Parsley Salad With Fennel and Horseradish

By Alison Roman

Total Time: 10 minutes
Rating: 4(308)
Notes: Read community notes

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 (bitter herbs) and fresh horseradish, 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

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.)
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.

Ratings

4 out of 5

308 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Sonia Feder-Lewis4 years ago

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.

Erin4 years ago

Looks like fennel fronds in the photo

rk3 months ago

How much horseradish?

Jay3 months ago

Made this tonight to go with matzo ball soup. I used curly parsley. Couldn’t get fennel so used celery and used creamed horseradish because I was busy. This seems like it would be great with leg of lamb or a veal roast or some other fatty cut of meat. Will try again with flat leaf parsley, fresh horseradish and apple like people are recommending, also some dill, which the store was also out of.

BH9029 months ago

The general texture was unpleasant from the parsley/fronds and crunch fennel combo. It was really tough, oddly sharp and a lot of work to chew. The flavors were nice but it would be much better completely minced.

kreaton231 year ago

I’ve made this a few times for casual dinner parties where we had heavier meals. Super easy and fresh. I have only made this with the fresh horseradish. It’s really amazing how delicious it is with only a few ingredients.

Andrea P.1 year ago

Easy, deliciously different - very fresh - even if it’s not for Seder. Fresh parsley and removing the big stems is key. Apple slices would be a great add, too!

JB1 year ago

Made this for seder. It was awful. Even with freshly dug horseradish from my garden.

emily1 year ago

I made a half recipe and added julienned apple. It’s so good. Granted a vegetarian excuse to eat horseradish gets my attention any time. Don’t think you need to wait for Passover to make this.

Linda O1 year ago

Delicious and easy. I added some green cabbage for bulk and plenty of fresh horseradish and pepper.

Sarah B3 years ago

I've never made this with the horseradish but made it quite a few times with lots of black pepper and really enjoy it. It's a great fresh side. White pepper instead of black pepper also works really well.

Sarah4 years ago

Great salad to have as a fresh side. Easy & tasty.

Carrie4 years ago

I liked this. I would definitely make it again, really perfect for Passover. Dressing is very good. The grated horseradish is key. I would adjust levels to your crowd.

Heidi4 years ago

This is a great salad I made my husband make it and he did it perfectly and it was delicious.

Roslyn Sulcas4 years ago

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.

PAM4 years ago

Made as written to serve with short ribs (but didn’t have horseradish). Probably used more olive oil than a drizzle. It was delicious! And outshined the far higher maintenance short ribs.

beth4 years ago

The photo in the story of this salad looks like it has dill in it but it’s not in the ingredients here. Can Alison please clarify?

Erin4 years ago

Looks like fennel fronds in the photo

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