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Fennel seeds

Spices & seasonings · Whole spices

Fennel seeds

Pale green, ridged seeds with a sweet anise flavour; tempered, ground into masalas or chewed after meals.

Also called: saunf, rezene tohumu

A kind of spices

47 recipes with it

Read the full spice guide: flavour, history and how to use it

Photo: NanaYawBotar, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

What it is

Fennel seeds (saunf) are oval, pale green to greenish-tan and ridged, a little larger than cumin seeds. They taste sweet and anise-like, milder than anise seed or star anise. In India they are fried in tempering, used in panch phoron and Kashmiri cooking, and candied as an after-meal digestive.

Foeniculum vulgare

How it’s used

  • Panch phoron and Bengali tempering
  • Kashmiri curries and Chettinad masala
  • Italian sausages and pork
  • Breads and pickles
  • Mukhwas after meals

Characteristics

Taste
Sweet, anise, slightly woody.
When cooked
Sizzles and turns fragrant in hot oil; toast lightly before grinding.
Sold as
whole, ground
Cooking uses
Used for tempering (tadka), Mainly a seasoning

Storage

Cool, dry and dark. Airtight jar away from light; whole seeds keep their aroma well.

Diet, allergens and safety

No major allergens in typical versions.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Egg-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Nut-free
  • Soy-free
  • Caffeine-free

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy
345 kcal
Protein
15.8 g
Carbohydrate
52.29 g
Fat
14.87 g
Fibre
39.8 g
Sugars
— g

USDA FoodData Central: Spices, fennel seed.

Substitutes

Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.

Related ingredients

Recipes with fennel seeds

See all 47

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