27 Fennel Recipes for Crunchy Salads and Savory-Sweet Sides
The best thing about fennel is how it transforms. Raw fennel recipes lean on the bulb’s crisp anise flavor, but when cooked, fennel develops a delightfully mellow, earthy sweetness that pairs well with luscious meats and cheeses. The dishes below highlight both aspects, making the most of the crunchy bulb, fragrant fronds, and dried seeds too. Scroll down for salads that pair fennel with both fruit and veg, dinner-party-worthy mains and starters, plus desserts and drinks that highlight fennel’s best characteristics.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Molly Baz2/273-Ingredient Orecchiette With Sausage and Fennel
This easy fennel and sausage pasta is a crowdpleaser—and the perfect quick Tuesday night dinner solution.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop and Food Styling by Ali Nardi3/27Creamed Pearl Onions and Fennel with Crispy Spiced Breadcrumbs
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson6/27Spring Salad With Crispy Chicken and Bacony Croutons
This hearty dinner salad pairs thinly sliced fennel with chicken thighs, bacony croutons, escarole or frisée, peas, and radishes.
Photo by Alex Lau7/27Clams in White Bean Sauce
Top lemony steamed clams with a crisp fennel and parsley salad for an easy, summery dinner. A can of white beans makes it even more satisfying.
Photo by Alex Lau, Styling by Claire Saffitz8/27Cast-Iron Pizza With Fennel and Sausage
The sausage that goes on pizza often has dried fennel seed in it—here, you'll up the fennel flavor by adding half a thinly sliced fennel bulb on top. Store-bought pizza dough makes this a speedy dinner.
Eva Kolenko food styling: Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling: Kalen Kaminski9/27Skillet Roast Chicken With Fennel, Parsnips, and Scallions
Photo by Alex Lau10/27Fennel-Celery Salad With Blue Cheese
We believe that both fennel and celery deserve more love. Here, they're paired in a crunchy salad with sweet dried figs, toasted walnuts, and crumbled blue cheese. Serve with grilled chicken or pork chops.
Photo by Marcus Nilsson.12/27Plum-Fennel Salad with Honey-Ginger Dressing
Fennel's sweet side means it partners well with summer fruit, like the ginger-spiced plums in this salad.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Ali Nardi15/27Sheet-Pan Cumin Chicken Thighs With Squash, Fennel, and Grapes
Fennel wedges caramelize beautifully on a sheet pan in the oven. In this weeknight dinner, they're roasted with half moons of acorn or delicata squash, seedless grapes, and spiced chicken thighs.
Photo by Frankie Gaw16/27Chicken, Fennel, and Apple Guo-Tie
Change up your dumpling game with these seasonal guo-tie from First Generation by Frankie Gaw, one of our top cookbooks of 2022. The filling: diced fennel, grated apple, ginger, garlic, and freshly ground chicken.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson20/27Gin Rocket
There are some pricey liqueurs and spirits that you can use to add anise-like flavor to cocktails, but in this spin on a gimlet, a little muddled fennel does the trick.
Gentl & Hyers21/27Heirloom Tomato Salad With Pickled Fennel
Summer's not complete until you've had your fill of tomato salads, but the same combo over and over can get a little tired. Pickle some fennel in a mixture of rice vinegar, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and crushed lemongrass, then spoon it over the top of some well-seasoned tomatoes.
Peden & Munk23/27Red Rice Salad with Pecans, Fennel, and Herbs
This is one of those crunchy salads that gets even better as it sits. Pack for lunch at work or bring to a picnic.
24/27Braised Fennel
Photograph by Joshua Kissi, food styling by Roscoe Betsill, prop styling by Amy Wilson26/27Collard Greens Salad With Pickled Fennel and Coconut
This dish is guaranteed to be your new favorite bbq side. The crunchy, tangy fennel just loves a spicy vinaigrette.
Alex Lau27/27Honeydew and Fennel Salad With Basil
Looking for fennel recipes to make at the height of summer? Melon, basil, and fennel are made for each other.
