This roasted fennel, tomatoes and white beans dish has become a favorite weeknight dinner in our house. Sliced fennel is sautéed in olive oil, mixed with cherry tomatoes and lots of garlic and oregano, and roasted in the oven until tender and caramelized. Canned white beans are added for the last five minutes of cooking time, yielding a hearty and nutritious vegan meal that will have everyone going back for seconds.
I can't stop making this dish. It's a cinch to throw together and so incredibly satisfying.
When fennel is bathed olive oil and roasted, it gets tender and caramelized and its strong anise flavors mellow to just a hint of licorice with buttery overtones - wonderful! The roasted fennel and beans soak up the flavors of garlic and oregano and the tomatoes bring sweetness and brightness to this otherwise rich dish.
While this roasted fennel dish is excellent on its own, a generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese will not disappoint.
A note on how to trim fennel
Fennel consists of a white bulb plus several long greens stems with delicate fronds. This recipe uses the fennel bulbs. You can chop the fronds and use them to garnish the finished dish if you wish, but it's not essential.
- If the bottom of the fennel bulb is discolored, cut off a very thin slice from the bottom.
- If the outer leaves of the bulb are discolored, you can use a vegetable peeler to gently shave off the discolored parts (see photo below left).
- Cut off the long green stems and slice the white bulb in half vertically, from the root to the top (see photo below right).
- Slice each half bulb into wedges, cutting through the triangular core. The core will hold the wedges together, which looks appealing and makes it easier to turn the wedges in the pan. But no worries if some of the leaves become detached, which is bound to happen.
- If you want to use the fronds as a garnish, pull off and chop enough of them to produce about 3 tablespoons.
What are white beans?
When a recipe calls for 'white beans,' are you ever uncertain about which type to use? There are many choices of canned white beans at the grocery store: cannellini, navy, great northern, white kidney...and they all look similar, but are they? The quick answer is 'yes,' they are all close enough in size, flavor and texture that you can use any of them in a recipe calling for 'white beans,' with good results.
However, for the best results, stay with regional culinary traditions whenever possible to elevate a dish to its very best. Cannellini beans, also called white kidney beans, are ideal for Italian dishes such as minestrone soup or this roasted fennel dish. Here's a great article about types of white beans, If you want to learn more about their subtle differences.
How to make this roasted fennel dish:
You'll need these five main ingredients: fennel, tomatoes, canned white beans, garlic and oregano, plus olive oil, salt, crushed red pepper and black pepper.
- Cut the fennel into wedges and sauté it in olive oil, in an oven-proof skillet, until it starts to brown and tenderize, about 10 minutes.
- Add to the skillet: two pints of cherry tomatoes, 5 sliced garlic cloves, and 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano (or 2 teaspoons of dried oregano), and pop the skillet into a 425ºF oven to roast for 20 minutes.
- Pull the skillet out of the oven briefly, and stir in two cans of drained white beans, then return the pan to the oven to cook for 5 minutes more, until everything is heated through.
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how to serve roasted fennel, tomatoes and white beans
Divide the roasted fennel mixture between large shallow bowls. Drizzle each bowl with some good quality extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle chopped fennel fronds or parsley on top. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.
If you don't finish the whole pot, you'll enjoy it the next day for lunch or dinner. It's even better reheated, after the flavors have had time to meld.
Here's the Roasted Fennel Recipe. If you try this recipe, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think.
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Roasted Fennel Tomatoes and White Beans
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Adapted from a 2010 Recipe in Bon Appetite Magazine
This hearty, flavorful roasted fennel dish comes together quickly and all in one pot, with fresh fennel, cherry tomatoes and canned white beans, along with olive oil, garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper. A vegan dish that the whole family will love.
