You either like them or you hate them. In my family, they were always described as “baby cabbages”. I remember thinking, I would rather eat a regular cabbage. Somehow these “baby cabbages” would sneak onto my plate during the holidays and I would choke them down first, so I could enjoy the rest of my holiday meal. Then I grew up and roasted brussel sprouts were all the rage. I mean, once you got past the smell, they did taste good for a vegetable.

Now, in an effort to diversify the vegetables I eat, I was eager to find a recipe that allowed me to enjoy brussel sprouts cooked at home. No better recipe than one with bacon included. Bacon makes everything better in my book. The added step of breaking down the brussel sprouts into leaves somehow makes it taste less bitter to me and the lightness of the leaves is more appealing than biting into whole sprouts. Add crispy bacon pieces on top and the brussel sprouts are transformed into something enjoyable.

Brussel Leaves and Bacon

It may be a bit more work to disassemble all the brussel sprout leaves, but I enjoy how light it seems when you eat it and less bitter. Of course, the crisp bacon topping just adds to all the flavor. This is great on its own for a light lunch or as a side dish for dinner or Thanksgiving dinner.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  

• 2 lb brussel sprouts broken down into individual leaves
• 2 shallot sliced thin
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 6 slices bacon, thick cut cut into 1" pieces
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt to taste
• fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Using a paring knife, remove the core from each brussel sprouts. Carefully, separate all the leaves leaving the middle to either toss or slice thinly.
• In a pan cook the bacon to your desired doneness. I prefer the bacon crispy since it's being used as a topping. Remove bacon from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Drain bacon grease
• In the same pan, add oil and saute shallots until almost soft. Add minced garlic being careful not to over overcook the garlic.
• Add the brussel sprout leaves and saute until bright green and still holding its shape. Try not to overcook. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
• Serve topped with bacon.

Notes

Many have asked if you can cook everything in the leftover bacon fat.  Yes, you can, but I found it just overpowered the flavor and all I could taste was bacon.  I drain the fat and cook it in the same pan, so the shallots and garlic pick up the bacon pieces left in the pan.

Additional toppings: Toasted bread crumbs, finely grated parmesan, toasted walnuts.

Keyword bacon, brussel sprouts, easy recipe, holiday recipe, side dish, Thanksgiving recipe