Crispy, sweet, and savory, these maple bacon roasted brussels sprouts are a quick and easy side dish full of flavor. While great any time of the year, these roasted brussels sprouts make a perfect, indulgent side for holiday get togethers like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Roasted brussels sprouts have an earthy and nutty flavor that roasting them only enhances. When roasted, sprouts become less bitter, almost sweet, with a crispy outside and almost creamy interior. Combined with real maple syrup and bacon, these roasted sprouts take on a pleasantly sweet and savory flavor that’s hard to beat.
In full disclosure, I have never been a fan of brussels sprouts. However, these were so good that I literally had to stop eating them so that I could take the photos for this recipe before I ate too many. If you grew up hating these vegetables and found them bitter, you may want to give them another chance.
Without going heavily into the science, brussels sprouts used to have a higher concentration of glucosinolate compounds, which made them taste quite bitter to some people. In the 1990s, Dutch scientists and farmers managed to crossbreed different sprouts into a less bitter version that we have today. Cooking methods can make a difference as well, such as roasting tending to taste much better than say, boiling sprouts.
Part of what makes this recipe great, besides the obvious inclusion of bacon, is that the sprouts are roasted in a skillet in the rendered bacon fat. While they’re also great roasted in the oven, this frees up your oven for other dishes like hams or an herb-roasted turkey, or other sides like sausage and sage stuffing or a green bean casserole. If you’re not backed up with holiday cooking, I also give directions for alternately roasting in the oven.
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🥘 Ingredients for Maple Bacon Sprouts
These are the ingredients I prefer for making maple bacon roasted brussels sprouts, but the dish is endlessly versatile as well. Take this is a roadmap for making roasted brussels sprouts and find other flavor combinations your family prefers.
Brussels Sprouts – I tailored this recipe to use 1 pound of sprouts, mainly because they’re often sold in that way at many grocery stores. Look for slightly smaller, tightly packed sprouts as they tend to be sweeter than larger ones.
Bacon – I prefer thick-cut bacon here but use any bacon you prefer. If using turkey bacon or vegan bacon, you’ll need to increase the amount of oil called for since neither render out as much bacon grease as pork bacon.
Shallot – Slightly sweet and peppery, I like the subtle flavor that sauteed shallots give this dish. Feel free to omit them, or substitute with red or yellow onion instead.
Oil – I toss the sprouts in a bit of extra virgin olive oil when seasoning them and add some to the pan if there’s not enough bacon grease. Feel free to use any other neutral oil you prefer to cook with though.
Salt & Pepper – Keep things simple with the seasoning. A bit of salt and ground black pepper is fine here.
Maple Syrup – A bit of maple syrup adds sweetness and a wonderful maple flavor to the sprouts. Be sure to use real maple syrup here and not pancake syrup.
🔪 How to Make Maple Bacon Roasted Sprouts
As mentioned above, I make these as a skillet roasted brussels sprout so that you’re not taking up oven space during the holidays. I also like using the rendered bacon fat to cook in and get a nice hard sear on the sprouts. If oven space isn’t an issue though, I include a one-pan baking option at the end.
Skillet Roasted
You’ll want a 12” skillet with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe. If you don’t have a lid, you’ll need to sauté the sprouts a bit longer and turn down the heat some after they get deeply browned and add in the shallot.
Chop the bacon into small strips or a large dice and set aside. Dice the shallot and set aside as well. Rinse the brussels sprouts and remove any wilted outer leaves. Dry them off gently with paper towels and slice off some of the woody ends and then slice the sprouts in half, lengthwise through the stems.
Add the bacon to a cold pan and set it over medium low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until nice and crisp, about 10-12 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat so it can cool slightly. Use a slotted spoon to drain and remove the bacon bits and place on a paper towel to soak up any remaining grease.
Toss the sprouts with some olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set the sprouts cut side down in the same skillet you cooked the bacon in. Set the skillet back on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook, without touching, for 5-6 minutes. This turns the sprouts bright green and helps to cook them through to the centers.
After removing the lid, check a few of the sprouts, they should be a nice golden brown by now, maybe a bit more. If the skillet looks a bit dry, pour some more olive oil over the sprouts and add in the diced shallot. Continue cooking 2-3 minutes longer and begin shaking the pan and flipping the ingredients over.
Drizzle the maple syrup over the sprouts and add the bacon back to the pan. Cook for another minute or two, tossing everything occasionally, until the sprouts are as dark as you prefer. Remove from the heat and pour into a serving bowl or into side dishes if serving individually.
