I finally found the missing piece to our backyard vegetable garden...brussel sprouts. How do you feel about brussel sprouts? Love them, or hate them? Around here, there is a lot of love...even my daughter!
We have landed on the perfect, delicious, kid-approved bacon brussel sprout recipe. Which is great because brussel sprouts are incredibly good for you. Brussels sprouts are a cruciferous vegetable (broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage). These veggies have cancer-fighting abilities, are high in many vitamins, cholesterol-lowering abilities and are good for your thyroid. Seriously, a super food.
So, when we sat down and discussed what we wanted to plant in the garden this year, I was not surprised to see brussel sprouts on our list. If you aren't familiar with how brussel sprouts grow, they do look pretty impressive.
Kid-Approved Bacon Brussel Sprouts
30 brussel sprouts (we like to eat about 10 brussel sprouts each)
¼ cup vegetable stock or chicken stock, or water
1 teaspoon bacon fat or 4 slices of bacon
1 teaspoon olive oil
To prepare the brussel sprouts
Cut the end off the brussel sprouts.
Peel off any brown/rusty outer leaves. Cut the sprout in half, lengthwise.
Slice the sprout into thin strips. The strips don't need to be super thin.
Add the olive oil and the bacon fat to a sauté pan. If you don't have any bacon fat on hand, it's time to use the strips of bacon. Chop four strips of bacon into 2 cm wide pieces and render down the bacon in the sauté pan. When the bacon is cooked, remove the bacon pieces from the pan, leaving the bacon fat in the pan.
Now it's time to add the chopped brussel sprouts to the pan. Toss the sprouts in the fat.
Sauté the brussel sprouts until they begin to soften...about 2-3 minutes. Add the stock to the pan; this will cool the pan and help deglaze the pan. Sauté the sprouts until the stock is absorbed and the sprouts are cooked through...about 5 minutes. We like our brussel sprouts to be a little bit browned; feel free to cook the sprouts to the doneness you like.
If you are using bacon, return the bacon pieces to the pan and mix the crispy bacon through the sprouts. Remove from the heat and serve.
Whenever we cook bacon, we keep the excess bacon fat in a mug in our freezer, for just this sort of situation. This side dish is perfect for any night of the week, or increase the quantities and make a big batch for a crowd-pleasing holiday side dish.
Kid-Approved Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
- 30 brussels sprouts we like to eat about 10 brussels sprouts each
- ¼ cup vegetable stock or chicken stock or water
- 1 teaspoon bacon fat or 4 slices of bacon
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Instructions
- To prepare the brussel sprouts
- Cut the end off the brussels sprout.
- Peel off any brown/rusty outer leaves. Cut the sprout in half, lengthwise
- Slice the sprout into thin strips. The strips don’t need to be super thin
- Add the olive oil and the bacon fat to a sauté pan. If you don’t have any bacon fat on hand, it’s time to use the strips of bacon. Chop four strips of bacon into 2 cm wide pieces and render down the bacon in the sauté pan. When the bacon is cooked, remove the bacon pieces from the pan, leaving the bacon fat in the pan
- Now it’s time to add the chopped brussels sprouts to the pan. Toss the sprouts in the fat.
- Sauté the brussels sprouts until they begin to softened…about 2-3 minutes. Add the stock to the pan, this will cool the pan and help deglaze the pan. Sauté the sprouts until the stock is absorbed and the sprouts are cooked through…about 5 minutes. We like our brussels sprouts to be a little bit browned, feel free to cook the sprouts to the doneness you like
- If you are using bacon, return the bacon pieces into the pan and mix the crispy bacon through the sprouts. Remove from the heat and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Here's hoping in a few weeks we'll be enjoying some home-grown brussel sprouts...cross your fingers for us.
Another family friendly brussel sprout dish - kale, potato and brussel sprout salad
Make a big batch of Greek pasta salad
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Discovering Montessori says
Yummy! My kids and I enjoy brussel sprouts too. Thank you for sharing.
Sharon Lovejoy says
Looks good and though I don't like the aroma of them cooking, well I DO love the taste.
Thanks!
Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island
Maranda says
We love brussel sprouts! I roast them in the oven with caramelized onions and they are delicious. They're also good boiled with vinegar in the water. Boiling isn't the most nutritious way to prepare veggies, but that's how my mom always made them and I still love it. Just don't overcook them, they get mushy fast!
I'm going to try pan frying them with some stock, sounds great.
Yabut says
We often have brussel sprouts, boiled until just tender, and served with oil and lemon. I've never cut them up and pan fried them but this sounds good, so I'll give it a try. I may still have to drizzle some lemon over them though.