Our Lemon Arugula Fennel Salad with Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets pairs one of our favourite Italian-inspired dishes with one of our family’s favourite meal solutions – tasty white flakey Signature Cuts™ Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets by High Liner® Canada. With a medley of simple ingredients and about 20 minutes to prepare, this recipe packs a revitalizing lemony flavour and refreshing crispness of arugula + fennel with a delicious, hearty crunch of high-quality seafood – a sole-fuelling addition to your quick meal rotation!

A beautiful combo of fresh arugula, fennel, Parmigiano-Reggiano and lemony vinaigrette, topped with “Sole-ful” fillets with a perfect amount of crunch – delish!
*Disclosure: This post is sponsored by High Liner® Canada. Thank you for supporting Canadian brands that make recipe shares from La Cucina di Kerrs possible. View our Disclosure for more information*

The best part of this family-style meal? It takes just about 20 mins to make from start to finish!
This time of year always feels full of family commitments tugging us in all sorts of directions – hockey banquets and tryouts, recital rehearsals, school festivities and family functions – and that’s why easy, quick and nutritious meal solutions become a lifeline. DadChef and I get how real the endless meal-making decision fatigue can be. Family-style salads paired with protein sources like Signature Cuts™ Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets are one of our favourite dinner in a dash go-tos. It feels good knowing High Liner® is committed to sourcing seafood from sustainable or responsible sources when we bring their fish products to our family table.
Ingredients for Making a Lemon Arugula Fennel Salad with High Liner® Signature Cuts™ Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets
Signature Cuts™ Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets – these sustainably sourced, wild caught fillets are delicious, packs 7 g of protein per 87 g serving, and are a beautiful pairing with a lemony-flavoured salad. Each box contains six, nice-sized fillets – very convenient for our family’s size 🙂
Arugula – a unique tasting leafy green and choice addition to many Italian-inspired dishes. We used a large package portion for our family-style salad (about 300 g). You can add/reduce the amount you need depending on your crowd size.
Fennel – one of my favourite vegetables this time of year, adding a spectacular flavour to this salad and always a fantastic pairing with fish dishes. We used half of a fennel bulb for this recipe, but add/take-away according to your family’s taste. How to cut fennel: 1) Cut off the stocks and leafy fronds from the top (*you can refrigerate these parts for use in other recipes and/or add some of the fronds to your lemon arugula fennel salad for garnish*); 2) Cut the fennel bulb in half from top to bottom; 3) Using the tip of your knife, remove the core with a triangular cut where the bulb meets the core; 4) Slice 1/2 of the fennel bulb length-wise into thin slices.
Lemons – my favourite complimentary flavour to pair with any fish dish and a staple in the Mediterranean and Italian-inspired recipe repertoire. We used (2) medium-sized lemons for this family-style fish & salad meal – (1) for zest & dressing and (1) for slicing into wedges to garnish the finished dish.
Lemon Vinaigrette – one of my very favourite dressings of all made with the simple ingredients combo of extra virgin olive oil (about 1/2 cup), red wine vinegar (about 1/4 cup), the juice of (1) lemon, and a few pinches each of coarse salt and ground black pepper (about 1 tsp each). That’s it! These measurements rendered a little more dressing then needed for our salad, but we love making a little extra vinaigrette anyway for homemade dressings and set aside for later meals.
Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese – the sharp, rich, savoury touch of Parmigiano-Reggiano is the ingredient that ties this delicious lemon arugula fennel salad flavour together. We used about a 1/3 cup of freshly grated cheese petals using the largest slicer opening on a 4-sided grater. You can find pre-slice Parmigiano-Reggiano petals in most grocers as well.
How To Make Our Lemon Arugula Fennel Salad with Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets Recipe
*This recipe renders 4-6 servings*
Lemon Arugula Fennel Salad with Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets
Ingredients
Arugula Fennel Salad with Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets
- 1 pkg High Liner® Signature Cuts™ Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets
- 1 pkg Arugula
- ½ bulb Fennel sliced thinly
- ⅓ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese freshly grated into petal-size slices
- 1 medium Lemon sliced into wedges for garnish
Lemon Vinaigrette
- ½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ¼ cup Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 medium lemon zest frist, slice width-wise, squeeze juice
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Bake High Liner® Signature Cuts™ Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, zest 1 lemon and slice in half width-wise, then in a mixing bowl, combine and whisk your lemon vinaigrette dressing ingredients - extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, juice of 1 lemon, salt + pepper - until nicely emulsified.
- Add handfuls of arugula until it fills the base of a large platter. Sprinkle slices of fennel over top evenly & pour lemon vinaigrette dressing over top in a zig-zag motion. Toss well until salad is evenly coated. *Optional - add a few pinches of salt + pepper, to taste*
- Sprinkle Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese petals and lemon zest evenly over top of the salad, add your baked Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets & lemon wedges for garnish. That's it! Serve immediately, family-style. Buon appetito!
High Liner® Signature Cuts™ Crispy Breaded Sole Fillets offer so much meal inspo in one box and are readily available at your favourite Canadian grocer. When simple dinner decision-making fatigue sets in, we love that High Liner® offers families a full menu of easy, nutritious recipe ideas to help simplify meal-planning!

“Sole-food” – a burst of revitalizing lemon dressing, crisp arugula & fennel and crunch of flakey white fish fillets in every bite!
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We hope you enjoyed this simple, “sole-fuelling” meal solution to add to your family’s quick dinner idea roster! We love hearing your feedback on our food shares, so let us know what you think if you try it!
More Easy Family Meal Inspo We Think You’ll Love
10 Simple Salads That Don’t Suck
5 Simple Seafood Recipes Your Family Will Love
Keep well, eat well,
So simple but looks so yummy!
Thanks so much 🙂 It’s definitely one of my favourite combos!
It had been FOREVER since I’ve had Highliner fish fillets… at least since the kids were small. BUT this is an adult meal I can get behind. In fact, I have some baby arugula in the fridge just waiting to make it again.
Love to hear that, Bernice 🙂 Definitely a dish enjoyed by all ages! Let us know what you think when you try 🙂 ~ Sonya
tasty salad and great hack to make it a complete meal fast!
Thanks so much, Nancy! One of my favourite combos! 🙂