Crisp and fresh salad made with crunchy fennel and juicy cucumber. This fennel salad is light and refreshing, topped with a simple lemon vinaigrette and toasted sesame seeds. With only 4 main ingredients, this delicious salad is easy to prepare and ready in 15 minutes!
Cucumber Fennel Salad
This is the easy side salad you need to brighten up your meal!
The combination of fennel and cucumber makes this salad so refreshing. Crunchy fennel adds a great texture. The lemon dressing balances out the anise flavor of fennel. The delicate fennel fronds act as an herb and make for a pretty presentation, while the toasted sesame seeds add a nice crunch and flavor.
For more delicious salad recipes, try Kale Cesar Salad with Chickpea Croutons, Broccoli Apple Slaw, or Healthy Tuna Salad.
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Why you’ll love this recipe
✔️ This recipe is dairy free, gluten free, paleo, vegan, whole 30, and vegetarian.
✔️ A perfect blend of textures. This raw fennel salad is crunchy, crisp, and juicy.
✔️ Bright and refreshing flavor. The flavors of lemon, cucumber, and fennel will brighten up any heavier main course.
✔️ Simple salad recipe. You only need four main ingredients for this salad, plus salt and olive oil!
✔️ Little waste. I love that this salad uses all parts of the fennel and lemon to reduce waste and make the most out of the produce.
Ingredients
Fresh fennel: Fennel is a vegetable with a crisp and refreshing flavor similar to anise. The texture is like a cross between an onion and celery. It has a white bulb and several green stalks coming from it that have feathery fronds. Fennel is a cool-weather vegetable that comes into season around October, but you can usually find it at the grocery store year-round. You will need the bulb, stalks, and fronds for this recipe. The fennel fronds act as an herb in this salad. If your fennel came as just the bulb without the fronds, you can add fresh herbs like fresh mint, dill, or cilantro instead. Read more about fennel below in How To Cut Fennel.
Cucumber: Cucumbers are a juicy vegetable with a mild refreshing taste. You can use one large cucumber or two smaller ones. Persian, English, or hot house cucumbers will work best as they have fewer seeds and aren’t as watery as other varieties.
Sesame seeds: Sesame seeds add a fun texture to this salad. Toasting them brings out their nutty flavor.
Lemon: Lemon is used to make a simple vinaigrette for this fennel cucumber salad. Using fresh lemon juice and lemon zest is a great way to make the most of the fruit and balance the anise flavor of the fennel.
What is fennel?
Fennel is a versatile vegetable that can be eaten raw, roasted, sauteed, pickled, braised, or used in stews or soups. It has an anise or licorice flavor when raw but mellows out when cooked.
This unique vegetable has three parts, the bulb, stalks, and fronds.
Bulb
- Flavor: Crunchy and celery-like when raw. It has a mild and refreshing anise-like flavor.
- Uses: Enjoy it raw in salads when thinly sliced or shaved, or savor its caramelized flavor when roasted. You can also braise, saute, or grill it.
Stalks
- Flavor: Crunchy and fibrous like celery with licorice notes. Similar to the bulb.
- Uses: Great for juicing, dressings, and sauces. Use it to add flavor when poaching, steaming, or making soup, stocks, stews, or braising. Use it as an aromatic flavor enhancer at the start of a recipe. You can substitute it for celery in a mirepoix.
Fronds
- Flavors: Grassy, herbaceous, sweet, and delicate with a licorice flavor and feathery texture.
- Uses: Use it where you would use fresh herbs, like on top of omelets, deviled eggs, salads, in pesto, sauce, pickling, garnish, or for stocks.
How to cut fennel
Cut the bulb in half using a sharp knife. With the tip of the knife or using a pairing knife, cut out the core from the bulb.
Use a mandoline on the thinnest setting to shave the fennel, working from the bulb to the top.
Alternatively, use a knife to (very) thinly slice the bulb, it does not matter what direction you slice. Also, for ease, you can trim off the fronds and slice them with a knife.
How to make a fennel salad
Step 1. Slice fennel into very thin slices, and cut cucumber into julienne slices.
Step 2. Toast sesame seeds until golden brown.
Step 3. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Step 4. Toss well to combine and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Slice the fennel very thinly, as this will mellow out the strong anise flavor.
- Use a mandoline for easier and more uniform slicing. Mandolines are very sharp, so to avoid any accidents, I highly recommend this cut-resistant safety glove. I don't use the slicer without it!
- Before slicing the bulb on the mandoline, remove the stalks and fronds first and slice them with a knife separately.
- If you don’t have a mandoline slicer, you can use a vegetable peeler to get paper-thin slices of fennel.
- Keep an eye on the sesame seeds, as they can burn easily.
- Storage: This salad holds up well and can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Recipe FAQ
Yes, you can eat raw fennel. Uncooked fennel has an anise flavor and crunchy texture. It softens and mellows out when it is cooked, but it is delicious both ways
When purchasing fennel, look for a large and hefty bulb with stalks that are closely packed together. The stalks should be firm and not limp. The outside should be dry, with minimal bruising, and brighter green in color.
When raw, fennel has a crisp and refreshing taste and texture. It is similar to licorice and anise. The texture is similar to an onion or celery. When cooked, it can become sweeter and caramelized, and the flavor becomes less sharp.
What to serve with fennel salad
Fennel salad is very light and refreshing and makes the perfect side salad for a heavier main course like steak or fatty fish. It would also work beautifully with a holiday meal to brighten up some of the typical holiday dishes.
This fennel salad pairs well with:
- A fatty fish - like salmon, halibut, or tuna.
- Steak - a ribeye or New York strip would work well.
- Lamb chops - like these delicious Lamb Shoulder Chops with a pomegranate glaze.
Other main course pairing ideas
More Salad Recipes
Lastly, if you try this recipe, I would love to hear about it! Be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! And if you snapped some photos, tag and share them with me on Instagram.
How to Cook Buckwheat Groats (Kasha)
Ingredients
- 1 cup buckwheat groats
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1-2 tablespoon butter, I prefer salted
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Boil water in a tea kettle or in a pot.
- Rinse buckwheat groats in a fine mesh strainer, under cold water, until the water is clear. Gently shake the strainer to get as much water out as possible.
- Heat a medium-sized pan over medium heat. Add rinsed and well-drained buckwheat to the pan. Stir with a rubber spatula. Add a tablespoon of butter, and mix with a spatula until the groats are coated. Toast for about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often.
- When buckwheat groats are golden brown, carefully measure out 2 cups of boiling water and add to the pan. It will sizzle so be extra careful and go slow when pouring, adding one cup at a time.
- Bring it back to a boil, season with salt, lower the heat to low, close the lid, and cook for about 13 min. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 min untouched and without removing the lid.
- Remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Per preference, you can add ½ to 1 tbsps of butter and lightly mix it in. You can start with smaller amounts and add as you like or leave the butter out completely.
Notes
- Check if buckwheat is cooked through at around the 10-minute mark. Insert a spatula or fork, If you don't see any liquid on the bottom of the pan - it's good to go. If there is still liquid it might need a few more minutes. Also allowing the buckwheat to stay with a lid for 10 minutes after cooking also allows all the remaining liquid to be absorbed.
- If the buckwheat groats are already toasted, you can skip toasting it in butter and just cover it with boiling water.
- Once cooked, buckwheat will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for several days.
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