Seared & smoked Brussels sprouts with bacon, parmesan & balsamic glaze are an easy side dish for a weeknight or family event! We make these anytime the inside stove is at capacity and we have needed to get creative with cooking space.
We have a pellet smoker and it works so beautifully as a second oven while also adding flavor to anything we cook in it, making this recipe extra handy around the holidays!
🛒 Ingredients
- Brussels Sprouts
- Bacon
- Onion - diced
- Garlic - sliced
- Olive Oil
- Red Pepper Flakes - optional for heat
- Shaved Parmesan - optional for extra salt
- Balsamic Glaze - optional for a sweet & acidic pop
Fresh vs. Frozen Brussel Sprouts
What was once the frozen horror of many of our childhoods, Brussels sprouts have made a comeback! The art of pan-searing them perfectly to get a perfect crisp on them changed the game for us. What once was a mushy, bitter vegetable is now being served at restaurants across the country and people love it!
We added bacon lardons (or large bacon bits), onion, and garlic to our recipe. Smoking them in the pellet smoker for an added punch of flavor, and finished them with parmesan and balsamic drizzle. That's a lot of layers of yummy!
One thing to note is Brussels sprouts love to suck up oil. If you check out the picture below you will see all the layers they have. Each layer will soak up whatever flavor is in your pan. Whether that's bacon fat, butter, or olive oil.
📖 Instructions
Start by setting your smoker at 400 degrees. We use a Camp Chef but also loved our Trager as both are pellet smokers that you can set and forget for hours.
Trim your Brussels sprouts by cutting off the very very bottom of each root end, and then cutting them through the root end, in half. Small dice your onion, thinly slice your garlic, and finally slice your bacon into thin strips and set aside.
Using an oven-safe pan (like a cast iron or stainless steel) on high heat crisp your bacon and then remove.
Add another 2 tablespoon of olive oil to your pan and add your Brussels sprouts flat side down. Drizzle the top sides with another 2 tablespoon of olive oil, and heavily season with kosher salt & fresh ground pepper.
🔥 Smoking
Once the bottom of each Brussels is browned, add the onion garlic, and bacon back to the pan and give a mix. Move everything outside to the smoker and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until fork tender.
We set our pellet smoker at 400 degrees, and smoke them for about 10-15 minutes. Just until they are fork tender. Keeping the temperature high will insure you keep the crisp edges!
Finish with freshly grated parmesan cheese & balsamic glaze drizzle.
👩🏼🍳 Chef Tip
#1 We finished our Brussels sprouts with some freshly shaved parmesan cheese & balsamic glaze. Giving it a salty (parm), sweet, acidic finish.
#2 Getting the crispy Brussels is tricky but boils down to a hot pan, hot oil, and don't overcrowd the pan. Be patient! I know it's hard.
🍽 Serving
We make this for ourselves often as a side for our smoked pork tenderloin recipe or our whole smoked chicken recipe.
And if you got this far and you realized you don't have Brussels but you do have a bunch of random other vegetables in your house, our smoked vegetables recipe is also pretty amazing... just gonna throw that out there.
📖 Recipe
Smoked Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients
- 1 pound Brussels Sprouts
- 1 sliced Bacon
- ½ Onion - diced
- 4 cloves Garlic - sliced
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
- ¼ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes - optional
- 1 tablespoon Shaved Parmesan - optional
- 1 tablespoon Balsalmic Glaze - optional
Instructions
- Start by setting your smoker at 400 degrees.
- Trim your Brussels sprouts by cutting off the very very bottom of each root end, and then cutting them through the root end, in half.
- Small dice your onion, thinly slice your garlic, and set aside.
- Using an oven-safe pan on high heat crisp your bacon and then remove.
- Add another 2 tablespoon of olive oil to your pan and add your Brussels sprouts flat side down.
- Drizzle the top sides with another 2 tablespoon of olive oil, and heavily season with kosher salt & fresh ground pepper.
- Once the bottom of each Brussels is browned, add the onion garlic, and bacon back to the pan and give a mix.
- Move everything outside to the smoker and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until fork tender.
- Finish with freshly grated parmesan cheese & balsamic glaze drizzle.
Video
Nutrition
Handy Tools
Want to take your cooking game to the next level? Here's a list of some of the tools I use every time I make this recipe that help make this a breeze!
