In collaboration with OXO UK.
Ah, the humble Brussels sprout. Folk tend to be firmly in the ‘love them’ or ‘hate them’ camp and even in our family opinions are divided. I love them, especially lightly sauteed Brussels sprouts tops cooked with bacon and maple syrup served over a generous helping of creamy polenta. The ultimate Autumnal comfort food.
Many people associate Brussels sprouts with a helping of boiled, overcooked vegetable which, frankly, tastes rank. It’s science. Brussels sprouts contain sulforaphane which, when overcooked, can taste like rotten eggs.
However, roasting sprouts can transform this humble vegetable into a delicious, nutty and sweet side dish, perfect for Thanksgiving.
I’ve kept my Thanksgiving side dish simple, as anyone who has prepared a Thanksgiving dinner for a crowd knows, there’s already enough work involved!
For this dish, you can prep the sprouts and the bacon the day before, and then you just need to pop it all in a good non-stick roasting tin, drizzle with oil and maple syrup (Canadian, of course!) and roast. Add the hazelnuts in for the final ten minutes of cooking and keep warm until needed!
Simple!
I’ve used the OXO Good Grips non-stick Pro roasting tin for my recipe. Its heavy-gauge aluminised steel base provides stability, even heat distribution for perfect roasting and lasting durability. It’s got squared edges, so you can get a secure grip on the pan while transferring it in/out of the oven, and a micro-textured pattern minimises surface contact, improving airflow, and allowing those delicious sprouts to caramelise and roast gorgeously.
It’s also non-stick with a PFOA-free, Swiss-engineered and ceramic-reinforced two-layer coating – which means easy cleanup! Win!
I’ve recently added a few other handy OXO products to my kitchen arsenal too, which I’m excited about. Namely: spice jar sized measuring spoons (with a 1/8 tsp!), a swish vegetable peeler, a mini silicone measuring cup with 10ml increments, as well as ounces and cups, and a 500ml angled measuring cup which means I can measure out ingredients from above. All genius products, imho!
I confess I never once saw a Brussels sprout until I moved to Scotland. Back in rural Canada, we used to go to my grandparents’ house for family Thanksgiving dinners, and I remember them with fondness. Roast turkey (I remember the sight of the giant thing defrosting on top of the chest freezer in their basement) with all the trimmings – stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes. Mashed turnip and carrot always featured too, but never the humble Brussels sprout.
One of the more peculiar dishes we ate at Thanksgiving and Christmas, right there on the plate along with the turkey, was a layered jelly dessert with pineapple and bananas. So good, but almost as strange as the American fondness for combining sweet potatoes and marshmallows (something I’ve still yet to try!).
So yes, say goodbye to boring boiled Brussels sprouts, and why not give roasting them a try? I’ve quartered my Brussels sprouts as they were fairly large, but my veg box ones tend to be smaller and I leave those ones whole or halved.
Adjust the cooking time to your preference too – if you want a little more bite to your sprouts, reduce the cooking time by ten minutes or so. I wanted mine to be lovely, soft, sweet and caramelised with the salty smoked bacon and crunch of the hazelnuts.
If you’re looking for good quality and affordable kitchen products, do visit the OXO UK website. They’ve got you covered for all your kitchen utensils and bakeware needs. For my Shetland readers, Harry’s Department Store in Lerwick stocks a wide range too – do pop in for a look next time you’re in town!
In the meantime, here’s my maple roasted Brussels sprouts recipe with bacon (bacon makes everything taste better, no?) and toasted hazelnuts.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Hazelnuts
Ingredients
- 900 grams Brussels sprouts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp Canadian maple syrup
- 4 rashers smoked back bacon cut into 1 cm pieces
- 50 grams hazelnuts coarsely chopped
- Shetland sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F/190 C/ 170 C fan.
- Prepare your sprouts by cutting off the end of the stalk, removing a 2-3 of the outer leaves and halving or cutting into quarters, depending on their size.
- Place the sprouts in a large roasting tin, sprinkle over the chopped bacon and add the olive oil and maple syrup. Stir well to coat and arrange in a single layer.
- Roast in the centre of the oven for 30-40 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes.
- Add the coarsely chopped hazelnuts for the final 10 minutes of cooking.
- Season well to taste and serve warm.
This is a commissioned recipe for OXO UK, although all thoughts and opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to do what I love: mess up my kitchen and share recipe stories.
