This summer salad has all my favorite ingredients: fresh herbs, crisp fennel & juicy peaches. Pistachios, pesto & feta give it tangy, rich pops of flavor.
I think fennel is way too underrated. It’s one of my absolute favorite vegetables and I’m just waiting for the day that it becomes “the new” kale so that everyone will love fennel salad as much as I do. The wisps of raw fennel soak up olive oil and lemon juice just enough that they wilt slightly, but still keep a tender bite. To complement them, I like to add something juicy (peaches!), something creamy (feta and/or pesto), and something crunchy (pistachios).
My Fennel Peach Salad Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what’s in this delicious summer salad:
- Shaved fennel, for a crisp, flavorful base. If you have a mandoline, now is the time to use it. It’s the perfect tool for getting uniform, paper-thin slices of fennel that will soften in the bright lemon dressing.
- Lemon, to make the fennel soften & sing
- Cucumbers, to match the cool crispness of the fennel
- Peaches, for bites of soft, juicy sweetness
- Pesto, for bright, nutty richness
- Feta, for creamy texture & tangy flavor
- Pistachios, for crunch!
Of course, I tossed on a handful of mint and basil for good measure.
This is a great side dish, or add some roasted chickpeas to make it more of a meal. It keeps well in the fridge for about 2 days, so I like to have it with dinner on the first night and for lunch the next day.
If you love this recipe…
Try this roasted cherry tomato salad, this tomato basil salad, this peach panzanella, or this pasta salad next, or check out my 51 best salad recipes!
Fennel, Peach, and Pesto Salad
- 2 medium fennel bulbs, sliced paper thin
- 2 Persian cucumbers, very thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice, more for to taste
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 peaches, pitted and sliced
- ⅓ cup mixed basil and mint
- 2 tablespoons toasted and crushed pistachios
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese*
- Scoops of pesto (recipe below)
- In a medium bowl, toss together the fennel, cucumber, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and several grinds of black pepper.
- Arrange the fennel mixture on a platter along with the peaches, herbs, pistachios, feta, and scoops of pesto. Drizzle with olive oil and season to taste as desired.
Pesto
½ cup pepitas
1 small garlic clove
¼ teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups fresh basil
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
In a small food processor, combine the pepitas, garlic, salt, and several grinds of black pepper and pulse until combined. Add the lemon juice and basil and pulse again. With the blade running, drizzle in the olive oil.
Made this for the first time a little less than a year ago now when we had some fennel we didn’t know how to use, and now this absolutely my favourite salad of all time – was even our main at New Year, where we also added some pomegranate seeds! I think about it often haha, thank you for the recipe!
What a wonderful salad. I had leftover arugula almond pesto and fennel bulbs on hand so thought I’d give it a try. This is my new FAVORITE salad. Anxious to try it with the basil pepita pesto. Love the way all the flavors came together—especially fresh summer peaches. Great recipe!
I’m so glad you loved it!
What a beautiful and delicious salad, perfect for a summer gathering with friends. Several people commented that they don’t care for fennel but loved this salad and asked for the recipe. It’s such a fresh and bright combination of flavors and textures that come together so well. Light and full of flavor, especially with the pesto that was so good. I used vegan feta so it was 100% vegan.
Oh I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it!
Excellent. I’d only cooked fennel before. This is so good we will be making it again.
Crazy fresh and flavorful! Perfect introduction to fennel and a new standby by for the indoctrinated.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the salad 🙂
This salad is EVERYTHING! My husband and I tried it for the first time last night and then we made it again tonight. SO GOOD!
Hi Angelique, I’m so glad you loved it!
I’m wondering how much a scoop of pesto is? Maybe a Tablespoon? Thanks!
I put maybe 1/2 teaspoon scoops all around so that when you scoop the salad, every portion would have a some.
What part of the fennel do you use/cut?
The white/light bulb part, cut it paper thin (it’s easiest if you have a mandoline). Hope that helps!
at Still trying to make hummus. Tahini out
at stores must be popular still looking
healthy ideas the BEST.
WOW, this salad looks unreal!
This salad just looks so refreshing!! 🙂
another creative choice of salad ingredients, thank you, I love how you balance the different flavors, peaches, mint, pesto, wonderful!