This 4 ingredient Low Carb Citrus Fennel Salad is made with orange and lemon zest plus a little sweetener. Full of citrusy flavours and a perfect crispy salad, side dish or appetizer for a party.
Fennel has a mild licorice flavour with a crunchy texture. It's a member of the carrot family believe it or not but it's not a root vegetable.
Growing up fennel was always available in our home during the holidays along with other fruits like clementines, grapes and mandarins.
Fennel has a similar taste to anise or licorice and is very versatile and can be eaten raw, sauteed, braised, baked and even added to soups.
Although this is called a fennel salad recipe, it can serve as a side dish or an appetizer on a holiday buffet.
🥘 Ingredients used
Just four ingredients to make this festive keto citrus fennel salad.
- Fennel Bulb: giving a crunchy texture and licorice flavour.
- Orange Zest: for that sweet tart citrusy taste that makes this salad taste so fresh and bright
- Lemon: we use the zest and lemon juice to make the dressing for this flavourful low carb citrus fennel salad recipe.
- Monk Fruit Juice: adding a hint of sweetness brings out all the flavours, monk fruit juice or stevia drops can be used in this recipe.
👨🏻🍳 Steps by step instructions
How to make the low carb citrus fennel salad
This is super simple to make and can be made fairly quickly, although you should allow it to sit for an hour before serving. Just to let the citrusy flavours to mingle with the fennel.
STEP 1: Clean and trim the fennel, cutting it thinly sliced with a mandolin or sharp knife, then place in a medium bowl. Preserve the fennel fronds for garnishing the salad later. Shaved fennel can also be used.
STEP 2: Next add the zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange to the bowl. Squeeze the juice from the lemon in a separate bowl, and strain out any seeds or pulp. Mix the lemon juice with monk fruit juice or your preferred liquid sweetener. Pour the dressing over the fennel and mix until the dressing is evenly distributed throughout.
STEP 3: Tear a handful of fennel fronds from the stems and rough chop them to sprinkle over the salad. Adding some orange segments just for garnish is optional but is a nice tough if you are serving this to guests. Cover and let sit in the fridge up to 1 hour before serving. Ideally letting it sit overnight would be best but if you don't have time, it will still be delicious.
If serving at a party allow guests to take a spoonful as a side or appetizer to your other offerings. Serves up to 8 guests as a side dish/appetizer.
👨🏻🍳 Recipe tips
Top Tip: if your grocery store has a good selection of fennel you should try to purchase one that is bright white or pale green. If possible avoid bulbs that are bruised or are split.
- Set in the fridge: allow the salad to sit in the fridge from 1 hour up to 24 hours for best results and flavours.
- Serving: serve the salad with a salty appetizer like this low carb sausage puff recipe.
- Storage: store in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days
♨️ Recipe variations
This low carb citrus fennel salad can vary with ingredients and dressing, here are just a few variations you might enjoy.
- Strawberry - adding sliced strawberries compliment this salad well and gives another added layer of flavour and texture.
- Arugula - adding a handful of arugula leaves gives this salad some added colour and a light peppery flavour.
- Olive Oil - adding a tablespoon of fresh olive oil gives the dressing a fruity flavour and coats the fennel and gives it a nice shine.
- Mint: adding mint leaves to this salad adds a lovely bright and fresh flavour
💭 Frequently asked questions
Fennel often goes well with other fruits. However, many of them are not low carb like blood oranges, apples, grapefruit and peaches. Roasted fennel is great with mushrooms, onions or brussel sprouts.
Meats such as pork, chicken or sausage go well with fennel.
A serving of this salad contains 2 grams of carbs and 1 gram of sugar and therefore should be ok for diabetics or people following a low carb or keto diet. However, all foods may affect people differently and you should monitor your blood sugars after consuming this salad to see how it affects you personally.
Low Carb Citrus Fennel Salad
Ingredients
- 1 fennel bulb with fronds
- 1 zest from a lemon
- 1 zest from an orange
- 1 juice from a lemon
- 10 drops monk fruit or stevia drops
Instructions
- Clean and trim fennel and slice very thinly, place in a medium bowl
- Zest and orange and lemon on to the fennel in the bowl
- Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a seperate bowl and mix with the monk fruit juice. Pour over the salad.
- Garnish with fennel fronds and orange segments (optional)
Notes
This recipe card provides the basic details to make this recipe. For more information, questions or variations please review the content above the recipe card.
Updates and Revisions
If conflicting information between the video and recipe card, the recipe card will always have the most up to date information, ingredients and instructions.
Nutritional Information
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
🌡️ Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more food guidelines
Jeannie
A new salad for me to try, Ive been finding ways to prepare a recipe with fennel
nancy
the citrus paring really makes it so light and bright!
Lilly
I love the flavors of this salad! I added mint as well and it was delish!