Gordon Ramsay’s fennel salad is a crisp, vibrant dish made with thinly shaved fennel, blood oranges, radicchio, and a white balsamic dressing with fresh dill. It comes together in about 15 minutes with zero cooking, so it works as a quick starter or a side for grilled meats and fish.
The recipe appears as Blood Orange, Radicchio and Fennel Salad in Gordon Ramsay’s Quick and Delicious (2019), where he writes that it “looks stunning with the blood oranges and sliced fennel, and makes a beautiful addition to a big lunch.” He suggests serving it with chicken, fish, or barbecued meats, or turning it into a starter by placing burrata on top.
What sets his version apart is how he builds the dressing. Instead of a standard vinaigrette, he whisks white balsamic with honey, wholegrain mustard, fresh blood orange juice, lemon juice, and chopped dill. That combination balances the bitter radicchio and anise-flavoured fennel without drowning either one.
Gordon Ramsay Fennel Salad Recipe
Course: SaladsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
15
minutes125
A crisp, no-cook salad from Gordon Ramsay’s Quick and Delicious built around shaved fennel, blood oranges, and torn radicchio. Ramsay recommends mixing radicchio varieties for colour, and across his other cookbooks he soaks sliced fennel in ice water to intensify the crunch.
Ingredients
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and quartered
3 blood oranges
1 head of radicchio (or a mix of varieties like Castelfranco, Trevisano, or Chioggia), core removed and leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
- For the dressing:
3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
Juice of 1/2 blood orange
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
4 tbsp (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Shave the fennel: Trim the fennel bulb and cut it into quarters. Slice each quarter very finely using a mandolin. You want the slices thin enough to be almost translucent, because thick fennel is tough and fibrous to eat raw.
- Segment the oranges: Using a sharp knife, peel the blood oranges and take care to remove all the white pith. Slice the peeled flesh into thin discs.
- Prep the radicchio: Remove the core from the radicchio and tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Put these into a large salad bowl along with the fennel slices and blood orange discs.
- Whisk the dressing: Combine the white balsamic vinegar, honey, wholegrain mustard, blood orange juice, lemon juice, and chopped dill in a bowl. Whisk in the olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust, adding more acidity or sweetness if needed.
- Dress and serve: Pour half the dressing into the salad bowl and mix carefully with your hands until everything is coated. Pile onto plates and drizzle the remaining dressing over the top before serving.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay use a mandolin for the fennel?
Raw fennel needs to be paper-thin to work in a salad. Thick slices are fibrous and tough to chew. A mandolin gets each piece uniformly thin in seconds, so the texture stays light and crisp.
In his Sunday Lunch cookbook, he takes this further by soaking sliced fennel in ice water for 15 to 20 minutes. The cold water curls the shavings and makes them crunchier, which is worth trying if you have time.
Why white balsamic instead of regular?
Dark balsamic would stain the radicchio and fennel a muddy brown, and its heavy sweetness overpowers the dill. White balsamic has the same tang but a cleaner, lighter flavour that lets the natural colours shine through. If you can’t find it, white wine vinegar works as a substitute.
Why mix the salad by hand?
Ramsay says to mix “carefully with your hands” because blood orange slices and torn radicchio are fragile. Tongs or spoons would bruise the oranges and crush the leaves. He also holds back half the dressing and drizzles it over the plated salad, which keeps things looking fresh instead of soggy.
What radicchio works best here?
Ramsay names three varieties: Castelfranco with its pale red-splattered leaves, curly Trevisano Tardivo, and classic round Chioggia. Mixing varieties adds different shapes and colours. If you can’t find radicchio, he says red chicory (endive) works as a flavour substitute, since the bitterness is what balances the sweet oranges and anise fennel.
How does this compare to his other fennel salads?
He uses fennel in salads across three books, each in a different direction. His Rocket, Fennel, Watercress and Pear Salad from Sunday Lunch pairs it with honey mustard vinaigrette, while the Minted Melon, Feta and Fennel Salad from Fast Food goes sweeter with cantaloupe and crumbled feta.
This version is the most Mediterranean of the three, which is why he suggests burrata on top. Blood oranges peak from December to March, so that’s when this salad is at its best. It pairs well alongside a lentil salad or beet salad for a colourful winter spread.
I’m Ava Taylor. I’m A Self-taught Home Cook Who Loves Gordon Ramsay Recipes. I Try Every Dish In My Small Apartment Kitchen And Tweak It Until It Works. I Write Clear Steps With Simple Words So Anyone Can Follow. I Share Honest Wins, Mistakes, And Quick Tips To Help You Cook With Confidence.