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Cream Cheese & Chive Mashed Potatoes
Love the humble brussel sprout – this sounds a delight too – certainly one i’ll be making
I love the idea of this recipe – sprouts are one of my favourite vegetables, but we always just have them boiled, nothing special. So this adds a bit of variety to the christmas dinner, and means I can eat them at other times (not just on 25th December hehe) x
They look so sweet and crispy! I would love to make this for Thanksgiving dinner!
Mmm I used to hate Brussels Sprouts but now I’ve grown to love them! As long as their seasoned nicely, or as you suggest with a nice maple glaze, they are delicious. Anything with hazel nuts also gets a thumbs up from me too!
Personally I’m in the hate camp but my family love them and love experimenting with new ways to cook them so I’ll definitely be showing them this recipe
I’ve got to say – I hate Brussels Sprouts! But somehow you’ve made them look SO good. Maybe it’s time for me to give them one last chance?!
Louise x
I’m the only one in my family who loves Brussels sprouts and this recipe sounds like it could be a winner for the entire family.
Sorry but I hate sprouts. This just seems like a waste of bacon!!
This is how you turn absolutely anyone into a sprout lover! These look divine 🙂
oh this looks amazing! I LOVE Brussels sprouts! I don’t eat bacon but think they would be brilliant with hazelnuts and maple syrup! x
Roasting Brussels sprouts is the only way I can get my husband to eat them. I am sure adding bacon would make them even more appealing.
Ooooh yummy. I personally don’t eat bacon, but this is great recipe inspiration with the hazelnuts and maple syrup! Have you ever tried it without bacon?
Oooh this recipe sounds great! We normally shred ours with bacon and chestnut mushrooms and stir fry them in butter, but I think this sounds even better so will be trying it on the family
I have always avoided sprouts because I never liked the taste of them. However, I imagine that combining them with maple syrup and bacon gives them a totally different yummy taste.
I don’t know why but I never would have thought of putting bacon with sprouts but this week I have seen so many recipes doing just that. I will have to make one for my partner as he loves both ingredients!
Brussels Sprouts are one of my favorite Thanksgiving sides. As an ex-sprout hater I wasn’t sure if I was just warming to them recently because my tastebuds have changed with age, but apparently, they have been selectively cultivated in recent years to omit the bitter tasting varieties (a job very well done I think!). Can’t wait to try your version! x
I love sprouts done like this! They’re so much tastier than just boiled mush!
C x
This looks like the perfect dish for Christmas Day, so nice to come up with a different way of cooking them.
I love OXO products! I think we share the same mixing bowl I saw in one of your other recipes! As for sprouts? Yep, firmly in the hate category, I am afraid! However, I love roasted veggies and perhaps might need to try this recipe and see if it makes a difference!
I absolutely LOVE their mixing bowls! I was sent their smaller one to review some time ago and loved it so much that my husband bought me the larger one to match for Christmas last year, lol! 🙂
Sadly I am very much in the hate camp for brussel sprouts but with the toppings you have made them seem a bit more tempting x
im really going to see how this works for us this xmas as something new and different for our xmas dinner its a great idea and i love sprouts
This says christmas…so festive and looks really pretty too. My mother would love this x
This looks quite an interesting recipe. Never seen anything done like this before
I just love brussel sprouts, I need to try make this recipe because it looks delicious
This sounds and looks delicious! I have never had a problem with brussels sprouts, but other members of my family detest them. I used to spend ages wrapping up a sprout in gold foil to look like a ferrero rocher, it didn’t go down well! 😀
Ahhhh… We are absolute lovers of the little green things. We eat them a couple of times a week for the whole winter! I am sure they have also become sweeter over the years….
Your recipe sounds a delight Elizabeth and is now on my ‘must make’ list for sure xx
I’m afraid I’m in the hater camp for brussel sprouts, but they’re my mum’s favourite veg and this dish looks like an interesting way of cooking them, so I’m saving this recipe for Christmas.
We don’t like Brussel sprouts but I thnk I would definitely try these! They look so much more appetising than my mums boiled sprouts!!
i’m not a massive fan of brussels and tend not to eat them much throughout the festivities but I reckon maple roasted with bacon and hazelnuts would make them taste sooooo much better!
I must admit we don’t eat Brussels as we don’t like them. I think its a great idea though for a different way of cooking them.