Citrus Salad Recipe

Winter Citrus Salad With Fennel and Honey Dressing

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
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Updated on 01/31/22
Tested by
Danielle Centoni
Danielle Centoni
Tested by Danielle Centoni

Danielle is a James Beard Award-winning food writer and editor based in Portland, Oregon.

Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
citrus salad on a platter

The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 30 mins
Servings: 4 to 6 servings
Yield: 5 to 6 cups
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
459 Calories
13g Fat
90g Carbs
8g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories 459
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g 16%
Saturated Fat 2g 9%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 93mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 90g 33%
Dietary Fiber 15g 52%
Total Sugars 60g
Protein 8g
Vitamin C 328mg 1,642%
Calcium 238mg 18%
Iron 2mg 10%
Potassium 1333mg 28%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

This elegant citrus salad is colorful, bright, and delicious, making it the perfect salad for a holiday dinner or brunch. Deep red blood oranges, red or yellow grapefruit, and navel oranges give the salad its striking color and flavor, with shaved fennel, radicchio, and mint leaves rounding out the flavors.

Blood oranges and red grapefruit are in season from November to May, so they are at their best just in time for the late fall and winter holidays. If the blood oranges or red grapefruits aren't available, use different varieties—consider tangerines, clementines, satsuma mandarins, or pomelos.

The salad is versatile as well. If you don't enjoy the bitter taste of radicchio, arrange the salad on a bed of peppery arugula or milder spring greens. For garnish, you might prefer pomegranate seeds for their color, or instead of the pistachios, sprinkle the salad with almonds, walnuts, or pine nuts.

"This is a gorgeous, holiday-worthy salad that's all at once juicy, crunchy, visually stunning, and refreshing. I used Cara Cara oranges and two different varieties of radicchio. Even if you aren't a fan of anise flavors, the fennel isn't at all overpowering, so don't skip it." —Danielle Centoni

Citrus Salad Recipe Tester Image
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

For the Honey-Citrus Dressing:

  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  • 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons honey, or to taste

  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

  • Salt, to taste

For the Citrus Salad:

  • 2 medium blood oranges

  • 2 medium navel oranges

  • 1 medium red grapefruit

  • 1 medium fennel bulb

  • 8 ounces radicchio, about 1 small head, leaves torn

  • 1/4 cup pistachios, whole or coarsely chopped

  • 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, for garnish

  • Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish

Steps to Make It

Prepare the Honey-Citrus Dressing

  1. Gather the ingredients for the citrus salad dressing.

    Ingredients to make honey citrus dressing

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  2. In a bowl or screw-top jar, combine the olive oil, orange juice, lemon juice, vinegar, honey, lemon zest, and mustard. Whisk or shake to blend. Taste and season with salt and pepper, as needed. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

    A small bowl with a fork combining honey citrus salad dressing

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

Prepare the Citrus Salad

  1. Gather the citrus salad ingredients.

    Ingredients to make a citrus salad

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  2. Use a sharp knife to cut away the ends and peels, including the white pith, from the navel and blood oranges. Slice the oranges crosswise into 1/4-inch thick rounds.

    Slices of peeled oranges on a cutting board

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  3. To supreme the grapefruit, slice off the ends and peels, including the white pith. With a small, sharp knife, carefully cut out the sections, cutting as close to the tough membrane as possible. The juicy sections are called "supremes."

    Slices of grapefruit on a cutting board with peel shavings

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  4. Remove the top of the fennel bulb. Save the fronds to use as a garnish and either discard the stalks or save them to use in broth or soup. Remove the root end of the fennel bulb and slice the bulb lengthwise into halves or quarters. Use a mandoline or vegetable peeler to shave the fennel as thinly as possible.

    Thinly shaved fennel on a cutting board

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  5. Arrange the torn radicchio leaves on a platter. Top the radicchio with layers of the sliced and supremed citrus fruits and shaved fennel.

    A platter topped with radicchio leaves, shaved fennel, and slices of citrus

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  6. Garnish the salad with the chopped pistachios, some reserved fennel fronds, and mint leaves. Sprinkle lightly with freshly ground black pepper.

    Citrus salad topped with pistachios, fennel fronds, and mint leaves

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

  7. Cover the salad loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it's time to serve. Serve the fresh citrus salad with the honey citrus dressing on the side.

    A platter of citrus salad topped with plastic wrap, served with honey citrus dressing on the side

    The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

Recipe Variations

  • Instead of black pepper for garnish, try Aleppo pepper. It is an attractive, deep-red, flaky pepper, moderately spicy—about half as spicy as crushed red pepper—and an excellent garnish alternative.
  • Swap out the pistachios with slivered or crushed almonds, chopped walnuts, pine nuts, or pomegranate seeds.

How to Store Leftover Citrus Salad

  • Citrus salad is best eaten fresh. If you have leftover salad, refrigerate it in an airtight container and consume it within 3 days.
  • Refrigerate leftover dressing in a covered container and use it within 1 week.