This apple salad recipe is one of my favorite fall salad recipes. Its creamy dressing and toasted pecans make it a perfect side dish or holiday salad!
When fall hits, I start craving this crispy green apple salad with fennel. It’s incredibly easy to make and has one of my favorite creamy salad dressings. It’s great throughout the fall and absolutely perfect on the table for Thanksgiving.
I cannot wait for you to try this easy recipe. For more like this, see our arugula fennel salad or farro salad with apples.
Key Ingredients
- Apples: I love tart Granny Smith apples for this salad, but any variety of crunchy apples works well.
- Celery and Fennel: If you aren’t familiar with raw celery and fennel in salads, hear me out. It’s delicious! You’ll quickly peel the celery, which removes any stringy bits, and then slice them thin for the salad. The fennel adds a light licorice (or anise) crunch. Seriously, it’s one of my favorite salads right here!
- Green Onion and Fresh Dill: I love tossing chopped fresh dill and sliced green onions for even more fresh flavor. You can also use chives or mint.
- Nuts: I use pecans in the photos, but pistachios, walnuts, and hazelnuts are great here. Toast them briefly first before you add them to the apples. Candied pecans 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 a creamy, slightly less tangy sour cream. If you don’t have it on hand, mayonnaise, sour cream, and even plain yogurt will work in its place.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Apple Salad
Tip 1: Make the creamy dressing. I genuinely love the salad dressing for this apple salad. It’s easy to make and requires whisking Dijon, cider vinegar, maple syrup, olive oil, and crème fraîche together until creamy. It’s light, creamy, and incredible with the apples.
Tip 2: Prepping the apples, fennel, and celery. To bring this salad together, you’ll slice the apples (I keep the peel on). Then, for the celery, use a vegetable peeler to remove the tougher, stringy outer layers, and finally thinly slice the fennel. When prepping the fennel, remove the core first, then thinly slice from there.
Serving Suggestions
This creamy, crunchy salad is incredible with all your favorite fall or holiday dishes. For a simple weeknight dinner, serve it alongside baked pork chops or chicken milanese (instead of the typical arugula salad). It’s also incredible next to roast chicken or pan-roasted chicken breasts. I’ve even served it with this balsamic pear pizza and loved it!
For the holidays, this works beautifully on the table next to a roast turkey or a roasted turkey breast. It’s also amazing with glazed ham. Really, anytime your meal can stand a little extra freshness and crunch, this is your salad!
More Fall Salad Recipes
- Broccoli Salad with Bacon
- Tahini Kale and White Bean Salad
- Fresh Green Bean Salad
- Apple Cabbage Salad
- Fennel Salad with lemon and parmesan
Seriously Good Apple Salad
- PREP
- TOTAL
Who said you need lettuce to make a salad? This apple salad with celery and fennel is crisp, fresh, creamy, and delicious. Serve this on the side or as a bed for grilled or roasted meats. We love using a crisp apple like Honeycrisp or Pink Lady.
You Will Need
For the salad2 medium apples, cored and thinly sliced
3 celery stalks, peeled and sliced
1 fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced
1 scallion, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
½ cup pecans, hazelnuts, or walnuts, lightly toasted
For the dressing1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon maple syrup
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons crème fraîche
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Directions
1Make the dressing: Whisk together the mustard, vinegar, and maple syrup in a large salad bowl until blended. Gradually add the oil, whisking constantly, until the dressing looks well blended and creamy. Whisk in the crème fraîche, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of fresh ground black pepper. Taste and adjust with additional salt, vinegar, or maple syrup if necessary.
2Make the salad: Add the sliced apples, celery, fennel, scallion, dill, and the nuts. Toss well. If you have any fennel fronds (the wispy tops of the fennel stalk that look similar to dill), scatter a few over the salad, then serve.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Make sure the apples are well coated with the dressing, then store the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. The apples may soften a little as they sit. Use crisp apples that aren’t as prone to browning, like Honeycrisp or Pink Lady.
- Prepping the celery: Peeling celery removes the tough, sometimes stringy outer surface. Use a vegetable peeler to peel each stalk until the outer layer is smooth.
- Substituting crème fraîche: Use mayo, sour cream, or plain yogurt. You may need to adjust the maple syrup slightly.
- Toasting the nuts: Spread them in an even layer on a sheet pan and slide them into a 350°F oven. Toast 6 to 8 minutes or until they smell toasty, shaking the pan halfway during cooking.
- Optional add-ins: Try tossing in some chopped kale or spinach, adding extra punch and creaminess with cheese (blue cheese or goat cheese is perfect), or crumble in some cooked bacon or pancetta.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
This is the best salad! So refreshing and flavorful! It was loved by all at my Thanksgiving get together and I have since made it again! So good!
This is a very tasty and refreshing salad. I’ve been wanting to use fennel in different ways. I will definitely make this again.
we loved this salad!! i’ll admit i totally eyeballed the dressing though, used greek yogurt instead of creme fraiche (can’t find that here) and white vinegar instead of apple cider due to personal preference. will be adding some greens next time, i’m thinking arugula would work well.
Delicious and fresh. Will make again!
This is my go to salad to impress! It’s delicious and all the ingredients work great together. People who are skeptical about apples and fennel in salad end up loving it every time!