This Apple Salad with Celery and Fennel is one of my favorite fall salad recipes. Its creamy dressing and toasted nuts make it a perfect side or holiday salad!
When fall arrives, I’m starting to crave this Crisp Green Apple Salad recipe. It’s incredibly easy to make and has one of my favorite creamy salad dressings. It’s great all fall long and absolutely perfect on the table for Thanksgiving.
I can’t wait for you to try this easy recipe. For more fall salads, check out our farro salad with apples, kale and tahini saladand it’s warm apple and cabbage salad.
Key ingredients
- Apples: I love tart Granny Smith apples for this salad, but any variety of crisp apples works well.
- Celery and Fennel: If you’re not familiar with raw celery and fennel in salads, hear me out. It’s delicious! You’ll quickly peel the celery, removing any fibrous bits, and then slice it thinly for the salad. The fennel adds a slight licorice (or anise) crunch. Seriously, this is one of my favorite salads!
- Green Onion and Fresh Dill: I love adding fresh chopped dill and sliced green onions for an even fresher flavor. You can also use chives or mint.
- Balls: I use walnuts in the photos, but pistachios, walnuts and hazelnuts look great here. Toast them briefly before adding them to the apples. candied nuts That would be amazing too!
- Creamy Dressing: This salad dressing is zippy and creamy. I make it with Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, olive oil and crème fraîche. Crème fraîche tastes like creamy sour cream and a little less spicy. If you don’t have it on hand, mayonnaise, sour cream, and even plain yogurt will work instead.
How to make apple salad
The salad only takes about 10 minutes to prepare and keeps surprisingly well in the refrigerator. I was worried that the apples wouldn’t keep well, but since we added a healthy amount of apple cider vinegar to the dressing, they stay crisp for a day or two in the refrigerator.
To make this salad, you will slice the apples, peel and chop the celery, and chop the fennel. When preparing fennel, first remove the core and then cut it into thin slices.
Toss everything in a large salad bowl and toss with the creamy dressing that I make by whisking the dressing ingredients until blended. And that’s it! Creamy and easy apple salad, perfect for tonight or as a holiday companion! It goes especially well with pork, like ours pan-seared pork chops or this roast pork loin.
Really good apple salad
Who said that you need lettuce to make a salad? This apple salad with celery and fennel is crunchy, fresh, creamy and delicious. Serve this as a side or as a base for roasted or grilled meats. I also love to top it with roasted root vegetables or squash to keep it vegetarian. We love using a crisp apple like Granny Smith, Fiji, or Honeycrisp.
4 servings
You will need
Apple Salad
2 medium apples, cored and thinly sliced
3 stalks celery, peeled and sliced
1 fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced
1 chive, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
1/2 cup pecans, hazelnuts, or walnuts, lightly toasted
Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon maple syrup
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
1Whisk mustard, vinegar, and maple syrup in a large salad bowl until blended. Gradually add the oil, whisking constantly, until the dressing is well blended and creamy.
2Add the creme fraiche, a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Taste and adjust with additional salt, vinegar, or maple syrup if necessary.
3Add the sliced apples, celery, fennel, chives, dill and walnuts. Mix well.
4If you have fennel fronds (the thin tips of the fennel stem that look like dill), scatter some over the salad and then serve.
Adam and Joanne’s advice
- Preparing the celery: Peeling celery removes the hard and sometimes fibrous outer surface. Use a vegetable peeler to peel each stem until the outer layer is smooth.
- Replacing the fresh cream: Use mayonnaise, sour cream or plain yogurt. You may need to adjust the maple syrup slightly.
- Toast the nuts: Spread them in an even layer on a baking sheet and slide them into a 350°F oven. Toast 6 to 8 minutes or until they smell toasted, shaking the pan halfway through cooking.
- Optional add-ons: Try adding some chopped kale or spinach, adding more punch and creaminess with the cheese (blue cheese or goat cheese are perfect), or crumble some cooked bacon or pancetta.
- The nutritional data provided below are estimates.
Nutrition per serving
Serving size
1/4 of the recipe
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calories
226
/
Total fat
17.3g
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saturated fat
2.4g
/
Cholesterol
3.5g
/
Sodium
123g
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Carbohydrate
18.2g
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Dietary fiber
4.3g
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Total sugars
12.7g
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Protein
1.9g