This fast and easy Italian garden salad recipe is made with your favorite salad greens and crunchy fennel then drizzled with a lemony parmesan vinaigrette.
You can’t go wrong with a simple salad as a side for your dinner table. This Italian Garden Salad with Fennel uses simple, accessible ingredients, but if you aren’t familiar with fennel, it adds crunch, texture, and fiber. Slightly sweet like licorice and crunchy like celery, it adds a mild anise flavor that pairs perfectly with the sweet tomatoes and spicy red onions. I love drizzling with a lemony parmesan vinaigrette that can we whipped up quickly, but a store-bought Italian dressing would work well, too!
Ingredients
- For the salad: romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and fennel.
- For the vinaigrette: Lemon, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and salt & pepper.
How to Make Italian Garden Salad with Fennel
Start your Italian garden salad by washing and drying your produce. Then roughly chop your romaine lettuce.
Then thinly slice your red onion and fennel, and cut your cherry tomatoes in half.
Then toss all your salad ingredients together in a large bowl.
Then make your lemon garlic vinaigrette by grating garlic into a smaller bowl, adding your fresh lemon juice and parmesan cheese, and seasoning with salt and pepper.
Then whisk in your olive oil until it’s fully combined and no longer separated.
Drizzle your vinaigrette dressing over your salad, serve, and enjoy your Italian Garden Salad with Fennel!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can fennel be eaten raw?
Yes, it adds great crunch and flavor to your salads and dishes!
Do you remove the core from fennel?
Every part of the fennel bulb is edible, so it’s really a preference thing if you want to include it or not!
What to serve with fennel salad?
Some great main dishes I would recommend include Oven Baked Chicken Parmesan and One-Pan Italian Sausage Pasta.
More Salad Recipes
- Spicy Lebanese Salad
- Greek Herb Salad with Feta
- Orange, Fennel, and Red Onion Salad
- Smashed Chickpea Salad with Dill
- Wedge Salad with Bacon & Blue Cheese Dressing
Did you try this salad and like it? The next time you make it, snap a picture and share it to your socials! Tag @thelemonbowl and #thelemonbowl so we can admire and share your dish.
If you haven’t tried fennel before, then this Italian Garden Salad is a great way to introduce it to your family!
Your fork is waiting.
Italian Garden Salad with Fennel
Ingredients
- 8 cups romaine (roughly chopped)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)
- ½ cup red onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 bulb fennel (thinly sliced (core removed))
Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (grated)
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place your salad ingredients (lettuce through fennel) in a large bowl. To that bowl, add all of the vinaigrette ingredients and toss well; serve immediately. Alternatively, you can whisk together the vinaigrette in a separate bowl and drizzle before serving.
Fabulous salad. Nice combinations. Going to pair it with a Springtime Lamb Navarin with Herbed Mashed Potatoes!