Braised Chicken Thighs With Caramelized Fennel Recipe (2024)

This was Terrific! That said, I did braise the chicken with the fennel for about 30 minutes. As others have mentioned 8-10 minutes is just not long enough, even after the browning at the beginning. The caramelized onion and fennel really add an earthy note to the chicken. YUM!

I made this last night. It was absolutely delicious. Full of complex flavors. I didn't have the Pernod so I just added a tablespoon of chicken broth. Don't leave out the fresh squeezed lemon juice at the end. It really adds brightness.

I wasn't sure how to trim the fennel bulb so I clicked on You Tube for 'trimming fennel bulbs' and lo and behold, there was a link to Melissa Clark's video showing exactly how to do it! Now I'll confidently proceed with the recipe and report back with the results. See ya later....

Pernod, Ricard, 51, Herbsaint, whatever anis liquor you have, really does make a difference here. Also, I upped the lemon zest and pepper amounts -- better flavor.

This was absolutely delicious. I made it with skinless and boneless thighs (I thought skinless might be a mistake but I had them on hand) and it was great. I also had no Pernod, but used a bit of white wine which made the sauce wonderful. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly.

The cooking times in this recipe are far too short: the braising phase for the chickenneeds to be 30 minutes and maybe a bit more!

If your fennel doesn't happen to come with much fronds, I found that adding some green parts of about 4 or 5 scallions plus a handful of Italian parsley works great too. The idea is to have enough green matter to get to puree stage - just using the meager fronds that came with my fennel it was more like green oil. Add parsley until you get to the consistency you want. But whatever you do, don't skip the green sauce as it cuts through the sweetness and oiliness of the braised veggies.

Had no Pernod but with the fennel it didn't really need it. But next time I'll try to have it on hand and see what the difference is. Another recipe that is easy to half for just the two of us.

Where does one find skin-on boned chicken thighs? Or breasts?

Why on earth would you want to cut off the fat?

One fennel bulb and the fennel seed was enough anise flavor for us. I used two onions, instead. I used white wine in place of the Pernod and the water. My chicken took longer than 10 minutes to cook through but less than the 30 that some people have recommended. You just have to keep an eye on it. In the end, family loved it.

Very delicious. Didn't make the fennel frond sauce. Next time will use a large cast iron pan to caramelize the fennel/onions a bit more. Added 4 crushed garlic cloves to fennel/onions. Did put the pan in a hot oven for about 5 minutes to help crisp up the skin. (Made the Gjelina's Roasted Yams to go with so the oven was very hot.) I used skin on, bone in thighs. Next time I won't cover the pan but will up the cooking time a bit to compensate and to keep the skin more crisp.

Felt lazy today... chopped the fennel and onion as I have NO sharp knives, also added 5 cloves of chopped garlic... No lemon zest as I never taste it anyway... added juice of a whole lemon at the end... no frond puree because my family doesn't eat it... added beaucoup de Pernod, also chicken broth... it was delicious over jasmine rice...

I don’t really understand all the 5 star reviews. This was decent but not fabulous. The fennel-onion mixture was delicious but the chicken was meh. I did use bone-in thighs so not sure if that made a difference???

Fantastic as written. BUT as w/all NYT recipes do not cover thighs after crisping. Defeats the purpose. Put thighs on fennel mixture. Put in 375 oven for 20 min. Also, don’t try to caramelize fennel mix in non stick. Use stainless pan or enameled cast iron. Takes longer than stated but will continue in the oven. Fennel/garlic topping a must. Make several hrs early. Only use enough EVOO for non-runny consistency. Served with my fav NYT Creamy Turmeric Pasta. Wow. Make this.

I enjoyed cooking this. I thought it was excellent. Question? How would one go about cooking this dish for company? ThanksJody

Love this approach to cooking where you caramelize aromatics and add stuff to it. I used 4 bone in thighs because I have no idea where you get 6 boneless, skin-on chicken thighs. Used vermouth rather than Pernod and finished the whole thing in a 450 deg oven which really crisped up the skin! Also you will need more than the fronds for the pesto. I used scallion greens and added some lemon juice to it. Was delicious!

Sorry to criticize a recipe from the usually infallible Melissa Clark, but wow, what this ever a disappointment! The texture of the finished was wet and slimy. I am an experienced home cook and I followed the directions. The ingredients are all things I like, but cooking with the lid on after adding 3 tablespoons or water made the whole thing soggy. The sauce didn't help much as it was very heavy on the olive oil. I can't figure out why so many other people liked it.

This was delicious, I’ll definitely make it again. Followed the recipe exactly, aside from skipping the Pernod, which I didn’t have on hand. Loved it! Oh, but I second whoever said that the purée requires a LOT more dill frond than is called for. As written, I got ~3 spoonfuls and it was much too garlicky to eat.

Followed recipe to a “t”, but added halved small red bliss potatoes because I needed to use them up. I cooked them along with fennel and onions and continued braising with chicken. Delicious

It had a crazy good fragrance while cooking but the taste wasn't the same. Strange. Enjoyed nonetheless and will try again.

Incredible flavors and brightness from the fennel frond puree. Wow, did we LOVE this!I added some chard in the fridge to the veggies at the end of step 4 and broiled the chicken for 2 minutes at the end to crisp it up at the end of step 5... perfection!

Made a version in the slow cooker, finished with spinach and gnocci stirred in at the end. Left out Pernod and fennel seeds to accommodate kids. Excellent.

Excellent! Don't skip the anise liqueur or lemon. The changes I made:—Added watercress to make a proper green sauce—an addition I highly recommend! (My fennel lacked fronds.) Halved the oil & pureed with a stick blender.—Used skinless boneless thighs—a 1.4-lb package with only 4 thighs. They worked well but tended to stick; I had to deglaze after removing them & before adding the veg.—Hence, deglazed twice, doubling the absinthe used. It wasn't overpowering.—Cooked everything longer.

Delicious. Bone-in, skin on thighs, browned in oven-proof pan. All the fronds for the sauce. Toasted fennel seeds and made onion-fennel mix; added Pernod. Put chicken on top (did not add any water) and baked (covered) at 400 until chicken reached 165. Then put under broiler for a few minutes. Served over plain white rice on a platter. Squirted lemon juice over all and then spooned fennel puree atop chicken pieces. Attractive and very tasty.

Loved the chicken and fennel, which we served with little steamed potatoes. Not sure our fennel sauce came out right—it was very bitter and oily, although better on the second day. Will try again, maybe with fresher fennel…

added a side of basmati rice and mixed the frond puree into the rice and placed the chicken and vegetables over the rice. Used vegetable stock instead of water when braising the chicken over the vegetables. Love this recipe! Very tasty!

Nice recipe as written. Agree with others, chicken needs a little more than 10mins. I used boneless skinless thighs because that’s what husband came home with, didn’t miss the skin as it would have lost its crispness during the braise anyway. Don’t skip the sauce, consider making double, even, if truly serving four. It provided a nice brightness. I didn’t have Pernod so substituted a Basque patxaran, I think you have a lot of flexibility here so just use what you have on hand.