The Key to Perfectly Crisp Brussels Sprouts
Everything you need is already in your cabinet.
Welcome to the time of year when everyone insists on cooking Brussels sprouts. Thanksgiving? Gotta have ’em. Dinner? Hell yes. School lunch? Why not, kids will go crazy for these sprouts. Right? Wrong. No one goes crazy for Brussels sprouts. Because more often than not, they’re bland, slimy, and all around unappetizing.
But. One trick (passed down to me from an old editor, passed down to her from Mollie Katzen’s The Moosewood Cookbook) changed the game for me. Well, it’s not a trick per se — everything you need is already in your cabinet. But the results are almost magic: irresistibly crisp but super tender brussels sprouts, cooked perfectly with little to no effort. No standing over a stove, no pan-frying. All the work happens in a (very) hot oven. Here’s how to do it:
How to Get Perfectly Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Every Time
Step 1
Preheat your oven to 450°F. High heat is key here.
Step 2
Drizzle a glug of oil into a sheet pan, and spread it across the pan with your hands. Halve the Brussels sprouts, then add them to the pan. Drizzle with a bit more oil, and season aggressively with salt and pepper. Flip any overturned sprouts so that each half is cut side down on the pan.
Step 3
Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven. Set a timer for 10 minutes and wait. Don’t toss or flip the vegetables, don’t keep poking around in the oven. It’s okay. Nothing’s going to burn.
Step 4
After 10 minutes, take the pan out of the oven, and give one of the halves a quick peek. Has the cut side browned? Perfect! (If they’re still pretty pale, pop the pan back in for another 3–5 minutes.) Now you can give everything a good toss.
You could stop there, but this step is where you can add some amazing flavor. Toss some sort of onion-y thing onto the pan: chopped onions, sliced shallots, grated garlic, really anything along those lines. You want something pretty pungent.
Step 5
Give everything a good toss, and put the pan back in the oven for 5–7 more minutes. The Brussels sprouts will brown a bit more, and the onions or shallots will soften at the same time. Remove everything from the oven, give everything one last toss, and serve piping hot.
Trust me, you’ll want to cook Brussels sprouts this way every time. Try the method out in this cauliflower and Brussels sprout agrodolce recipe bundle from our friends at Zuni, or apply it to any vegetable you’re roasting this season. It works especially well with sweet vegetables (more sugar means more caramelization): sweet potatoes and winter squash come to mind.
