Pear and Fennel Salad with Double Lemon Vinaigrette

Bright, crisp, and perfectly balanced, this Pear and Fennel Salad with Double Lemon Vinaigrette is a winter salad like no other. Sweet, juicy pears, fresh fennel, and slightly bitter radicchio combine to create flavors and textures that feel refreshing yet satisfying – a perfect complement to winter cooking. With just a handful of ingredients, this salad captures the essence of the season in every bite.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. One of the most common complaints I hear from people is how they make the same salads over and over and over, regardless of the time of year.

And I get it! It’s enough to think about what you’re cooking for dinner every night, let alone about mixing up your salads and side dishes.

It’s also not realistic to think that you’re going to make a different salad with different vinaigrettes multiple nights in a week. That would require a crazy amount of produce, and a lot of it would probably end up going bad. We don’t want that.

But I promise you, if you choose one or two new and seasonal salads to make and make them a few times, they will become habitual (because they won’t require forethought or a recipe), and you can finally leave your tomatoes and cucumbers behind 😂

In this post, I’m going to walk you through this delightfully simple and delicious salad.

Let’s get into it!

Recipe Ingredients

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this pear fennel salad:

Ingredient Notes & Substitutions

The ingredients to make this salad are easy to find at any grocery store.

Here are a few ingredient notes:

Pears: Although we can find pears year-round, they are in season in the fall, and it is when they are best. Their sweet flavor and soft texture are such a nice counterpoint to the greens in salads. Use Bartlett, Anjou, Red, or Bosc pears that are ripe but firm. Wash them well, and there is no need to peel them.

Fennel: A bulbous vegetable at its base that grows tall and has wispy fronds at the top, fennel looks completely intimidating, but it’s actually really easy to work with. Its season is fall to early spring and its licorice flavor is second to none. Look for nice round firm white bulbs that are not blemished and dried out and be sure to keep the leafy fronds at the top. There really is no substitute for fennel, but if you really don’t like the flavor, consider using something like kohlrabi or celery.

Radicchio: Radicchio is from the Chicory family – so it’s not technically a lettuce or a cabbage, and it’s typically in season early fall through winter, making it a perfect choice for fall and winter salads. It is deep red in color and has a bitter, spicy flavor that pairs well with cool-weather fruit. Look for compact heads that are fresh and moist and have no shriveled brown leaves. This is a brief article with more information about radicchio. Substitute with endive, Treviso, or purple cabbage.

Walnuts: Walnuts are often featured in fall cooking and baking, and they are a classic flavor pairing with pears. Substitute with hazelnuts or sliced or slivered almonds.

Let’s Make Pear and Fennel Salad Together: STEP BY STEP

First, make the walnuts by melting butter over medium heat in a small pan and adding the coriander. Next, add the walnuts, soy sauce, and honey.

Finally, add the orange zest and remove from the heat. Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette by combining all of the dressing ingredients, except for the olive oil, and whisk until the salt is completely dissolved. Then, while whisking, slowly add the olive oil until combined.

Prepare the fennel by removing the tops and any damaged outer leaves, and cutting the fennel bulb in half. Remove the triangle-shaped core and then thinly slice the fennel, crosswise. Similarly, cut the radicchio head in half, remove the core, and thinly slice.

To prepare the pears, cut them in half lengthwise, remove the stem and core, and then thinly slice them from top to bottom. And finally, to assemble the salad, lay the pears in a couple of layers of circles on the bottom of a large serving platter and drizzle with some of the vinaigrette. Combine the fennel and radicchio, toss with the vinaigrette, and pile on top of the pears, leaving some of the pears exposed. Top with walnuts and fennel fronds. ENJOY!

Serving Suggestions

• This autumnal salad would be a wonderful side dish for your Thanksgiving table.
• A perfectly delicious accompaniment alongside my Beer Braised Short Ribs, Easy and Tender Braised Pork Shoulder, or my Cast Iron Pork Chops.
• In the mood for soup and salad? Serve this fresh salad with this Easy Curried Parsnip Soup or this Creamy Potato and Wild Mushroom Soup.

