This Apple Fennel Salad deserves a place at your dining table this season. It combines sliced apples, sliced fennel, and pomegranate seeds and is topped with a blue cheese tahini sumac dressing. Welcome to flavour town, my friends.
I love a salad that is bold in flavour and this one certainly understood the assignment. You've got the aniseed coming from the fennel, sweetness from the apple, and tang from the pomegranate. The dressing is punchy, creamy, and citrusy. It's a unique flavour combo so I really hope you enjoy it!
I have a few other salads that can act as a main like my dill pickle egg salad or my butter bean salad but this fennel and apple salad is best as a side dish served alongside a few other plates of food like my bean pasta salad or maple tahini aubergine for a bbq or dinner party.
Jump to:
Why you'll love this recipe
Quick: you've got three main ingredients for this recipe (apple, fennel, and pomegranate seeds) with a delicious dressing. No cooking required, just chopping, stirring, and assembling. As long as you've got the ingredients, you can rustle this up in 10 minutes.
Bold: I adore a bold and vibrant dish, especially in spring and summer. This apple fennel salad has a sassy dressing made from blue cheese, tahini and sumac as the main flavours. You've got creaminess from the blue cheese, nuttiness from the tahini, and citrus from the sumac. It's out there, so it may not be to everyone's taste, but if you're a fan of those flavours, I'm pretty sure you'll adore this recipe!
Perfect side dish: you could totally eat this as a main dish if you fancy, but I tend to eat this with other dishes at a dinner party, bbq or just as a regular meal with another dish.
Ingredients and substitutions
Apple: I'm using pink lady apples because of their gorgeous pink coat and crunchy sweet flavour. You could use any apple you fancy, I just like the contrast of colour between the pink apple and pale green fennel. If you don't have apple or you want to switch it up, feel free to use pear.
Fennel: with the flavour of aniseed and liquorice, it's a rather acquired taste. If you don't like fennel, celery is a good substitute for that crunch.
Pomegranate seeds: for a pop of colour and sweetness. I just bought pre-prepared pomegranate seeds, but you can totally get a whole pomegranate and de-seed it yourself! If you don't have pomegranate seeds, chopping up strawberries into little slices would work well.
For the sauce
Tahini: this is a Middle Eastern ground sesame sauce that is nutty and creamy. It's a very unique flavour and totally delicious. Make sure to stir the tahini thoroughly before using. If you don't have tahini, you could either omit it or use peanut butter.
Mustard: I'm using dijon mustard but you could also use wholegrain mustard.
Honey: I love the sweetness that honey brings to the sauce. If you don't have honey, you could use agave or maple syrup.
Lemon: we're using lemon juice (this is optional by the way). It balances out the flavours quite well, but as I said, make the whole sauce first and see whether it needs it, because it depends on the strength of your tahini and blue cheese combo!
Sumac: sumac is a delightful crushed berry spice from the Middle East. It's citrusy and dark red in colour. It can be a bit difficult to find, so don't fret! If you can't find it, feel free to sub it out with a pinch of sweet paprika!
Blue cheese: I used danish blue cheese for this recipe (obsessed), but feel free to use gorgonzola or any blue cheese you fancy. If you don't like blue cheese, then you could leave it out or add in some grated parmesan instead.
Yogurt: this is to add creaminess to our dressing. You can use plain or greek yogurt. Feel free to use a plant-based version for any vegans! If you don't have yogurt, you can use mayonnaise.
Olive oil: this is to add a bit of nuttiness and mediterranean flair to the dressing.
The full list of ingredients and measurements is at the bottom of this blog, just scroll down to find the recipe card!
Step by step instructions with photos
Step 1: Prepare all of your ingredients. Slice the fennel against the grain so that the layers fall apart. Slice the apple to remove its core, then slice into thin strips and set aside.
Step 2: In a bowl, combine the dressing ingredients: tahini, mustard, honey, sumac, blue cheese, yogurt, olive oil. Stir to combine and mash the blue cheese with the back of a fork. Season with a pinch of salt and mix again. Taste and then season with lemon juice if you feel like it needs it. Add water to the sauce if it's too thick.
Step 3: In a large bowl, combine the fennel, apple, pomegranate seeds, and top with the dressing. Toss toss toss until well combined.
Step 4: Plate the apple fennel salad on a serving plate and top with more pomegranate seeds and optionally some sliced mint. Serve up and enjoy, my friends!
Top tips!
- Taste the apple before adding it to your salad, there's nothing worse than chopping all the apples and then realising they don't taste good or they're floury.
- Combine the dressing sauce first, before adding the lemon juice. Depending on the strength of your tahini and blue cheese sauce, you may not need it!
- Mint is a pretty strong herb, so if you're not a fan, or you want to focus on the dressing flavours, omit the mint and just enjoy the salad as is!
What to do with leftovers
Storage: one of the best things about this salad is that it's great the next day too! The fennel and apple stay crunchy and the dressing just infuses with all the ingredients. Store in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 3 days.
FAQs
Yes, you could use pear!
Yes, for sure. I love adding sliced celery.
No. But to make it vegan, you can remove the blue cheese, swap out the yogurt for a plant-based options, and sub out the honey for agave or maple syrup.
Yes! Just double check the blue cheese and tahini packaging!
More recipes you might enjoy!
If you tried this Apple Fennel Salad or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
The BEST Apple Fennel Salad
Ingredients
- 2 apples sliced to remove the core, then thinly sliced
- 2 fennel bulbs top and tail, then thinly slice
- 100 g pomegranate seeds
For the dressing
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey or agave or maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon sumac
- 25 g blue cheese crumbled
- 2 tablespoon yogurt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ lemon juice optional
Instructions
- Prepare all of your ingredients. Slice the fennel against the grain so that the layers fall apart. Slice the apple to remove its core, then slice into thin strips and set aside.
- In a bowl, combine the dressing ingredients: tahini, mustard, honey, sumac, blue cheese, yogurt, olive oil. Stir to combine and mash the blue cheese with the back of a fork. Season with a pinch of salt and mix again. Taste and then season with lemon juice if you feel like it needs it. Add water to the sauce if it's too thick.
- In a large bowl, combine the fennel, apple, pomegranate seeds, and top with the dressing. Toss toss toss until well combined.
- Plate up the apple fennel salad on a serving plate and top with more pomegranate seeds and optionally some sliced mint. Serve up and enjoy, my friends!
Notes
- Taste the apple before adding it to your salad, there's nothing worse than chopping all the apples and then realising they don't taste good or they're floury.
- Combine the dressing sauce first, before adding the lemon juice. Depending on the strength of your tahini and blue cheese sauce, you may not need it!
- Mint is a pretty strong herb, so if you're not a fan, or you want to focus on the dressing flavours, omit the mint and just enjoy the salad as is!
Leave a Reply