Fennel is one of those vegetables I ignored for years. Too weird-looking, vaguely intimidating, smells like licorice and I wasn’t sure that was a good thing. Turns out, roasted fennel is an entirely different thing — it gets sweet and almost buttery, the anise flavor mellows way out, and paired with creamy white beans and a salty Parmesan crust it’s genuinely one of my favorite things to pull out of the toaster oven on a weeknight.
The brown butter is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. It adds this nutty, caramel-y depth that you just don’t get from plain olive oil, and it coats the fennel and beans in a way that makes the whole dish feel rich without being heavy. The panko-Parmesan crust on top gets genuinely crispy in the toaster oven — that’s one thing a good countertop toaster oven does really well, because the heating elements are close to the food and the dry heat is intense in the best way.
For this recipe you’ll want a small baking dish — an 8×8 inch square or a 9-inch oval gratin dish is ideal. If you don’t have one that fits your toaster oven, a toaster oven baking pan works fine too, though the edges won’t be quite as deep. The whole thing comes together in about 40 minutes, and most of that is just the oven doing its thing.
Toaster Oven Crispy Brown Butter Roasted Fennel and White Bean Gratin with Parmesan and Lemon
Thinly sliced fennel and creamy white beans roasted in brown butter until golden and bubbling, finished with a crispy Parmesan crust and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Simple pantry ingredients, serious flavor.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Preheat your toaster oven to 400°F on the bake setting. If it needs a few minutes to come up to temp, give it that time — it matters here.
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Melt the butter in a small saucepan or right in your toaster oven pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Let it cook past the foamy stage until it smells nutty and turns a light amber, about 3-4 minutes. Watch it. Brown butter goes from perfect to burnt surprisingly fast. Pull it off the heat immediately.
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In a shallow toaster oven-safe baking dish (an 8x8 or a 9-inch oval gratin dish both work great), combine the sliced fennel, drained white beans, and sliced garlic. Drizzle over the brown butter and olive oil, then add the red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Toss everything to coat — I use tongs for this, it's easier than a spoon.
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Scatter half the Parmesan (about ⅓ cup) over the top and toss again briefly so some of it gets tucked into the layers.
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In a small bowl, mix the remaining Parmesan with the panko and lemon zest. Sprinkle this evenly over the top of the fennel mixture. Don't press it down — you want it loose so it crisps up properly.
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Slide the dish into the toaster oven and roast for 22-25 minutes, until the fennel is tender when you poke it with a fork and the top is deeply golden. If the crust is browning too fast before the fennel softens, loosely tent it with foil for the last few minutes.
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Pull it out and let it sit for 2 minutes. Scatter the parsley and a few fennel fronds on top, and serve with lemon wedges on the side for squeezing. That lemon hit at the end isn't optional, in my opinion.
Notes
The fennel fronds are worth keeping — they're grassy and bright and make the dish look actually finished. If you don't have panko, regular breadcrumbs work but the crust won't be quite as shatteringly crispy. You can also do this with canned chickpeas instead of white beans if that's what's in the pantry. Leftovers reheat well at 375°F for about 8 minutes.
Nutrition
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Written by
Emma is a home cook who loves coaxing big flavor out of a toaster oven — from crispy roasted vegetables to easy weeknight dinners and sweet treats. She develops and tests Toastera's recipes for small-appliance kitchens.
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