Zucchini and Fennel Salad

By Lisa Donovan

Updated June 3, 2026

  • Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Eleni Pappas.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Rating
5(315)
Comments
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It’s not properly summer until you have too much zucchini in your life, spilling out of your market bags and collecting in your crisper drawer. This recipe takes what might feel like a bumper crop burden and makes it a star of the season once more. Fresh, crisp and bright, this plucky, lemony shaved zucchini and fennel salad is easy to throw together for a lovely summer luncheon or dinner. An incredibly à la minute salad, the vegetables are basically softened in the moment with the salt and the acid, so make sure to serve this salad quickly for optimal texture and taste. While it is crispest and freshest as soon as it’s made, leftovers will be just as lovely, albeit not as crisp, the next day, and can be perked up with fresh herbs or even repurposed: Roughly chop and toss with arugula and cooked chicken for a great, hearty lunch. This is a salad that gives and gives. 

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

  • 3 medium zucchini (about 1 pound)

  • 2 medium fennel bulbs (about 1 pound) 

  • 1 large or 2 small shallots

  • Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

  • 3 small to medium lemons

  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus more to taste

  • 1 heaping teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, plus more to taste

  • 1 loosely packed cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

  • 1 loosely packed cup fresh dill fronds

  • ½ loosely packed cup chopped mint leaves

  • 1 cup lightly toasted pine nuts or chopped pistachios

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 to 10 servings)

11 grams carbs; 129 calories; 3 grams monosaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 10 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 348 milligrams sodium; 4 grams protein; 4 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare the vegetables: Using a mandoline (or a sharp knife), slice the zucchini lengthwise into very thin ribbons, about 1/16-inch thick. (The thinner the slices, the better they will ribbon, but slices that are too thin will not hold up to the vinegar and salt.) Transfer to a large bowl.

  2. Step 2

    Shave the fennel and shallots crosswise to the same thickness and add them to the bowl with the zucchini. Toss to combine, add 2 teaspoons of salt, and toss again.

  3. Step 3

    Zest all 3 lemons over the vegetables. Halve 2 of the lemons and juice 3 of the halves through a small strainer over the vegetables. Reserve the remaining lemons for final adjustments.

  4. Step 4

    Add the vinegar and black pepper and toss everything together. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more lemon juice, vinegar, salt or black pepper as needed. Give this step your time and as many tastes and adjustments as it needs; it will matter in the end. You’re looking for the flavors to be plucky, bright and fresh, but not too tart or acidic.

  5. Step 5

    Add the herbs and ¾ of the nuts and toss until incorporated; transfer to a platter. (It’s OK if some liquid gets left behind.) Sprinkle with the remaining nuts and a few more cracks of black pepper and serve immediately.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
315 user ratings
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Comments

Wet and Wild

Overall enjoyed the flavours in this one and my fam also quite liked it. It was a surprise to not see salting and draining the zucchini before combining. This is a must or you end up with salad soup. Mandolin the zucchini’s, salt heavily and set aside to drain for 20-30min, then continue.

Steve Upstill

If your problem is excess zucchini, the solution is this brilliant three-ingredient Spanish soup, astoundingly good for the effort: 1) Thin-slice half as much onion as zucchini. (If you're confronting doorstop marrows on the zucchini front, scoop out the spongy center first.) 2) Heat a goodly amount of olive oil in a pot and cook the onions until tender and translucent. 3) Add the zucchini and proceed likewise. 4) Take a stick blender to it, taste for salt, and serve with a lashing of olive oil.

Tejas Grandpa

Definitely need to salt generously and let rest and drain

NadineO

'Followed the recipe and then added (because I had to use them up): avocado, tokyo turnip, shredded carrots, persian cukes and feta; had mint and parsley, no dill. Added bay shrimp. I also salted and drained the zucchini and used my new and sharp box slicer, as someone suggested. Added a glug of olive oil. Delish! Two of us ate and ate!

matt

Delicious! Cut the recipe in half. Forgot to buy dill, mint in our garden is dying, so I used dried mint. Lovely perfume taste. I followed others’ advice and salted the zucchini and let it sit for 20 min. Did not wash it, just blotted it dry. I could eat this often.

Lucy

Not to be "one of those commentators" but it was delicious with the fennel substituted for endive, and the shallots swapped for garden chives. Seems quite versatile

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