Oven Roasted Chicken with Fennel

Chicken fennel

I’m feeling these one-pot recipes lately no fuss an entire meal done in one dish, perfect for quick weeknight dinners. This particular recipe requires a bit of foresight as you will need to marinate the chicken for at least 1 hour but preferably 8 hours or overnight. You could quickly make the marinade in the morning and let it marinate the entire day to have ready in the evening.

This recipe is good for 4 servings, which for us is a double portion, so I simply saved the chicken and reheated the additional portion the next day. If you want to scale the recipe for whatever amount of people, just think 2 drumsticks and 1 fennel bulb per person.

There are a lot of vegetables I find myself eating in the Netherlands that we simply didn’t have on island and fennel is one of them. I had to learn how to use it and cook it, but since I love experimenting in the kitchen it’s very easy to incorporate new ingredients. I’m very grateful I got introduced to fennel later in life. 

Growing up I eschewed all food that reminded me of licorice candy, couldn’t even bare the smell of it. While now I still maintain a complete disdain for licorice I can definitely appreciate the taste of fennel bulbs and anise. What are vegetables you wouldn’t eat as a child but you can appreciate now later in life? Let us know in the comment section.

chicken fennel plate

Oven Roasted Chicken with Fennel

Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time40 mins
Marinating8 hrs
Total Time8 hrs 55 mins
Servings: 4
Author: Kyara

Ingredients

Marinade

  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 tbsp coconut aminos
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • tsp salt
  • 1 lemon zest and juice

Roast

  • 8 chicken drumsticks
  • 4 fennel bulbs

Instructions

  • Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.
  • Add drumsticks into mixture and marinate it for at least 1 hour but preferably overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 180°C.
  • Chop off fennel tops and freeze for your next stock.
  • Remove the core of the fennel bulbs and slice.
  • Place fennel on the bottom of the baking dish and sprinkle with some salt. 
  • Place drumsticks on top without overcrowding and pour the marinade over the chicken and fennel.
  • Place in the oven for 30 minutes turning the chicken half way. 
  • For a nice crisp on the skin turn your oven to roast setting for and additional 10 minutes. Remove and enjoy.