Oven roasted fennel and carrots, with perfectly balanced flavours make a great side dish for a large range of meals. This roasted fennel recipe is really easy to make and very tasty.

Not everyone likes the outspoken taste of fennel bulbs. The anise liquorice flavour of fennel can be a bit bold for some people, especially when eaten raw. When fennel is heated up, either by roasting or grilling, the strong taste gets remarkably mild. Roasting fennel in the oven gives a slight caramelisation to the vegetable which brings out a sweeter taste than when eating it raw.
How to make oven roasted fennel
Note: All the exact quantities of the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
First you should cut the green top and the hard bottom from the fennel bulb. If you like strong anise flavour, you can use the green top in a salad cut in small rings. It brings out a distinctive flavour to a salad and is nice and colourful for decoration. Or it can also be used to prepare a vegetable stock.
The fennel should be sliced thinly, about 5 mm (or 1/4”). Don’t cut them too thin, you will want them to still have a bit after the fennel is roasted. You can either cut it by hand using a sharp knife, or use a mandoline, so all the slices will have the same thickness.
Since fennel has a nice flavour of its own, especially when also adding carrots and onions, not much extra flavouring is needed. A good drizzle of olive oil with salt and pepper is sufficient. However, I like to give it a more mediterranean flavour by adding garlic, rosemary, thyme and oregano. Try it, you won’t regret it.

What goes well with fennel?
Roasted fennel goes well with a whole range of meats, in particular with grilled meats and even with fish.
Looking for more fennel recipes?
- Fennel soup with zucchini and start anise
- Dogfish stew with fennel, red pepper and tomatoes
- Shaved fennel salad with honey mustard dressing
Oven roasted fennel and carrots
Ingredients
- 2 medium fennel bulbs sliced lengthwise
- 3 carrots peels and cut in sticks
- 1 large onion sliced into half moons
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven for 10 minutes to 175˚C (or 350° F)
- Cut the bottom and green tops of the fennel bulb and slice lengthwise into thin slices. Peel the carrots and cut in 10 cm (or 4'') long sticks of 5 mm (or 1/4'') thickness. Peel the onion and slice into half moons.
- Place the fennel, carrots and onions and minced garlic in an oven dish. Drizzle with olive oil and toss until coated. Sprinkled the herbs and seasoning over the veggies.
- Place the dish in the oven for 45 minutes until tender. Hussle a few times so all sides get roasted.
- Add extra seasoning to taste.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment with rating below and share a picture with the hashtag #thetastychilli and tag me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
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This sounds like the perfect side dish, healthy, delicious, and colourful. Nice compliment to a meat meal.
This is the perfect side dish for a healthy dinner or a light lunch. Love it!
I love roasted veggies, and this combination sounds divine! So colorful, delicious and healthy, too.
Ahh, I still have yet to try making something with fennel, so I’m definitely looking forward to trying this–love that it takes only 10 minutes to prep! :]
I love this! Never been confident cooking with fennel, but definitely need to try this recipe, thank you for sharing!