Oven Roasted
If you have free space in your oven, or just prefer the simplicity of a one-pan dish, you can also make maple bacon roasted brussels sprouts this way.
Prep all the ingredients as above and preheat the oven to 400°F / 210° C. Grease a baking sheet with oil and set it into the oven while it heats. You can line it with foil for easier clean up and grease the foil instead, but it will slightly lessen the darkening on the sprouts.
Once the oven has preheated, remove the baking sheet and toss the sprouts with some oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the sprouts, cut side down in a single layer on the hot baking sheet. Sprinkle the uncooked bacon pieces and diced shallot in the gaps around the sprouts and place into the oven.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, then remove from the oven and shake the pan to move everything around, use a spatula if necessary to flip most of the sprouts. Drizzle the maple syrup over everything and toss everything around again to give the ingredients a good coating.
Return the baking sheet to the oven and continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes. Use a sharp knife to test the doneness on some of the larger sprouts, it should pierce the sprouts with very little resistance when they’re cooked through. Since sizes of sprouts and oven temperatures can vary, cook until the sprouts are as dark and as tender as you prefer.
Remove from the oven and pour into a serving bowl or into side dishes if serving individually.
📖 Roasted Brussels Sprouts Variations
While I love how this maple roasted sprouts taste as they are, here are a few variations you can try without changing the recipe completely.
Vegan/Vegetarian Sprouts – If you need these maple roasted sprouts to be vegan, just omit the bacon, or use vegan bacon. You won’t get that rendered bacon grease, so you’ll need to increase the cooking oil enough to fully coat the bottom of the skillet. Also make sure to use pure maple syrup that’s labelled as vegan.
Garlic Roasted Sprouts – You can add garlic or swap it with the shallots if you prefer. For the skillet roasted version, add minced garlic in the last 1-2 minutes of cooking. If oven roasting, you can add the garlic at the beginning, but chop the garlic into small chunks instead, otherwise diced or minced garlic will burn.
Balsamic Roasted Sprouts – Instead of maple (or in addition if you’d like), add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze in the final minute or so of cooking.
Honey Roasted Brussels Sprouts – Instead of maple syrup, you can switch it for honey if you prefer. For skillet roasting, add at the same time the maple is called for. If you’re doing oven roasted, add the honey either in the final few minutes and toss, or drizzle over the sprouts as soon as they come out of the oven.
❄️ Storing Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Allow to cool completely and then store maple bacon roasted brussels sprouts in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. As with most crispy vegetables, they’ll taste best on the day they are made. To reheat, toss on a baking sheet and cook in the oven at 350°F for 5-10 minutes until heated through.
I do not recommend freezing. Like most greens, brussels sprouts have a lot of water content. When frozen after cooking they can turn out very mushy when reheated.
If you need to make these ahead of time, you can wash, trim, and cut the sprouts and shallot the day before and store them in the fridge. You could also cook the bacon ahead of time, but it will be chewier than crispy when cooked ahead of time and you’ll lose out on the bacon grease unless you strain and store it as well.
📋 Recipe
Maple Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon
- 1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small shallot, diced
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Directions
- You’ll want a 12” skillet with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe. If you don’t have a lid, you’ll need to sauté the sprouts a bit longer and turn down the heat some after they get deeply browned and add in the shallot.
- Chop 4 slices of thick-cut bacon into small strips or a large dice and set aside. Dice a small shallot (2-3 tablespoons worth) and set aside as well. Rinse 1 pound of brussels sprouts and remove any wilted outer leaves. Dry them off gently with paper towels and slice off some of the woody ends and then slice the sprouts in half, lengthwise through the stems.
- Add the bacon to a cold pan and set it over medium low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until nice and crisp, about 10-12 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat so it can cool slightly. Use a slotted spoon to drain and remove the bacon bits and place on a paper towel to soak up any remaining grease.
- Toss the sprouts with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper. Set the sprouts cut side down in the same skillet you cooked the bacon in. Set the skillet back on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook, without touching, for 5-6 minutes. This turns the sprouts bright green and helps to cook them through to the centers.
- After removing the lid, check a few of the sprouts, they should be a nice golden brown by now, maybe a bit more. If the skillet looks a bit dry, pour another tablespoon of olive oil over the sprouts and add in the diced shallot. Continue cooking 2-3 minutes longer and begin shaking the pan and flipping the ingredients over.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup over the sprouts and add the bacon back to the pan. Cook for another minute or two, tossing everything occasionally, until the sprouts are as dark as you prefer. Remove from the heat and pour into a serving bowl or into side dishes if serving individually.
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