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Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts with crispy bacon or pancetta, finished off with a balsamic reduction!
The easiest Brussels Sprouts recipe for the holidays! Roasted Brussels Sprouts need little amount of prep work, ingredients and cooking time to make them absolutely incredible. A low carb recipe!
ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS
Another delicious side to add to your holiday dinner table. With all of the incredible recipes being shared lately, this one from Ina Garten (one of my favourite cooks) caught my eye, which is saying something since we are not huge fans of sprouts at all.
This recipe, only slightly adapted, is incredible. Roasted Brussels Sprouts soak up the delicious garlic, olive oil and bacon flavours while cooking in the oven to create a flavour combination you can’t beat!
The bacon (or pancetta) compliment sprouts so well (like our Creamy Sprouts with Bacon recipe). But it’s the addition of garlic and a drizzle of balsamic glaze in this brussels sprouts recipe that really elevates the flavour.
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO COOK BRUSSELS SPROUTS?
There are two ways to cook sprouts to bring out the best flavours: sautéing or roasting. The bonus of roasted brussels sprouts is that you can pretty much add any flavour to them and completely transform the taste to something else.
In this recipe, there’s no pre-cooking to worry about and no extra pans to wash! Just throw everything on a large baking sheet and roast in a hot oven.
Make sure you toss them once more throughout the cooking process to ensure they cook evenly and prevent them from burning.
HOW TO MAKE BALSAMIC GLAZE (REDUCTION)
You have two options here. You can either buy store bought balsamic glaze OR make it at home from scratch using this recipe.
All you need is two ingredients:
- Balsamic vinegar — we use an imported brand from Italy, but any good quality brand works well.
- Brown sugar — completely optional. Leave it out if following a low carb diet. Personally, I prefer it with brown sugar as I like the hint of extra sweetness.
You can also use honey to create a different flavour.
Balsamic vinegar with your choice of sweetener simmered in a small non-stick pan or pot reduces to a delicious syrup that you can serve over anything. You know once it’s done when it coats the back of your spoon.
Our recipe makes 1/2 a cup which is plenty to serve with these sprouts. If you have leftovers, store it in a clean glass jar or salad dressing bottle and refrigerate for up to a month.
HOW DO YOU MAKE BRUSSEL SPROUTS CRISPY?
Roasted brussels sprouts cook at 425°F (220°C) for 25-30 minutes to make them super crispy. You can also broil them for an additional 3-5 minutes to get them even crispier, depending on how your oven works or how hot it gets.
Drizzle them with the balsamic as soon as they are taken out of the oven. Or, to keep them crispy serve them separately and pour the reduction in a serving bottle so your guests have full control of how much they add.
Need more sides? Try these!
Cheesy Roasted Green Beans
Honey Garlic Butter Roasted Carrots
Buttery Mashed Cauliflower
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Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Brussel sprouts washed and dried
- 4 ounces bacon diced, or pancetta
- 1/4 cup good olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic crushed or finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
- 2 tablespoons balsamic glaze or more to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Lightly grease a large baking pan with nonstick cooking oil spray or a light coating of oil. Set aside.
- Trim the ends of sprouts and cut in half lengthwise.
- Arrange brussels sprouts, any loose leaves, bacon and garlic on the pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss well and spread mixture out in a single layer.
- Roast sprouts, turning once through cooking, until tender with charred edges. The bacon will be cooked and crispy (about for 25-30 minutes).
- Toss with the balsamic vinegar. Adjust taste with extra salt and pepper, if needed.Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Fan-freaking-tastic!!!
Fantastic recipe! My 2 kids who don’t like brussel sprouts said wow I like brussel sprouts!! I made balsamic glaze by cooking 1/4 C raspberry balsamic (didn’t add sugar) for about 20 minutes. This is definitely going in my recipe book!!!
Very tasty. We halved the recipe since there are just two of us and it was perfect. Paired with some salmon, and we used the left over glaze on the fish. Yum! Added brussel sprouts to the shopping list right away to make it again.
Boy, this was the hit of Thanksgiving! Balsamic glaze (minus sugar) is my new fave tool. Thanks.
I love brussel sprouts but these take the cake. All I had was fig balsamic vinegar on hand but it was the perfect pairing. We will make these again soon!!
A Wonderful flavorful way to eat brussel sprouts! Easy to prepare I added more garlic and chopped red onion! I would love to have them to be more crunchy, I tried to broil them for a few to see if that would work but I was too scared I would over cook and burn them.
Can’t wait to make them again!
Made these this evening, man, they were so delicious! The only thing that I did different was to hold my chopped garlic out until the last 10 minutes of cook time because you know how easy it is to burn garlic. That worked perfectly. I will be making these A LOT in the future!
My thoughts exactly Eric! I presume this is an excellent suggestion. I will give this recipe a shot tonight and implement this alteration per your recommendation…
These sprouts are absolutely delicious! I have never rated or commented on a recipe before, but this one is so good and so simple, I am compelled to do so.The textures are great. There are very few ingredients and the flavors combine together perfectly.The balsamic reduction ties it all together. My only comment is that the reduction time is closer to 30-40 minutes.
Thoughts on the best way to prepare these ahead of time? I was thinking all the steps except the glaze, put in pan to be heated in the oven when needed and glaze added right before serving? Though I suspect we’d lose the crunchiness… Thanks in advance for suggestions!
I’m making them ahead as well, I think I’m going to roast the sprouts ahead, and then put them under the broiler to brown and warm up right before serving. I will have the glaze ready to drizzle! Good?
Hi Jacqueline, that sounds like a fantastic plan! Roasting the sprouts ahead and then using the broiler to brown and warm them up just before serving is a great strategy. Having the glaze ready to drizzle adds a perfect finishing touch. Your preparation sounds delicious, and I hope it’s a hit when you serve it!
Thank you for this recipe! Not only are they oh so good, but our 7 year old daughter has gone from nearly gagging on Brussels sprouts to begging for me to cook them this way! They’re delicious if you happen to have a sweet potato on hand to dice to and add to the mixture as well!
Absolutely delicious and very easy to prepare . Exceptional depth of rich flavor Highly recommend!