Home » Brussel Sprout Side Dish – Perfectly Cooked Instant Pot Recipe
By Heather 26 Comments
Wow! This instapot (AKA Instant Pot, an electric pressure cooker) thing is such a kitchen game changer. I can see this little pot gaining steam and soon it will be in as many homes as a slowcooker, probably more! Today I am excited to share another recipe using this fun gadget! Try this brussel sprout side dish which combines bacon with their favorite veggie pal the brussel sprout!
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I hope that in sharing this recipe, you too can enjoy the simple pleasure of a perfectly cooked, slightly sweet, brussel sprout at your dinner table or even holiday table.
Cooking in the instapot frees up your attention to focus on other dishes, or the main dish, and it can even keep everything warm until you are ready to serve. I don’t know about you, but getting all the meal on the table and having it all be warm, is one challenging feat! This brussel sprout side dish is a perfect accompaniment to other more complex dishes that are keeping you busy in the kitchen, or great little healthy lunch!
What I love about the Instant Pot
- Hands free! Once you get your recipe going, you can walk away, there is nothing to babysit. This is a huge upgrade over a stove-top recipe or even something in the oven you many need to check multiple times.
- Flavorful meats! Some people prefer their slow cooker, because they are used to it. Here’s a reason to switch. Slow cooking over cooks the seasoning you use, and the final product will be bland. Pressure cooking takes less seasoning and salt because it cooks the seasoning INTO the meat, it’s awesome!
- Quick! Large cuts of meat take way way way less time to cook. Recipes like this one may take about the same time as traditional cooking, but the flavor and ease make it worth it to me.
Other Instant Pot Recipes to Try!
Instant Pot Tips
- In the recipe instructions you will see I cook the bacon right in the instant pot first. There is two reasons for this, it is less messy and it also heats up the instant pot. If the pot is already warm when you go to pressure cook, it reduces your cooking time, as the pot takes less time to heat up!
- When searing big cuts of meats, or in this case bacon, I use a screen over the top of the pot to prevent splatter. My kitchen is already dirty enough!
- I use my big BBQ tongs when flipping large cuts of meat in the instant pot. I won’t get splattered as easily and they are stronger and don’t bend when lifting a 5 pound pork roast! I have ones from Cutco that came in a BBQ set, and I can’t find a link for you, sorry!
- If something comes out a little underdone, you can actually just put it right back into the pot and cook a little longer.
- I sear all my meats, it adds a lot more flavor!
- For meats, after I remove the meat from the pot, I set it to saute and cook the heck out of the liquid to make essentially a perfectly keto pan sauce. I don’t add any thickener I just let the pot cook out most of the water. I serve the sauce over the meat, or save it for another time in a glass jar usually.
Yield: 4
An extreamly tasty side dish, with minimal work involved. Adding honey, bacon and a bit of habanero salt creates the perfect blend of flavors and sweetness!In this recipe you are crisping up the bacon and brussel sprouts and then essential steaming them under pressure, to get a perfectly cooked dish in just minutes!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 4cups chopped brussel sprouts- I cut the butts off and sliced each one in half. Any leaves that fall off are great since they will crispy up a bit more
- 3-4 slices of bacon chopped. Roughly into 1cm by 1 cm squares
- 1/3cup water
- 1 tablespoon honey- omit for keto you could stir in a few vanilla stevia drops instead start with 3-5 drops and adjust to taste. Or use the same amount of sugar free honey.
- Habanero sea salt -I get all my spices from Gneiss Spice Company
Instructions
- Chop the bacon into small squares.
- In your instapot add the bacon and hit saute.
- Let the bacon cook about 7-9 min stirring occasionally to prevent burning.You want the bacon to be almost crispy before you add the brussels sprouts.
- While the bacon is cooking trim up the brussel sprouts
- After the bacon is almost crisp add the brussel sprout to the pot.
- Saute for 6-8 minutes. I find that the fat from the bacon goes to the outside edges of the pot since it is a bit lower. Since I was trying to crisp the veggies a bit, I left them in that area of the pot. Stir occasionally so the brussels don't burn.You are looking for some caramel/browned bits to develop on the veggies. So stir so they don't burn but also don't stir too often.
- When done sauteing, pour the water to the pot. Turn off the saute function and close and lock the lid in place. Make sure the pot is set to sealing.
