Sheet-Pan Chicken With Apple, Fennel and Onion

By Colu Henry

Sheet-Pan Chicken With Apple, Fennel and Onion
Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
5(5,844)
Comments
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Chicken thighs are roasted with classic fall ingredients for a quick, flavorful sheet-pan supper. The toasted fennel seeds subtly amplify the anise flavor of the roasted fennel and play nicely with the apples and onions. Look for an apple on the tart side as it will naturally sweeten as it cooks in the oven. If you want to use bone-in chicken breasts you can, just make sure to cut the cooking time by a few minutes so they don’t dry out. Serve with a bright, bitter green salad flecked with blue cheese and toasted walnuts.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 2teaspoons fennel seeds
  • 2½ to 3pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, patted dry
  • 3tablespoons olive oil
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1medium yellow onion, thinly sliced (about 1½ cups)
  • 1medium fennel bulb, tough outer leaves removed, cored and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
  • 1tart apple, such as Mutsu (Crispin) or Granny Smith, halved, cored and cut into 8 wedges
  • 4sprigs rosemary
  • Flaky salt, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

564 calories; 42 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 19 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 35 grams protein; 705 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a small skillet, toast the fennel seeds over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pound into a coarse powder with a mortar and pestle or, alternatively, roughly chop. In a large bowl, toss together the chicken with 1 tablespoon olive oil and the fennel seeds and season well with salt and pepper.

  2. Step 2

    Place the onion, fennel and apple slices on the sheet pan. Toss with the remaining olive oil and season well with salt. Spread in an even layer. Add the chicken skin side up on top of the vegetables and lay the rosemary (distributing evenly) on top of the chicken. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the onions, fennel and apples are softened and have begun to caramelize at the edge of the pan.

  3. Step 3

    Turn the oven to broil and move the oven rack to sit right below it. Remove and discard the rosemary sprigs and broil the chicken for 1 to 2 minutes until the skin of the chicken is crispy and golden. Season with flaky salt.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
5,844 user ratings
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Comments

Chris

One small modification turned this truly into a full dinner: I sliced baking potatoes about 1/4 inch thick and placed them in a layer at the bottom of the sheet pan. Used boneless skinless thighs and everything was evenly cooked in 25 minutes. Smelled wonderful on the first snowy night of the season.

James Miller

This was an absolutely delicious and simple meal. I will add that 25 minutes is not enough time to cook a bone in chicken thigh. The thighs were done and delicious in about 40 minutes.

Adam

Wonderful! Made exactly according to recipe and served with white rice. The crushed toasted fennel seeds made the whole dish. Definitely agree that more cooking time is needed for bone-in thighs. I cooked mine for 45 minutes and they were perfect. The skin crisped up on its own at this cooking length, so no need to broil. Also used baking parchment on my sheet pan, so clean-up was a snap!

Lin

Overall easy and solid recipe I’d make again! Followed a lot of the suggestions here.I added thinly sliced sweet potatoes to the onion/fennel mix, and added the apples in 10 minutes before the cook time was up. I used boneless skinless thighs (fam preference), it was ready in about 25 minutes. Even at 10 minutes the apple slices were pretty mushy so I wouldn’t do any more than that. This recipe made me discover how delicious roasted fennel is!

Mitsa Lasky

I was wary of using chicken breasts instead of thighs, but it turned out amazing. I roasted the onions, fennel, sweet potatoes in olive oil with a sprinkling of S&P for approximately 11 minutes at 425 degrees. I then added the chicken marinated in olive oil, roasted fennel seeds, salt and pepper with a dollop of dijon mustard mixed in while the veggies roasted. Added granny smith apples and kept an eye on it. Put it in for another 20 minutes and rotated pan after 10min,Voila! Deliciousness!!!

Karla

I made this only because I had apples and a fennel bulb I needed to use up. I thought it would be boring. It was totally delicious. It does take longer than the recipe suggests--40 minutes is about right.

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