An easy recipe for roasted Brussels sprouts. Seasoned with olive oil and garlic, they're baked until crispy and caramelized.
I must confess: I like simply boiled Brussels sprouts. Weird? Perhaps. But when they are young and fresh and simply boiled, I find them very tasty.
Having said that, roasted Brussels sprouts are a delicacy. It's difficult to believe it when you look at the raw vegetable. But when roasted and caramelized, it transforms into something amazing.
How do I make Brussels sprouts tasty?
The short answer: roast them in a hot oven until browned and crispy! The long answer: I have a story for you about making this vegetable taste good. 🙂
My late grandma, Miep, was Dutch. Like most Dutch grandmas, her baking was amazing – she baked with lots of butter. Her pannekoeken (Dutch pancakes) were out of this world.
However, like most Dutch grandmas, her method of cooking vegetables was to boil them, sprinkle with salt, and serve. Like other northern cuisines, traditional Dutch cuisine is very skimpy on seasonings – salt and pepper is usually all you get.
Boiled or steamed vegetables can be delicious, of course, especially when not overcooked. These simple boiled green beans are a good example, as are steamed carrots.
Grandma’s Brussels sprouts were wonderful! She used fresh, young sprouts, boiled them until just tender and salted liberally. I loved them as a kid. But not everyone likes them boiled, and in fact, many people find them utterly unpalatable when cooked this way.
How I discovered roasted Brussels sprouts
A few years ago, at a dinner party, I tried maple Brussels sprouts. It was my first time trying them oven-roasted, and I was amazed at how delicious they turn out when cooked in the oven.
Needless to say, maple sprouts became a staple in our household. But something was nagging at me. As much as I loved that recipe, I did not love using maple syrup.
So one night I tried baking the sprouts in a 425°F oven without adding any maple syrup. And they were wonderful!
The secret is to use plenty of olive oil (or butter), mix everything so that the sprouts are well-coated, then bake them in a hot oven until they are crispy and caramelized.
The ingredients you'll need
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this delicious side dish. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
Fresh Brussels sprouts. You definitely want fresh ones in this recipe, not frozen.
Olive oil: You can also use melted butter.
Kosher salt and black pepper: If using fine salt, you might want to reduce the amount you use.
Garlic powder: Make sure it's fresh. A stale spice can easily ruin a dish!
How to roast Brussels sprouts
It's so easy! Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps:
1. Mix the sprouts with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
2. Roast them for 15 minutes at 425°F.
3. Gently stir, then keep roasting until tender, about 10 more minutes.
How do you make them crispy?
As it turns out, you don't need maple syrup to make them crispy and caramelized. Although admittedly the syrup does help, it's not mandatory.
You simply need to mix them with some fat (olive oil or butter), and roast in a hot 425°F oven for long enough that the naturally occurring sugars in the vegetable become caramelized.
So preheating the oven and roasting at a high temperature are key to ensuring the sprouts become crispy. It’s interesting to see that even without a sweetener, the baked sprouts contain enough natural sugar that they become beautifully caramelized.
To make life easier, I usually buy pre-washed, pre-sliced sprouts. But honestly, even with prepping the vegetable, this is a very easy recipe.
If you don't buy them pre-washed, you should make sure to dry them well prior to tossing with the oil and seasonings. The last thing you want is to steam them!
I still like simply boiled sprouts, and I do love them roasted in maple - who wouldn’t? But these roasted Brussels sprouts are now my favorite way to prepare this vegetable. They combine flavor and health in one magnificent dish.
Can I use frozen sprouts?
As mentioned above, I actually don't recommend it. They will not become crispy and caramelized. You might as well just boil them if you use frozen sprouts.
Where does their name come from?
They are basically little cabbages, so why do we call them "Brussels sprouts" and not, say, "mini cabbages?" It seems that historically, many of them were grown in Brussels, Belgium - and the name simply stuck.
What to serve with roasted Brussels sprouts?
Anything you want! They are very versatile and they go well with many main dishes. But since I bake them in a 425°F oven, I like to serve them with a main dish that I can cook in the same oven. So I often serve them with one of the following:
And sometimes I make myself a plate of them topped with a couple of fried eggs for a yummy meatless lunch.
What about leftovers?
I'm actually not a big fan of leftover roasted Brussels sprouts. They lose their crispness when stored in the fridge. But if you must, keep them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to three days, and reheat in a low oven (250 F) to crisp them back up.
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Roasted Brussels Sprouts
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb. Brussels sprouts
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (Or melted unsalted butter)
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (Or ½ teaspoon fine salt)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Rinse the Brussels sprouts and dry them well. Remove the outer leaves as needed, cut off the stems, and cut each sprout in half.
- In a 9 X 13-inch baking dish, mix the Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Roast them for 15 minutes.
- Gently stir them, then roast for 10 more minutes, until caramelized and fork-tender.
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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. 