Easy Braised Fennel Recipe

This braised fennel recipe is a delicious side dish for chicken, fish, or seafood. It has become one of my favorite ways to cook fennel.

Fennel is so underrated. It’s naturally sweet with a light licorice flavor. In this fennel recipe, we lean into that flavor and add fresh orange, which brightens and balances everything. It’s simple, but so good.

If fennel feels intimidating, don’t worry. Once you’ve cooked it, you’ll see how versatile it is. This is a great place to start if you’ve never made it before.

Key Ingredients

• Fennel: Choose fennel bulbs that are mostly white with pale green tops. They should feel firm and heavy for their size, without browning or soft spots. For this recipe, we use the bulb (the bottom part). You can save the stalks for homemade stock if you’d like.
• Orange: Fennel and orange are a classic pairing. We use both the zest and juice from half an orange to brighten the flavor. If you don’t have a fresh orange, a splash of orange juice works.
• Stock: Braising means we gently cook the fennel in liquid. Part of that liquid comes from the orange, and the rest is stock or broth. Both chicken broth and vegetable broth work well here.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Braised Fennel

Tip 1: How to cut the fennel. If fennel is new to you, it can look a bit intimidating, but it’s actually very simple to prepare.

1. Pull off a few of the feathery green fronds at the top and save them. They make a beautiful garnish.
2. Remove the stalks. You can save them to add to broth or stock later.
3. Working with the bulb, trim the very bottom (just enough to clean it up), then cut the bulb in half.
4. Use your knife to make two angled cuts to remove the core.
5. Slice each half into wedges, keeping the end of the bulb attached. This helps the wedges hold their shape while cooking.

Tip 2: Cooking the fennel. Use a wide pot with a lid (a Dutch oven works well). Start by browning the fennel wedges in a bit of olive oil to add flavor and color. Then add the orange zest, orange juice, and broth. This creates a simple braising liquid that gently steams and simmers the fennel, making it tender and so flavorful. Once the pot is covered, it only needs about 8 minutes to finish cooking.

Serving Suggestions

This veggie side is especially good with light mains like poached salmon, baked salmon, perfectly cooked scallops, and this cilantro lime shrimp. I also love it with roasted chicken or this roasted turkey breast (which also has orange).

Pork and fennel go really well together, too. Try this with pork chops, pork milanese, or simply cooked pork tenderloin. And for a vegetarian option, spoon the braising liquid over couscous, quinoa, or farro, and add a heaping cup of garlicky white beans.

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