• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Browse All Recipes
  • Dinner
  • Breakfast
  • About
  • Contact

Gastroplant logo

June 2, 2019 Salad

Italian Fennel and Radicchio Salad

400 shares
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

The Italian Fennel and Radicchio Salad has carrots, tomatoes, oranges, olives, mushrooms, and homemade croutons. The clean and contrasting flavors make for an easy and satisfying salad for any season.

Italian Fennel and Radicchio Salad

Stumbling upon the Italian Fennel and Radicchio Salad

I came across this salad while traveling in Italy last year and it struck me as interesting, despite its simple ingredients. There were two ingredients in particular – radicchio and fennel root – that I was unfamiliar with at the time. But they added so much to the salad that I wanted to recreate the recipe and share it with you.

The salad had lots of familiar ingredients, too, but in an unexpected combination. There were tomatoes, oranges, olives, arugula, sliced white mushrooms, and croutons. Lots of these ingredients are pretty standard in salads. But the combination of the orange and olive was especially nice due to the sweet-savory contrast.

Ingredients for the salad: arugula, romaine, radicchio, orange, carrot, tomato, fennel root, olives, mushrooms, croutons

A Bit About Fennel Root

I had only ever had fennel root cooked before this salad, never raw. When sliced thin, the texture is crunchy and crisp like celery, but without any of the stringy strands. And the flavor has a very mild tinge of anise or licorice. I could practically put it in any salad because of the nice texture and its flavor will never be overpowering. It’s also got a good nutritional profile. Now that I’m familiar with the root, I’m surprised it doesn’t appear more commonly in salads.

Mixing Healthy Italian Fennel and Radicchio Salad

A Word About Radicchio

It may look like a small purple cabbage, but the flavor is totally different. Radicchio is among the bitterest vegetables I’ve tried. I don’t think I would ever eat it by itself, it’s that bitter. But paired with sweet, savory, and sour flavors, radicchio adds a special depth of flavor. Together with the oranges, olives, and vinegar dressing it makes an interestingly nuanced salad.

Raw Mushrooms?

I was surprised to see raw white mushrooms when I tried the original version of this salad. It used to be common to see raw mushrooms in salad bars in the US, but I see it less and less nowadays. It turns out that there is no public consensus on whether mushrooms should be eaten raw. Some people support it while others don’t. If you prefer to skip the raw mushrooms, please feel free to do so. The salad will still be delicious.

Homemade Croutons

You can use pre-made store-bought croutons, but I urge you to make your own at home. You just need a few slices of bread and a way to toast them up. You can use the toaster, the oven, or a hot skillet.

  • The toaster is the easiest but doesn’t really create crispy croutons that aren’t burned.
  • The oven is fairly hands off and crisps them nicely. It’s a good choice if you’re going oil-free.
  • The skillet gets slightly better results than the oven but requires more attention. I use the skillet if I’m going to use oil on the croutons (either olive oil or plant butter).

Toasting croutons in a skillet

The Dressing

This is the easiest part. Since there is so much depth and variety of flavor among the salad ingredients, the dressing consists of just white wine vinegar. There isn’t much need for anything else – the salad is already salty, sweet, bitter, and juicy. The refreshing tartness of the white wine vinegar ties everything together succinctly.

Oil-Free Italian Fennel and Radicchio Salad

More Unusual but Delicious Salads

  • Kale Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing
  • Asian Pear Salad
  • Hijiki Salad

If you try this recipe out, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @gastroplant on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.

Italian Fennel and Radicchio Salad
Print Recipe

Italian Fennel & Radicchio Salad

The salad has fennel, radicchio, carrots, tomatoes, oranges, olives, mushrooms, and homemade croutons. The clean and contrasting flavors make for an easy and satisfying salad for any season.
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 0
Author: Thomas

Equipment

  • Skillet
  • Salad Bowl

Ingredients

Salad

  • 2-4 cups romaine lettuce chopped
  • 2-4 cups arugula
  • 1 cup radicchio sliced very thinly
  • 1 cup fennel root sliced very thinly
  • 1 cup carrot shredded or julienned
  • 1.5 cups grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half
  • 2 medium oranges peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup pitted black olives cut in half

Croutons

  • 2 cups bread cut into 3/4-inch (2-cm) cubes
  • 1-2 Tablespoons oil plant-based butter or olive oil (optional)

Dressing

  • 2-3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

Instructions

Cook the Croutons

  • In the toaster - Before cutting the bread into cubes, toast the slices of bread until crispy. Apply oil as desired.
  • In the oven - Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a lined baking sheet. Stir with oil as desired. Place baking sheet in the oven as it preheats to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Check on croutons frequently as you bake them until golden and crispy, turning once. It should take 7-15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
  • In a skillet - Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the bread cubes and spread them into a single layer. Turn bread cubes frequently until they are golden brown on all sides, 7-10 minutes. Reduce the heat if the oil starts to burn. Transfer to a bowl to cool.

Mix the Salad

  • Combine all the “Salad” ingredients with the croutons in a large bowl. Add the dressing 1 Tablespoon at a time as you stir the salad. Try a piece and add more dressing as needed. Toss to mix well.

Notes

The range in number of cups for the romaine and arugula is given as a guide. You can adjust amounts of these as you prefer. The rest of the ingredients are intended to accompany about 4-6 cups of greens.
You can use store-bought croutons but they won’t be as good.
Easy Healthy Italian Fennel and Radicchio Salad Collage
400 shares

Categories: Salad Tags: Arugula, Crouton, Fennel, Italian, Mushroom, Olive, Orange, Radicchio, Tomato

Previous Post: « Lemon Tofu Sushi
Next Post: Vegan Miso Ramen »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

About

Profile small

Welcome to Gastroplant, a place where I share globally inspired, boldly flavored, entirely plant-based recipes with you. Read more…

Sign up to receive updates




Categories

  • Appetizer
  • Breakfast
  • Dessert
  • Dinner
  • Drinks
  • Homemade Sauces and Ingredients
  • Meal Prep
  • Salad
  • Side Dish
  • Single Ingredient
  • Soup
  • Uncategorized

Latest Posts

  • Vegan Jajangmyeon (Korean Black Bean Sauce Noodles)

    Korean jajangmyeon noodles with fermented black bean sauce and thick fresh noodles with veggies, mushrooms, tofu, and potato

  • Orange and Prune Scones (Vegan)

    Orange and prune scones made from all vegan ingredients, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and served with coffee

  • Bold Vegan Borscht

    A comforting bowl of vegan red beet soup with cabbage, potato, beans, mushrooms, and more

  • Pan-Roasted Wild Mushrooms with Grapes

    Pan roasted wild mushrooms with grapes

  • Chilled Fennel Soup

    Chilled fennel soup with cucumber

GET THE LATEST PLANT-BASED RECIPES, NEWS, SHOPPING TIPS, AND MORE

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the loop.

Footer

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2025 Gastroplant on the Cookd Pro Theme

400 shares