Fennel Potato Salad is creamy, flavorful, and so easy to make! It features ingredients like new red potatoes, crunchy fennel, green onions, fresh dill weed, and tasty, creamy potato salad dressing. The dressing is a perfect balance of sweet and tangy that really elevates the entire potato salad!
If you love to serve potato salads, make sure to check out our ever so popular Southern Potato Salad, Parmesan Dill Potato Salad, and Loaded Baked Potato Salad.
Fennel Potato Salad
It’s summer, which means it’s time… Time for grilling and a new potato salad recipes, that is! No picnic or backyard barbecue would ever be complete without some kind of a potato salad. However, instead of grabbing a container of it from the deli section of your grocery store or using a recipe you’ve made a million times, shake things up a little with my favorite Fennel Potato Salad.
The salad itself consists of new red potatoes, which essentially just means small red potatoes. They have a thinner skin than most other potatoes, and their flavor is subtle and slightly sweet. Plus, the pop of that signature rosy red color is so gorgeous in this summery potato salad! The new red potatoes are tossed with fennel, red onion, scallions, and minced fresh dill weed. Combined, all of those tasty ingredients create one unforgettably good bite – especially when they’re all tossed with the potato salad dressing.
Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, and mayonnaise are just a few of the ingredients that are featured in this flavorful dressing. I love this dressing for this specific potato salad because it’s got just enough flavor to be delicious on its own, but it’s also neutral enough to compliment the flavors of the salad itself. Above all else, it’s got bright and tangy flavors that make it taste delightfully summer ready! Take this Fennel Potato Salad to your next celebration in the sun and watch it disappear.
How to Make Fennel Potato Salad
Ingredients You’ll Need:
For the salad:
- New Red Potatoes – These are also known as baby or creamer red potatoes. The main thing to look out for is that they’re small!
- Fennel – It has a large white bulb and flowering long green shoots that resemble larger dill weed in the way they look.
- Red Onion
- Scallions – Scallions, also known as green onions, add a ton of fresh flavor to this recipe. Make sure to rinse and pat them dry prior to using!
- Dill Weed – For the absolute best flavor, use fresh, not dried dill weed. (If you have to use dried dill weed, use half the amount.)
For the dressing:
- Mayonnaise – For the creamiest results, use a full fat, not low fat mayo.
- Dijon Mustard – Do NOT substitute this ingredient with plain yellow mustard!
- Olive Oil – Try to use a good quality olive oil that’s green in color for the best tasting dressing.
- Garlic – use fresh garlic, not pre-minced.
- Sugar
- Black Pepper
- Salt
Directions:
Prepare the potatoes.
Do not cut the potatoes! Leave them whole, and rinse them and place them in a pot. Fill the pot with cold water, making sure all of the potatoes are covered with water.
Salt the water generously. Cook the potatoes in the salted, simmering water until fork tender. Make sure that they’re tender, but not falling apart, or they won’t hold up in the salad.
Drain the water and let the potatoes cool completely prior to cutting.
Cut the potatoes in half or in quarters, depending on the size of the potatoes and your personal preferences.
Cut the fennel.
Place the white fennel on its side on the cutting board and cut off the green shoots close to the white bulb.
Cut the fennel bulb in half, lengthwise. Place the bulb half cut side down and slice it across thinly, like you would an onion. Discard the root.
Note: You probably don’t want to eat the actual stalks because they are tough and fibrous, but you can use it to flavor homemade soup broths. The green whiskers can be used as an herb to flavor dressings and salads. They have a similar flavor as the bulb, but are a bit milder and more citrusy. Also, even though it looks like it, it does not taste like dill weed.
Toss the potato salad.
Slice the red onion thinly, chop the scallions, and mince the fresh dill weed. Combine all of those ingredients with the potatoes and fennel in a large mixing bowl. Mix everything together with the dressing.
Serve.
This salad can be enjoyed immediately, and it can be served warm or cold.
To serve it cold, refrigerate the dressing and potato salad separately. Then mix the dressing and salad together just before serving. This will help keep the fennel and scallions crisp.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does fennel taste like?
Fennel is a member if carrot family. It has a large white bulb and flowering long green shoots that resemble larger dill weed in the way they look. Fennel has a pretty strong anise (licorice) aroma, but the flavor is mild.
It has a slightly sweet anise flavor that pairs wonderfully with savory and earthy vegetables. It also adds a very pleasant crunch to salads. Fennel is popular in both Mediterranean and Italian cuisines.
Can I make this potato salad ahead of time?
You can easily make most of the potato salad ahead of time, saving only a few minutes of work before serving. Cook the potatoes ahead of time, cool them, and cut them. Store cooked and cut potatoes in the refrigerator in an airtight food storage container.
You can also mix the potato salad dressing ahead of time and store it separately, in the refrigerator, in an airtight container. Save cutting onions, fennel, and dill weed until you’re ready to mix and serve the salad. It’s best to add these ingredients fresh to preserve it’s natural crunch.
Fennel Potato Salad
Fennel Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs new red potatoes
- 1 medium fennel
- 1/2 red onion
- 2 stalks of scallions (green onion)
- 2 tbsp minced fresh dill weed
Potato Salad Dressing:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 – 1 1/2 tbsp white granulated sugar
- 1/8-1/4 tsp black pepper to taste
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rinse potatoes and place them in a pot (do not cut the potatoes!). Fill the pot with cold water, making sure potatoes are covered.
- Add a generous amount of salt to the water. Cook potatoes in salted, simmering water (over medium heat) until fork tender but not falling apart. Drain off the water and cool potatoes completely before cutting.
- Cut potatoes half or quarters (depending on the size) and add to a large mixing bowl.
- To cut fennel: Place the white fennel on its side on the cutting board and cut off the green shoots close to the white bulb. Cut the fennel bulb in half, lengthwise. Place the bulb half cut side down and slice it across, thinly, like you would an onion. Discard the root. Note: you can use the fennel shoots to flavor the water while cooking potatoes. Just add 2-3 stalks.
- Slice red onion thinly, chop scallions, and mince dill weed. Combine vegetables and potatoes in a mixing bowl, season with some salt, and mix with the dressing until evenly coated.
- You can choose to serve this potato salad still warm or cold.
- If you want to serve it cold, don't add the dressing to the salad but refrigerate both separately. Mix the potato salad with the dressing right before serving. This will help keep the fennel and onions crisp. (Note: cut the onions and fennel only about 2 hours before serving or it will start to get wilt.)
Nutrition
Daisy's Kitchen says
Look yummy recipe. i can try recipe 🙂 thank you willcook
LyubaB says
Thanks 🙂