Fennel – Recipe Professional

Easy Braised Fennel Recipe

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 02:48:09 +0000

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.

Pull off a few of the feathery green fronds at the top and save them. They make a beautiful garnish.
Remove the stalks. You can save them to add to broth or stock later.
Working with the bulb, trim the very bottom (just enough to clean it up), then cut the bulb in half.
Use your knife to make two angled cuts to remove the core.
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.

More Fennel Recipes

Easy Braised Fennel

PREP
10 mins
COOK
15 mins
TOTAL
25 mins

Most often, you’ll find fennel with stalks still attached. For this fennel recipe, we’re after the bulb, but make sure you keep the stalks and fronds for another day. Use the fronds as you would fresh herbs, and save the stalks for a future homemade stock (see our chicken stock recipe).

4 Servings

You Will Need

2 medium fennel bulbs

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium orange

¾ cup chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water

Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1Prepare the fennel: Cut off the stems/stalks from the fennel bulb, reserving some fronds (the wispy green tips). Slice the fennel in half lengthwise. Make two angled cuts to remove the tough core. Then cut the halves into ½-inch-thick wedges. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

2Prepare the orange: Use a microplane zester to zest about half of the orange.

3Brown the fennel: Heat olive oil in a medium pot with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the fennel wedges and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.

4Braise: Reduce heat to low, add orange zest, the juice of half an orange, and stock, and cook, covered, until fennel is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve with a few reserved fennel fronds sprinkled on top.

Adam and Joanne’s Tips

Storing: Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It reheats well on the stovetop over low heat or in the microwave. If it looks a little dry when reheating, add a splash of broth or water to bring it back to life.
Serving: You can serve this hot, cold, or room temperature. They’re actually delicious cold tucked into grain bowls, salads, or alongside other chilled roasted vegetables.
The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.

Nutrition Per Serving
Serving Size
1/4 of the recipe
/
Calories
46
/
Total Fat
3.7g
/
Saturated Fat
0.5g
/
Cholesterol
0.9mg
/
Sodium
251.5mg
/
Carbohydrate
3.4g
/
Dietary Fiber
1.3g
/
Total Sugars
1.9g
/
Protein
0.8g

AUTHOR:

Joanne Gallagher

We are Adam and Joanne Gallagher, the creators of Inspired Taste. Established in 2009, Inspired Taste grew from a childhood dream into one of the internet’s most trusted recipe sites with hundreds of reliable recipes, step-by-step videos, and expert tips.More About Us

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Minestrone Soup Recipe with Spicy Sausage and Fennel

admin — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 13:17:17 +0000

How to make minestrone soup with sausage, fennel, white beans and pasta. Jump to the Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe or read on to see our tips for making it.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Easy kale soup packed with greens, low-fat chicken sausage, and potato. Jump to the Chicken Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup Recipe.

How to Make Minestrone with Sausage and Fennel

We make this easy soup often. You can think of our recipe as a guide — this is perfect for using up vegetables in the refrigerator. Potatoes, kale, turnips and squash would all be excellent added to the soup.

I love the addition of sausage for this, it adds so much flavor. For a meatless minestrone, skip the sausage and replace the chicken stock with a hearty vegetable stock. It still tastes great, just different. If you have access to it, fennel is delicious in this. It adds a sweet, licorice flavor. I especially love it with the sausage.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: How to make quick and easy creamy vegetable soup with only one pot in under 35 minutes. Jump to the Creamy Vegetable Soup Recipe.

Recipe updated, originally posted August 2009. Since posting this in 2009, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne

Minestrone Soup Recipe with Sausage and Fennel

PREP
10 mins
COOK
40 mins
TOTAL
50 mins

Think of this recipe as a guide. The soup is excellent as written, but this is the perfect opportunity to use up vegetables in the fridge. This is great eaten straight away and it will keep overnight. The pasta may become softer overtime, but the flavors of the soup will improve.

Makes approximately 6 servings

You Will Need

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces bulk spicy or Italian pork sausage, see note

2 medium bulbs fennel, trimmed and finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped

3 stalks celery, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium zucchini or yellow summer squash, finely chopped

1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans (white kidney beans)

8 cups low-sodium chicken stock, see how we make chicken stock

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs fresh thyme

3/4 cup small dried pasta such as penne, elbow or orecchiette

1 pound baby spinach (about 4 cups)

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves and tender stems, chopped

Fresh grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Directions

1Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven and add the fennel, onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt and garlic and cook for 1 minute.

2Add zucchini, tomatoes with juice, beans, bay leaf, thyme and the chicken stock, and bring to a simmer. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt, taste then adjust with more as needed. Add 6 to 7 generous grinds of black pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes.

3Add pasta and cook until it is tender but not mushy, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in spinach and parsley and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Taste the soup and adjust with more salt and/or pepper. Serve with parmesan cheese on top.

Adam and Joanne’s Tips

Depending on the store, you can find bulk sausage. If you cannot and instead buy sausage formed into links, remove the casings by cutting a slit down the sausage and pulling the casing away from the meat. The meat from two large sausages should do it.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

AUTHOR:

Adam Gallagher

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