Grilled fennel with lemon, olive oil and shaved parmesan is my FAVORITE way to eat fennel. If you think you’re not a fennel fan, this is the recipe that may change your mind!
Grilled Fennel with Parmesan and Lemon
This dish serves as the perfect side veggie to any meal like Chicken Francese, Baked Scallops, Shrimp or any steak.
When raw, it has a licorice-like taste that I’m not a fan of, but when you grill it, the flavor changes completely, and it has more of a mild taste like a bok choy.
The charred edges, drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice and finished with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano is my new favorite way to prepare it. You can serve this as a side dish for four, or also have it as a warm salad for two. You can do this indoors on a grill pan or also make it outside on the grill.
Some of the benefits of eating fennel include a high source of potassium, vitamin A, C and calcium.

More Vegetable Side Dishes you might enjoy:
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Shallots with Balsamic Glaze
- Roasted Asparagus
- Green Bean Salad
- Roasted Carrots with Feta, Truffle and Lemon Zest
- Spinach Gratin
Grilled Fennel with Parmesan and Lemon

Ingredients
- 12 oz fennel bulb, 1 large, stalks and fronds removed
- olive oil spray
- kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 lemon, juice of
- 1/2 oz Parmigiano Reggiano shavings
Instructions
- Leaving the core intact (which helps keep your slices intact), stand the bulb and cut the fennel in half vertically from top to bottom.
- Cut each half into (4) 1/4-inch thick slices to give you a total of 8 slices.
- Spray each side with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan over medium-high heat, spray the pan with olive oil and grill the fennel turning until you get a good char on each side and fennel is tender to the touch, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
- Set aside on a platter, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice and top with the parmesan shavings.
- Serve warm.
Made this recipe for entree tonight and honestly it was absolutely brilliant! So easy and tasty! Have sent it to nearly everyone I know to try! My slices were a little thicker due to the way I cut them so also cooking for a little longer than the recipe but can’t tell you how happy this has made me on a cool Sydney winter evening. Thank you!!
Made this & mixed the grilled fennel with some sautéed radishes before adding the parm & lemon and it was amazing! What a delicious was to cook fennel… the hit of the meal, thank you!
The grilling time is way off. Try tripling it
We bought Fennel for another recipe and then forgot where we saw the recipe (senior moment). Since Skinnytaste is my ‘go to’ site I searched and found this recipe. We made it with Flounder Picatta and it was an amazing meal. I have never made Fennel and was pleasantly surprised at the flavor. It is mild enough that I am going to try serving it to our granddaughters. I had Asiago cheese that I needed to use so we used that instead of the Parmesan and we thought it was great. Thanks for another wonderful meal Gina!
You’re welcome Elaine! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Happy Friday! Just letting you know I featured this recipe in my Deliciously Healthy Low-Carb Recipes Round-Up for April 2015. Great recipe; I hope a lot of my readers will click over here and try it!
What type of main dish protein would be best to serve with this?
I don't think I've ever tried fennel…what does it taste like? It definitely looks cool, and this recipe sounds like it would be awesome! I may have to be adventurous and give it a try.
Delicious!!!
My kind of recipe, looks delicious!
This dish looks amazing…can't wait to try…:)
BTW, had your Asian drumsticks last night….A major hit…thanks
Mmm so easy and so delicious!
My Scandi-self don't mind a bit of aniseedy taste, but the milder flavour of this grilled fennel with the other flavours sounds delightful 😀 x
: )
Delicious!
Wow those look so tasty! Yum!
Any reccomendations for a GREAT indoor grill? Thanks!
I have a small Le Crueset that's really great but heavy, and a light weight Calphalon that I used here and love.
Thanks Gina! Love your recipes!!!!!
Do you have the round Calphalon? How about an indoor electric grill?
I love it. Thanks. I will do.
Gina, this looks amazing! Growing up in an Italian family, raw fennel was always served after big meals, and I felt unfaithful or something since I could never bring myself to eat it! 🙂 I will have to give this a try so I can tell the fam, "See, I eat it!"
Also made your insanely good blueberry muffins for a brunch this weekend (big hit!) and finally tried the Lomo Saltado, sooo good!
Happy Spring (yay!),
Lauren
Let me know what you think!! Love Lomo Saltado 🙂
This looks really good. I think I will like it very much, especially a bit burns on the surface. 🙂
This looks so delicious! Perfectly light for Spring.
www.inspirationormadness.com
This sounds surprisingly appetizing to me! Anything with parmesan & lemon I have to try
www.littleblackshell.com
This looks great. And I totally agree about raw vs. grilled fennel. Adding this to my "Summer grill list." 😉
www.adventurousappetite.com
Do you eat the core then too?
This looks amazing! What kind of grill pan do you use?
This is a perfect recipe for BBQ season! Like Abigail, I find it difficult to eat fennel but this is a great way that I can enjoy this food.
Oh this sounds so yummy! I always want to eat fennel becuse it's so pretty, but I never know what to do with it.
You'll love it!