Chicken Salad With Fennel and Charred Dates
- Total Time
- 10 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 2small fennel bulbs (about 2 pounds total), tough outer layers removed, fronds reserved, stalks thinly sliced, bulbs halved and thinly sliced through the root
- 1shallot, thinly sliced
- ¼cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2 lemons), plus more to taste
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 4cups shredded cooked chicken (about 1 pound)
- ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 8Medjool dates, pitted and quartered
- 2teaspoons fennel or coriander seeds
- ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
608 calories; 35 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 23 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 47 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 37 grams sugars; 31 grams protein; 716 milligrams sodium
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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- Step 1
In a large bowl, toss together the sliced fennel, shallot and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on top, but don’t stir.
- Step 2
In a medium (10-inch) skillet, heat the oil over medium. Add the dates and cook, stirring halfway through, until blistered in spots, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, turn off the heat, then add the fennel seeds and red-pepper flakes. Swirl until sizzling and fragrant, then immediately pour the oil and dates over the chicken. Toss to combine. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper, red-pepper flakes and lemon juice. Top with some torn fennel fronds.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
GEL
No problem, just pan roast first for a minute or so until a bit darker and fragrant, then grind in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Add at the end, you don’t want to roast the powder.
Dana
This salad was a huge hit, with the crunchy texture of the veggies and hits of chewy sweetness from the dates. We may use a bit more lemon juice and salt next time, but will definitely file this in our “keepers” file. PS: As usual with NYT time estimates, this is definitely not a 10 minute recipe.
Megan G
Absolutely delicious, but I’m not sure even Edward Scissorhands could do all this slicing and shredding and get this on the table in 10 minutes.
Susan
This sounds heavenly. Going to the store now to get fennel bulbs. Everything else on hand. Mmm.
Hannah
Mmm this was delicious! I’ve been a little suspicious of fennel but I think the combo of the lemon juice and dates really mellowed out the licorice flavor. I served this with an Iranian rice dish with brown lentils and dates and hazelnuts (from the cookbook “The Saffron Tails” by Yasmin Khan) and it. Was. AWESOME.
grace
I soaked the dates so I could take off the skins - always makes a huge difference taste wise. I’m not anti skin - love love a date. This is just so special sans skin.
Gila
For all those commenting that it's more than ten minutes, all the time intensive stuff is hidden in the ingredients list (eg the fennel is already shaved, the chicken already cooked and shredded). It's maddening, but standard.
Johnny Jamie
Slice fennel sticks
Susan W.D.
Fantastic! Do watch your dates - can get tough and chewy fast in the pan
Susan
This was absolutely delicious! I have made it 3 times now, and like it better without the red pepper flakes.
Jane
Delicious flavor combo! I upped all the salt/pepper/red pepper flakes toward the end. Don't be like me and doubt the instructions on blistering the dates -- I thought surely they'd need longer and gave them more time in the skillet, which they totally didn't need!
Ty Moddelmog
Shockingly good. Easy, healthy, different, delicious, modern?
Jessica
Really delicious, made almost exactly as specified. The only variations: we doubled the recommended lemon juice, and we added crumbled bacon because we had some lying around.
metrojay
This is delicious! I used coriander seeds and worried that they would break teeth; instead they provide a nice crunch and a burst of flavor. The sizzling dates are a lovely and unexpected component. Can't wait to make this for friends.
Anisa
This was lovely - added zucchini and golden beets for a bit more heartiness and it tasted so nice for lunch!
Sharon de Cook
Is this served warm, room temp or cold?
Valerie
Delicious and easy to make using rotisserie chicken. I used the fennel seeds; has anyone made this with coriander?
percy w
Didn’t have lemon so went with lime juice. Also only had a few dates so subbed out the rest with golden raisins and added some pine nuts and cashews to the fried items. Came out nicely.
Anne
Today was a clean out the refrigerator day, so I used leftover sauteed chicken, along with its artichoke/mushroom sauce - that worked well. My only recipe changes were substituting 2 oranges (peeled, cut up) since I didn't have dates, and slicing in several stalks of celery that we were trying to resurrect in a glass of water on the counter. I served on top of warm couscous on a cold day, and it hit the spot. Next time - dates!
Jane
This is good as written. For my taste I like it even better with double the dates and crumbled bacon instead of chicken.
Johnny Jamie
Slice fennel sticks
Stephanie
Excellent recipe though I agree that it takes far longer than it says. It is a very simple recipe, more than double the time they say by the time you go through all the steps plus we then had to shred chicken as it’s not common to have on hand. We used rotisserie chicken which was nice and moist. I made the mistake of cutting the dates smaller but they stuck together in the pan defeating the purpose. Next time I’ll cut them in half and sear them and then cut them smaller afterwards.
gail
Delish, and this was super easy to bring together. It has also made for some great leftover chicken salad sandwiches! Will definitely be making it again
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