Ingredients
- 2 large fennel bulbs (fronds not needed but can be chopped and used to garnish, if desired)
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, divided
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes or other small tomatoes (whatever is sweetest and ripest)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves, from 4-5 stems (or 2 teaspoon dried oregano)
- 5 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or dried crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 15-ounce cans Cannellini beans (white kidney beans), drained
- 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves or chopped fennel fronds, optional garnish
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Trim the fennel so you are left with just the white bulb. Cut the bulb in half vertically, from bottom to top, and then cut each half into ½-inch-wide wedges, slicing through the core, which will help keep the leaves attached to the wedge. If your fennel has fronds, you can chop them up to use as a garnish. (see photos in the post for how to trim fennel)
- Heat oil in large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until very hot, about 3 minutes. Add fennel wedges, arranging them in single layer. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and cook, turning occasionally, until fennel begins to brown and soften, 10 minutes or so. Add tomatoes, oregano, garlic, red pepper, remaining teaspoon of salt and black pepper. Fold together gently using a spatula.
- Transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake fennel and tomatoes until soft, about 20 minutes. Remove the skillet and gently mix in the drained beans; then bake for 5 minutes longer, to heat through.
- Divide the mixture among large shallow bowls. Drizzle each bowl with a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with coarse salt, black pepper and chopped fennel fronds or parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Dinner
- Method: roast
- Cuisine: Italian
I have made this numerous times and love it. Tonight, I decided to add eggplant and when done, topped with tahini. Took it to a whole other level!
Thank you for this simple, yet so delicious recipe.
I love this recipe. Already a classic dish in my cookbook :). Thank you for sharing it with the food lovers out there.
Simple but sooo good! Perfect for lunch and different the usual sandwiches.
You can add eggplant, zucchini red onions. I love to add a little bit of Italian bread crumbs on top in the last 5 minutes.
As good the next day
I’ve made this dish so many times now,! Thank you for the recipe!
Gorgeous recipe! Thank you!
For anyone who might find this helpful - I'm trying to be calorie conscious so I only used 3 tablespoons of olive oil instead of 1/3 of a cup and it came out beautifully delicious.
Extremely yummy, and very quick to make. I might try the fennel tomato mix sometime with pasta. Thank you!!
Just made this recipe last night and my wife and I were completely blown away by the flavors and textures. Something about the combination of the fennel, beans and tomatoes is pure magic. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!
This was fantastic! My whole family enjoyed it. Super delicious!
Outstanding!
Just super delicious. My husband went nuts for this and insisted I send him the recipe so he can make sure to eat it as often as possible.
Perfect recipe.
Thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed.
Delicious! Tastes like something I might get in a restaurant.
I'm so glad you enjoyed!
Made this for my granddaughter's first birthday party. Her fraternal Grandpa is the only vegan in both sides of the family. This was a HUGE hit. Doubled the recipe using two oven safe skillets. Simple. Healthy. Great flavors. Of course, I added extra garlic as we are garlic hogs.
I'm with you - never enough garlic! I'm so glad you enjoyed!
I just made this. Added wedges of shallots to the fennel. Otherwise no changes except the olive oil drizzle at the end was Meyer lemon infused olive oil. Will be making again!
I've now made this twice and really love it! Three things made it even better the second time: fresh oregano leaves (used dried oregano the first time), cooked from scratch Cannellini beans (soaked overnight and then cooked in water) rather than dried, and fennel fronds for garnish (the fennel I got the first time didn't have fronds, so I used parsley). The fresh oregano and cooked beans both add a bit richer, earthier flavor, and the fennel fronds go beautifully with the rest of the dish.
Either way - this dish is wonderful both hot and cold!
Hi David! I'm so happy you love this dish! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a comment and a 5 star rating. Made my day! And now I definitely want to try this with dried beans from scratch.
Thanks David and Lisa, I want to try this and was scrolling through the comments to see if I could do it with dry beans. I think I will use the pressure cooker, to do the beans today, and let them rest in the water for tomorrow.
This was so good! We put this over arugula that was dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Very tasty! The whole family enjoyed this dish. I served it over pasta next to a salmon filet, which was a good combo. Thanks Lisa!
We loved it!! Perfect Sunday Supper with crusty bread and salad. We will definitely make this again.....and again!
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed!! Thank you for your rating and comment - much appreciated. 🙂