This citrus salad is a fresh, vibrant way to showcase winter citrus. With crisp textures, bright flavor, and minimal prep, it's an elegant salad that's ready in 15 minutes and perfect for brunch or entertaining.
Come wintertime, citrus fruit just hits different. Maybe it's my body craving an immunity boost in Wisconsin winter, but I just CRAVE oranges and grapefruits. If you know, you know.
And while I love to use local produce whenever possible, citrus fruits can't grow where I live. So this is one of those situations where I'll seasonally, but not perfectly locally, because citrus in January is non-negotiable. It's part of the flexible, realistic approach I take to eating seasonally: do what you can, when you can, and trust that the small efforts add up.
Whether it's winter where you are or not, this is the juiciest, most refreshing citrus fruit salad in all the land during peak citrus season. There's even a vegetable in it (hello, fennel), and your brunch guests will love you. Need I say more?? Let's head to the kitchen!
Jump to:
Key Ingredients
- Various citrus fruits - I love using a combo of grapefruits, Cara Cara oranges, and blood oranges. Navel oranges are great, too!
- Fennel - Thinly sliced fennel shavings add a complementary flavor and crunch.
- Avocado - Avocado adds a soft, buttery texture that pairs well with citrus and provides more variety in the texture of the salad.
- Sliced almonds - These add a lovely flavor and crunch. I get the toasted kind from Trader Joe's for extra flavor!
- Mint - Fresh mint and citrus are a match made in heaven, and the mint takes this salad to next-level refreshing.
This is just an overview, but the full recipe card below has everything you need in exact amounts.
If you have extra blood oranges, make some beautiful blood orange maple pecan yogurt bowls for an easy breakfast this week.
Substitutions & Variations
- Citrus fruits - Feel free to substitute or add any citrus fruits you love! Navel oranges, mandarins, and clementines would be other delicious options. If you're aiming to make the dish beautiful, I recommend including a variety of sizes and colors.
- Hearty - This citrus mint salad is a great as a side dish or lighter snack, but you could also make it a main meal by adding greens or grains. Quinoa, farro, arugula and/or radicchio would be delightful!
- Honey - A drizzle of honey also tastes so delicious and adds a little more sweetness.
- Nuts - If you're allergic to nuts, feel free to sub in pepitas for some crunch. As for using other nuts, I love chopped hazelnuts or pistachios.
- Cheese - For realsies, cheese adds an amazing salty element to whatever dish it's in, which makes it an amazing complement to sweet fruit. I love tossing some feta into this salad for a salty little flavor pop!
How to Make This Citrus Mint Salad
Step 1: Peel and slice your citrus. Start by cutting off the ends of each orange or grapefruit, then cutting off the peeling along the edge of the fruit.
Step 1 (continued): Cut the round fruits into slices (like pictured).
Step 2: Thinly slice your fennel (a mandoline is super helpful), and slice your avocado.
Step 3: Assemble your salad in layers, varying different ingredients and colors until all ingredients are used up. Top with a squeeze of lemon juice, drizzle of olive oil, fresh mint leaves, and sliced almonds.
Pro Tip: I love to use a large serving bowl or plate to serve this salad. That way all the beautiful layers will be on display, making it easy to get a little bit of everything on your plate.
Success Tip
Part of what makes this salad special is that the citrus fruits have a clean cut without any pith, leaving beautiful, jewel-like pieces of fruit.
The best way to achieve this is by peeling and slicing your citrus with a knife so that all the pith is removed. The photos and steps above should help show what this process looks like!
Sustainability Tip: Repurposing Citrus Peels
You can compost your citrus peels (or throw them away), but dehydrated citrus peels have so many culinary uses, and they're so easy to make!
All you need to do is remove as much of the pith as possible, rinse your peels, and dry them thoroughly. Note: if you're going to ingest citrus peels, organic fruit is best to avoid pesticides.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees, and line the peels in an even layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Let them dehydrate in the oven until fully dry and breakable, about three hours.
Crumble them and store in an airtight container. Brew them as you would loose leaf tea, combine with spice blends, or use in baked goods. So good, and perfect for reducing waste!
FAQs
For the freshest possible salad, I recommend preparing the citrus and fennel slices in advance and storing in an airtight container in the fridge until you're ready to serve. Right before serving, add the avocado slices, mint, almonds, lemon, and olive oil. This way we avoid brown avocado and mushy ingredients!
If prepping in advance, store the citrus salad in an airtight container in the fridge except for the avocado, mint, lemon juice, olive oil, and sliced almonds. When ready to serve, freshly slice and add in the avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, and sliced almonds for the freshest crunch. Garnish with fresh pieces of mint!
If storing leftovers, simply place in an airtight storage container for up to 4-5 days in the fridge. I don't recommend freezing this salad.
Complete Your Winter Brunch Spread
Looking for a full brunch spread to share with friends or family in winter? Take a look at these other recipes to serve alongside your citrus mint salad!
📖 Recipe
Winter Citrus Salad with Fennel + Mint
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
Description
This citrus salad is paired with delicate shaved fennel, avocado slices, fresh mint, and crunchy sliced almonds for an incredibly refreshing salad! It's a brunch favorite, but can also be enjoyed for breakfast, snack, or any time of day.
Ingredients
- 2 grapefruits
- 2 Cara Cara oranges
- 3 blood oranges
- 1 bulb of fennel
- 1 avocado, halved & pitted
- Handful of fresh mint leaves, cut into ribbons or chopped
- â…“ cup sliced almonds
- Juice from 1 lemon
- Drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
- Peel and slice citrus. Cut the ends off of each piece of citrus fruit (the side with the navel and its opposite side). Placing the flat side down on the cutting board, slice between the pith and the fruit flesh to remove all pith and skin. Lie the fruit on its side (the citrus segments will be horizontal) and slice crosswise into the fruit, creating slices about 1 centimeter thick.
- Shave fennel & slice avocado. Cut the end off of the fennel bulb and shave into thin slices using a mandoline or very sharp knife. Take each avocado half and cut slices lengthwise into the fruit. Scoop these out with a spoon to use in the salad.
- Assemble salad in layers. Start to place layers of citrus slices, fennel, and avocado slices into a large flat bowl or serving plate, incorporating sprinkles of mint leaves as you go. Once all the ingredients are layered into the salad, sprinkle on slice almonds and add lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil. Garnish with more mint, and serve it up to your lovely guests.Â
Notes
- Mint. You can roughly chop the mint, but I LOVE using a kitchen shears to cut leafy herbs like mint and basil into ribbons. You can just hold it right over your dish and snip, snip, snip. Leave some whole mint leaves for garnish, if desired!
- Make-ahead instructions. When making ahead, I recommend preparing everything about 1-2 days in advance except for the avocado, mint, almonds, lemon juice, and olive oil. Cut and slice citrus, shave fennel, and place in the fridge in an airtight container. When you're ready to serve, add in your avocado, almonds, lemon juice, olive oil, and fresh mint! This ensures that all ingredients are kept as fresh as possible and nothing gets mushy or brown.
- Citrus. Please explore all the citrus! Grapefruit, Cara Cara oranges, and blood oranges are all delightful, but get your hands on some mandarins, clementines, and navel oranges at the peak of the season. You won't regret it!
- Prep Time: 10
- Category: Salad
- Method: Slice & combine
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: About 1.5 cups
- Calories: 216
- Sugar: 11.7 g
- Sodium: 14.6 mg
- Fat: 11.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 29.6 g
- Fiber: 8 g
- Protein: 4.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Karl says
Perfect recipe for fruits I brought back from Florida!
Tera says
Yessss!!