Perfectly Roasted Brussels Sprouts tossed with crispy bits of bacon and slightly sweetened with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Simple, delicious, and prepared in one pan. A recipe you'll make again and again. Funny story included.

Roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

I've never had brussels sprouts growing up. In fact, I never even knew what a brussels sprout was until 10 years ago.

It didn’t really matter since my husband never liked them. It was one of those vegetables he was forced to eat as a kid. You know what that’s like, right?

It wasn’t until I went to Trader Joe’s and saw these weird looking stalks with tiny cabbage-like balls all piled up that made me so curious, I wanted to try them. I mean, they had me at "tiny cabbage-like balls".

I like cabbage, so what’s the difference? If I could get creative with cabbage like I do with my version of a boiled dinner, I can tackle Brussels sprouts.

As a matter of fact, I hate to admit it, I always called them brussel sprouts. It wasn't until I started writing this post that I realized I was spelling and pronouncing it incorrectly.

I shouldn't make fun of my Mom when she talks with her Peruvian accent and makes vocabulary mistakes when apparently, I'm no better. I made sure the spelling was correct.

To me, it sounds better as brussel sprouts instead of brussels sprouts. I bet it sounds funny after a few glasses of wine.

I wonder how many times I’ve pronounced it incorrectly to others and no one said anything. Kind of like when I sing the song "Dream On" from Aerosmith.

This is how I sing it...

"Singing women, sing for the year, Singing for their life and singing volunteer!"

Now I'm afraid to look it up because that's how I’ve sang it all my life! But I digress...

You should have seen my husband's face when I told him I was preparing roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon as part of our dinner. I knew exactly what to do. The only challenge was to convince my husband to eat them.

What's the secret? Bacon. For my family, bacon makes everything taste good. What takes it over the top is a good quality, thick, balsamic vinegar. It adds a touch of sweetness that takes that bitterness away.

Brussels sprouts just need a little nudging to make them go from bitter to fabulous.

You can choose your favorite pan to make this dish. Use a cast iron skillet, or if you are doubling recipe use a baking sheet.

Brussels sprouts and diced bacon tossed together.

The hardest part of this recipe is preparing the Brussels sprouts. Cut the brown ends off the sprouts and peel off any outer discolored leaves.

Slice them in half from bottom to top and place in a cast iron skillet along with the diced bacon and salt and pepper. Toss to coat with salt and pepper and to scatter the bacon pieces.

DO YOU LIKE IT THICK OR THIN?

About the bacon, I use 2 - 3 thick slices. If using regular thin sliced bacon, use 4 - 5 slices. WHO AM I KIDDING? USE WHAT YOU LIKE.

If using lean bacon, you need to toss with about two tablespoons of olive oil because you need some form of fat to make these delicious.

Before you serve it, drizzle with some balsamic vinegar to make the flavors pop. Transfer them to a serving dish before drizzling because acid isn’t good for cast iron.

Did I get my husband to like Brussels sprouts? Yes. He now loves them. As a matter of fact, he requests this all the time.

As for my kids, they love them too. Last time I made these they were gone before I could serve myself. I guess I can't complain about that. I'll just make more next time.

A closeup of a dish of roasted Brussels sprouts and bacon.

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ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH BACON

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 45

Total Time: 55

Servings: servings

Author: Natalie Gregory

Equipment Used

Cast Iron Skillet

Ingredients

1 pound Brussels sprouts
2 - 3 slices thick bacon or 4 - 5 slices of thin diced - See NOTES 1
1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
½ teaspoon pepper
2 - 3 tablespoons good quality thick balsamic vinegar See NOTES 2

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°.
Cut brown ends off sprouts and peel outer discolored leaves.
Slice them in half from bottom to top and place in a cast iron skillet along with the diced bacon and salt and pepper. If your bacon is lean, drizzle in a tablespoon or two of olive oil and toss to coat.
Roast for 45 to 50 minutes, shaking pan or stirring with spoon at least once while roasting for even browning.
Drizzle with a good quality, thick balsamic vinegar. See NOTES.

Notes

NOTES 1: This recipe works if using pork bacon. If using a lean bacon like turkey bacon, you will need to drizzle in a tablespoon or two of olive oil. In this case, fatty bacon is good bacon.

NOTES 2: If you don't have a thick balsamic vinegar, you can use 2 - 3 tablespoons of regular balsamic vinegar and thicken it by adding it to a skillet over high heat. Let it reduce until slightly thickened.

You can also substitute honey. I would use 1 tablespoon and add from there. We're just trying to remove some of the bitterness from the Brussels sprouts.

Nutritional Information

I don't post the nutritional value because I don't trust the accuracy of the nutritional apps. I’m not a nutritionist and don't want to post misinformation.

Did you make this recipe? Tag @thegeneticchef and use #thegeneticchef and tell me all about it!