Parsley Salad With Fennel and Horseradish

By Alison Roman

Updated March 24, 2025

Parsley Salad With Fennel and Horseradish
Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott for The New York Times. Prop Stylist: Kalen Kaminski.
Total Time
10 minutes
Rating
4(369)
Comments
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I have always been the one at the Seder table to eat the parsley dipped in saltwater with enthusiasm. “You going to finish that?” I might ask my neighbor at the table when I see they have left theirs untouched after just a nibble. This salad is an obvious nod to the Seder plate, including both parsley (karpas) and fresh horseradish (maror, or bitter herbs), except it’s less ceremonial and more just a very delicious salad. I love, love parsley and think a well-seasoned bowl of it is something that most tables can benefit from, especially if those tables include braised pots of red meat. While parsley and fennel can be prepared ahead of time, the salad itself is best dressed right before you eat.

Featured in: Alison Roman’s Seder Table

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings
  • 2fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
  • 1large bunch parsley, tender stems and leaves
  • ¼cup fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Olive oil, for drizzling
  • Fresh horseradish, for grating
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Toss fennel and parsley together in a medium bowl. Add lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Season again with salt, pepper and more lemon juice if you like. (It should be fairly lemony.)

  2. Step 2

    Drizzle with olive oil, toss to coat and grate a bit of fresh horseradish over everything, gently tossing to distribute the horseradish. (Doing it this way prevents clumping.) Transfer to a serving bowl and grate more horseradish over before serving.

Tips
  • The shaved fennel here provides a bit of bulk and crunch, but, if you can’t find fennel, you could easily use thinly sliced radish, cabbage or celery.
  • Fresh horseradish is one of those things that’s more available than you think, inexplicably included among the exotic mushrooms and other “specialty produce” at many chain grocery stores. That said, if you can’t find it, feel free to use a dab of prepared horseradish when tossing the fennel, or simply skip it, and be sure to give a few extra grinds of black pepper to compensate for its heat.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
369 user ratings
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Comments

Sonia Feder-Lewis

The recipe looks delicious and I am planning to make it. One quibble--it is the horseradish that is the "maror"--bitter herb--while the parsley, which I love as well, is the "karpas," the first fruits so to speak and a symbol of hope and the arrival of spring.

Roslyn Sulcas

Lovely fresh tasting salad - I meant to make the apple salad on the passover menu and didn't get round to it, so added thinly sliced apple to this one, which was an excellent addition. Didn't have fresh horseradish so added some creamed horseradish from a jar - worked well.

Erin

Looks like fennel fronds in the photo

Karin

Delightful, fresh, and a great accompaniment to lighten heavier fare (potato kugel) or to not overpower lighter fare (baked salmon). I used prepared horseradish and ran the fennel and parsley through the food processor for a finer mince. This helped to soften the tough fennel and distribute the parsley more evenly. Lemony and great for digestion. So good!!

Mizizzle

Perfect foil to our rich Passover meal. 1 fennel bulb (v thinly sliced w mandolin) & fronds, 1 bunch parsley barely chopped, 1 bunch dill, handful arugula. Would be happy w/ a second bulb. 2x for 25+ people. (For regular meal, add parm shavings/ pecans/tangerine.) Pick out touch stems then dress: Zest lemon over greens, then lemon juice, flaky salt, plenty of freshly ground black pepper, toss, finish w/ good drizzle of EVOO until just lightly oiled & heavy on flaky salt & lemon juice.

Grandma Ladle

I really admire Alison Roman's creativity and food sense, so I'm going to make this. However, small children will be at our seder so I'll sub fresh cut-up orange sections for horseradish. Will suggest to guests who crave horseradish's spiciness that they add prepared horseradish from the dish on the table. New thought: how would horseradish go with charoseth?

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