Storage

Store this salad and any leftover vinaigrette separately in the refrigerator. Although the leftover salad will become increasingly soft, it will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container. The vinaigrette can be kept refrigerated, for up to two weeks.

Recipe Card

Pear and Fennel Salad with Double Lemon Vinaigrette

By Natalie Marble

Bright, crisp, and perfectly balanced, this Pear and Fennel Salad with Double Lemon Vinaigrette is a winter salad like no other. Sweet, juicy pears, fresh fennel, and slightly bitter radicchio combine to create flavors and textures that feel refreshing yet satisfying – a perfect complement to winter cooking. With just a handful of ingredients, this salad captures the essence of the season in every bite.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Servings 6 servings

Calories 350 kcal

Ingredients

  

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• ▢ 3 pears (use your favorite variety of pear)
• ▢ 2 fennel bulbs
• ▢ 1/2 head radicchio

Flavored Walnuts

• ▢ 1 tbsp butter
• ▢ 1/2 tsp coriander
• ▢ 1 tsp soy sauce
• ▢ 1 tsp honey
• ▢ 1 orange (zest only)
• ▢ 1/2 cup walnut halves

Lemon Vinaigrette

• ▢ 1/2 shallot (finely diced)
• ▢ 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• ▢ 1 large lemon (zest and juice)
• ▢ 2 tsp honey
• ▢ 1 tsp kosher salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

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Instructions

 

• Make the walnuts. Begin by melting the butter in a small saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the coriander and walnuts and stir to combine and let the walnuts toast for a couple of minutes. Next, add the soy sauce and honey and stir well. Finally, add the orange zest, stir to coat and remove from the heat.
• Make the vinaigrette. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice to a small bowl along with the shallot, mustard, honey, slat and pepper, and whisk well until the salt is completely dissolved. Then, while continually whisking, slowly add the olive oil until the vinaigrette is completely emulsified. Taste and adjust any seasoning that you like.
• Prep the Fennel. Using a sharp knife, cut off the tops of the fennel where the bulb ends and the stalks and fronds begin, and set those aside. Slice off a thin slice of the bottom of the fennel bulb and remove any outer layers that are damaged or brown. Next, cut the bulb in half, lengthwise. When you look at the cross-section of the bulb, you will see a triangular piece near the base – this is the core that needs to be removed. With your knife, carefully cut a V into the bulb and remove the core. Finally, place the halves, cut side down, and slice the fennel, crosswise, as thinly as you can.
• Prep the pears. Cut them in half lengthwise and remove the core with a melon baller. Cut out the stem and remove any core at the bottom of the pears. Then, standing the halves up on the cutting board, cut thin slices (about 1/4 inch thick) from top to bottom so that you have full cross-sections of the pears.
• Prep the radicchio. Cut the head in half and remove the small piece of core. Place one half cut side down and thinly slice.
• Assemble. Lay the pear pieces in a circle on a large serving platter, and then layer a second circle on top of the first, in between the pear slices. Drizzle the pears with spoonfuls of the vinaigrette. Next, add the sliced fennel and radicchio to a large bowl and dress with the vinaigrette. Add the fennel and radicchio in a nice tall pile on top of the pears, in the middle, so that you can still see the edges of the pears. Top with walnuts and picked fennel fronds. ENJOY!

Notes

• As there are only 3 main ingredients in this salad, be sure to seek out the freshest produce.
• Pears should be ripe but firm!
• Make sure you cut the radicchio close to serving time, as it will start to oxidize once cut.
• Always dissolve the salt in the lemon juice before adding the olive oil.
• When making the vinaigrette, start by adding only 1/3 cup of olive oil and taste to see if it needs more. All lemons yield different amounts of juice, so you may not need the full 1/2 cup of olive oil. Vinaigrettes are a personal thing – you should make it to suit YOUR taste!

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 4gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 516mgPotassium: 621mgFiber: 7gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 248IUVitamin C: 37mgCalcium: 78mgIron: 2mg

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