- Hit manual and cook at high pressure for 2 minutes.
- The pot will take a few minutes to hit high pressure and then it will cook for 2 full minutes.
- When the pot beeps, carefully with a potholder or long spoon vent the pot manually.. aka a quick vent.
- Remove the veggies from the pot, drizzle with the honey and salt and mix. Serve!
- I used just a pinch of habanero sea salt since it is fairly spicy. Salt to taste!
Notes
Helpful Equipment: Instapot!
You could use a peppered bacon for this recipe and I think that would be super tasty if you like black pepper. I imagine since pressure cooking concentrates flavors, it might end up being quite peppery.
I also think adding some balsamic vinegar over the top after cooking could be quite delicious! Experiment and let me know how it turns out.
Variation
You can easily change this dish by changing up the spices. I love taco spices, its also a little spicy but different than the habenaro.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4 Serving Size:
1/4 recipe cooked
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 94 Total Fat: 4g Carbohydrates: 11g Sugar: 7g Protein: 5g
Brussel Sprout Side Dish is Summery:
- Less the 30 minutes!
- Perfectly cooked with some crispy bacon bits!
- Honey and habanero salt add a bit of sweet and a kick of heat to the final dish!
- Use the Instapot’s keep warm function to make these while doing other things!
I hope you enjoy this brussel sprout side dish*this would make an amazing Sunday dinner with my perfect roast beef!
You can make these instant pot brussels sprouts as the roast beef is resting and they will be ready just in time!
Cheers,
Heather
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Jamie says
December 13, 2016 at 11:42 pmThis Looks Great!
See AlsoThe Best Slow Cooker RecipesReply
Martha says
March 1, 2017 at 2:06 amMy husband loves bacon but doesn’t care for Brussels sprouts. I could tell he was crushed when I used 3 pieces of bacon for this dish! Not only did he try them, he had 2nds! The ultimate compliment was “you didn’t waste the bacon!” They were perfect. You definitely want to quick release after 2 minutes so they aren’t overcooked. I didn’t have the habanero salt, but they were delicious nonetheless! I’ll definitely make this again!
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Martha says
March 1, 2017 at 2:07 amDefinitely 5 stars!
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Heather says
March 1, 2017 at 4:27 amWow!! Thank you so much Martha!! Glad you could make a believer out of your husband!! Next time try a little sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes, if you like spice!
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Melinda T. says
March 22, 2017 at 9:44 pmIf I double the recipe, do I need a full cup of water, or can it remain at 1/2 and make enough steam that the sprouts won’t scorch?
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Heather says
March 22, 2017 at 11:48 pmI would use a full cup. In most recipes you don’t need to double the liquid in the IP but I would in this case. Let me know how it turns out!
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Hanna says
October 6, 2017 at 10:46 amHi, I’m just wondering if I need to use the metal rack to steam the Brussels sprouts above the water? Or should I put water directly to them? Thanks so much!
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Heather says
October 9, 2017 at 10:09 amHi Hanna, no need for the rack in this case!
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Nina says
November 19, 2017 at 8:58 amUnfortunately,My Brussels sprouts turned out way too soft, I followed the recipe, only difference was I have an 8 qt.
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Heather says
December 28, 2017 at 11:04 amIt must be the size! I’m sorry it didn’t turn out as you hoped!
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Scott says
January 31, 2019 at 7:35 pmHaven’t quite nailed this down yet, trying to shrink the recipe for 2 people (about 2 cups of sprouts) … i use a 4oz pckg of diced pancetta, a little smoked sea salt and saute with small shallot- most recent try i used only 1/3 cup of broth(instead of water) … but they still cane out very mushy 🙁 … still tasted great though! Next time, will probably try 1/4 cup liquid….oh i drop a little balsamic in there as well (not the thin watery kind, the think syrupy kind), a just a sprinkle across the top before that pressure cool
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Heather says
February 1, 2019 at 12:50 pmHi Scott, Thanks for giving me this feedback, let me see if I can help. If you are using less sprouts, perhaps as little as a 1/4 cup water and maybe just 1 minute under pressure? Have you tried a sprout before cooking under pressure? They might be cooked enough? Please let me know how this goes for you! I also love the thick balsamic on my sprouts!
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