Asian Brussels sprouts, seasoned with soy sauce and honey, become wonderfully caramelized when baked.
Ready in about 40 minutes and truly easy to make, it's the perfect side dish to Asian-style meat or fish!
When I was a kid, my Dutch-born dad used to make the simplest Brussels sprouts, boiled in salted water. Strangely enough, I loved those sprouts. But these days, I'm looking for a bit more flavor when cooking vegetable recipes.
One of my favorite recipes is roasted Brussels sprouts with garlic and Parmesan. They are wonderful! But there's something about these Asian Brussels sprouts. The combination of soy sauce, honey, and garlic makes for an especially flavorful dish, and the small amount of honey promotes delicious caramelizing.
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Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Fresh Brussels sprouts: By far one of my favorite vegetables to make. Sometimes I make life easy by buying them pre-washed and sliced. But it's not difficult to prep them yourself.
- Avocado oil: This neutral-tasting oil has a high smoke point, making it very suitable for high-heat roasting.
- Light soy sauce: I almost never use traditional soy sauce. I find it too salty. You can also use a gluten-free alternative.
- Honey: Just a little to balance out the other flavors and promote caramelizing. You can use sugar-free honey if you wish.
- Minced garlic: Mince it yourself (the more flavorful option), or use the stuff that comes in a jar (the lazy option!).
- Crushed red peppers: They don't make this dish very spicy. They just add an interesting layer of flavor.
- Sesame seeds: I use them mostly for garnish.
Variations
- Melted ghee or refined coconut oil are good alternatives to avocado oil in this recipe. You can also use refined sesame oil.
- You can use maple syrup or brown sugar in place of honey.
- Try adding a teaspoon of fresh minced ginger to the sauce. It's delicious!
Instructions
Unlike the boiled vegetables of my childhood, these sprouts are baked in the oven. Prior to baking them, I season them with a tasty sauce of soy sauce, honey, and garlic. The amount of honey I use is small, so the recipe is still low-carb.
Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps for making this recipe:
Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Toss the sprouts in the marinade.
Arrange them in a single layer, cut side down, on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Roast them for about 30 minutes at 400°F. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve.
Expert Tips
- To promote crispness, it's important that the sprouts are as dry as possible. This is a good reason to use bagged pre-washed sprouts that don't need washing.
- There's no need to flip the sprouts midway. Allowing them to roast undisturbed ensures that the side that touches the pan becomes browned and caramelized.
Recipe FAQs
By baking them! In the oven, the sprouts become browned and crispy thanks to their natural sugars. If you add a bit of honey, like I do in this recipe, the caramelizing is even more pronounced and happens faster.
Apart from baking them, my best tip for getting them crispy is to ensure that they are completely dry before you mix them with the sauce and bake them.
I don't recommend that. The frozen ones won't crisp up as well and might end up mushy. I highly recommend using fresh sprouts in this recipe.
Roasting them helps because it promotes the caramelizing of the natural sugars found in the vegetable. It also helps that we add a bit of sweetness in the form of honey.
Serving Suggestions
These tasty sprouts make the perfect side dish for any Asian-style meat or fish. I often serve them with Asian meatballs, Asian salmon, teriyaki salmon, or teriyaki chicken wings.
This is a very forgiving recipe. So if you want to serve them with a main dish that requires a slightly different cooking temperature, you can place the sprouts in the same oven and simply bake them for a shorter or a longer time.
Storing Leftovers
You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days. Gently reheat them in the microwave, covered, at 50% power, or (uncovered) in a 350°F oven. You can also freeze the leftovers for up to three months.
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Recipe Card
Asian Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
- 1 pound Brussels sprouts - halved
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce - or a gluten-free alternative
- 0.5 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon fresh garlic - minced
- ½ teaspoon crushed red peppers
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with heatproof parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Make the sauce: In a small bowl, mix the oil, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
- Place the Brussels sprouts in the pan and toss them with the sauce.
- Arrange the seasoned Brussels sprouts, cut side down, in a single layer on the baking sheet.
- Roast them, undisturbed, until browned and caramelized, for about 30 minutes.
- Garnish with sesame seeds and serve.
Video
Notes
- If you don't mind a few more carbs, this dish is even better with a full tablespoon of honey (15 grams of carbs and 4 grams of fiber per serving).
- To promote crispness, the sprouts should be as dry as possible. This is an excellent reason to use bagged pre-washed sprouts that don't need washing.
- There's no need to flip the sprouts midway. Allowing them to roast undisturbed ensures that the side that touches the pan becomes browned and caramelized.
- Oven temperatures vary. Start checking the sprouts after the first 20 minutes.
- You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days. Gently reheat them in the microwave, covered, at 50% power, or (uncovered) in a 350°F oven. You can also freeze the leftovers for up to three months.
Nutrition per Serving
Disclaimers
Cup measurements refer to the standard American cup, which is 240 milliliters. Most of my recipes are low-carb (or keto) and gluten-free, but some are not. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate, and the carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them. Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using any of my recipes.
Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. 
Brad
Delicious! I double the honey and garlic.
Vered DeLeeuw
I'm glad you like this recipe, Brad! Thanks for sharing your tweaks.