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By
J. Kenji López-Alt
Updated December 05, 2019
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In This Recipe
The Key to Great Brussels Sprouts
The Best Way to Roast Them in the Oven
Kicking Up the Acidity
Why It Works
- Extremely high heat, plus a preheated roasting pan, gives the Brussels sprouts sweet flavor and a nutty char.
- Balsamic vinegar provides a tart counterpoint to the deeply browned sprouts.
When I first wrote aboutthe humble Brussels sprout, it was from the perspective of someone who believed that I was amongst the minority of people who truly deeply love the tiny brassica.
From the number of positive comments that piece received and the amount of support I've seen lent to the diminutive cabbage-shaped vegetable, it turns out I was wrong all along.
What we've got here is a sprout with some clout. Fromtopping our favorite pizzasto appearing on the menus atmanyof ourfavorite restaurants, good Brussels sprouts are everywhere.
The Key to Great Brussels Sprouts
Coming from a family of Brussels sprouts fiends, I've had to develop quite a repertoire of recipes over the years and over the holidays in order to keep things interesting. The vast majority of them—a good 94% (I've counted)—share one crucial step: searing. Slow-cooking Brussels sprouts allows them to develop those funky, odoriferous compounds you get from overcooked cabbage soup while at the same time destroying the beautiful, spicy-pungent, mustard-like compounds they contain.
The goal is to cook them fast, and cook them hardso they char and caramelize, their leaves turning crispy, brown, and nutty, and their natural sugars breaking down into sweeter simple sugars.
Roasting in the Oven
This means you want touse the highest heat possible when cooking your sprouts.This can be accomplished easily in a skillet, but if you want to free up some stove-top space this Thanksgiving, you can just as easily do it in a pan in the oven. The key is to preheat the pan in the oven before you add the sprouts to it so that they begin to sizzle as soon as they land.
I like toadd a handful of sliced shallotsto the sprouts as well to accent their sweetness. The shallots brown and crisp, melting into the mix without overpowering. You can incorporate some pork fat into the mix (just render some bacon, fatback, guanciale, chorizo—whatever—on the stovetop, toss the sprouts with the fat, then add the crisped bits back in at the end), but other fats will work just as well.Olive oil, duck fat, chicken fat, or turkey fat are all fine options.
If your pan is preheated hot enough and your oven is going strong, your sprouts should be out of the oven and ready to serve in less time than it takes to rest a turkey.
Adding a Bit of Acid
Want a touch more acidity and kick in there?Sprinkle a bit of balsamic vinegarover the sprouts just as they come out of the oven. The residual heat in the pan should be enough to reduce it almost instantly to a thin coating of tart glaze.
And yes, the secret ingredient here is salt, and plenty of it.
Recipe Details
Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Shallots With Balsamic Vinegar Recipe
Prep30 mins
Cook20 mins
Total50 mins
Serves8to 12 servings
Ingredients
3 pounds (1.4kg) Brussels sprouts, bottoms trimmed, outer leaves removed, split in half (see notes)
8medium shallots, sliced thinly
1/4 cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil (see notes)
Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons (30ml) balsamic vinegar
Directions
Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions and place a heavy rimmed baking sheet on each. Preheat oven to 500°F.
Toss sprouts, shallots, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl and toss to combine. When oven is hot, working quickly, remove the baking sheets with a dish towel or oven mitt. Divide Brussels sprouts mixture evenly between both trays, shaking to distribute into a single even layer. Return pans to oven. Roast until Brussels sprouts are deeply charred and fully tender, about 20 minutes total, tossing sprouts and rotating and swapping pans top to bottom half way through cooking.
Immediately after removing from oven, drizzle sprouts with balsamic vinegar and shake to coat. Season to taste with more salt and pepper if desired and serve.
Special Equipment
Rimmed baking sheets
Notes
Look for sprouts about one and a half inches in diameter, with tight heads. Chicken, turkey, or duck fat can be used in place of the olive oil. Crisped bacon or fatback can be added to the Brussels sprouts after roasting.
Read More
- Serious Entertaining: A Blowout Christmas Dinner
- The Food Lab: My Favorite Brussels Sprouts Recipes
- How to Roast Fall and Winter Vegetables | The Food Lab
- How to Roast Brussels Sprouts
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Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
---|---|
107 | Calories |
5g | Fat |
14g | Carbs |
4g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Servings: 8to 12 | |
Amount per serving | |
Calories | 107 |
% Daily Value* | |
Total Fat 5g | 7% |
Saturated Fat 1g | 4% |
Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
Sodium 186mg | 8% |
Total Carbohydrate 14g | 5% |
Dietary Fiber 4g | 14% |
Total Sugars 5g | |
Protein 4g | |
Vitamin C 73mg | 364% |
Calcium 53mg | 4% |
Iron 2mg | 10% |
Potassium 469mg | 10% |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)