What to Serve with Shaved Fennel Salad:
This salad is best in the summer when stone fruit is ripe. I would suggest pairing with other summer dishes like these:
- Grapefruit and Halloumi Tacos
- Green Goddess BLT
- Pork Schnitzel with Cucumber Salad
- Pasta with Vegetables and Goat Cheese
Storage and Make Ahead:
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. We usually like to let it sit out for 15 minutes or so to take the chill off and toss it with a tablespoon of olive oil before serving.
We don’t recommend freezing this Fennel & Stone fruit Salad. But if you want to prep the fennel ahead of time, it keeps very well. Stone fruits are best prepped right before serving for optimal freshness.
FAQs
Stone fruits would be our first choice, but other good options would be grapefruit or apple.
Fennel is a versatile vegetable with a distinct anise or licorice-like flavor. It pairs best with most cheese, nuts and/or sweet fruits.
Yes! This salad is perfect for raw fennel. The key to eating raw fennel is to shave it paper thin so you get the perfect crisp bite.
Shaving the fennel paper thin and removing the pit from your stone fruit. Then add whatever other toppings you want.
More Delicious Salad Recipes
- Buffalo Chicken Salad (Sweetgreen copycat)
- Green Bean Salad
- Grapefruit & Pine Nut Salad
- Grilled Romaine with Prosciutto
Shaved Fennel Salad
Ingredients
- 1 fennel bulb
- 2 pieces of stone fruit peaches, nectarines, apricots etc
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- Red pepper flakes
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Sea salt and pepper
- Handful of fresh basil
Instructions
- Slice fruit into wedges and add to a bowl.
- Remove fennel fonds and slice bulb in half. Remove stalks and root. Using a mandolin or just carefully with a knife, thinly slice the fennel. Add to bowl with the peaches.
- Add pepper flakes, olive oil and vinegar and mix together gently.
- Top with slices of fresh basil and fennel fonds. Enjoy!
