Our caramelized, honey-roasted brussels sprouts recipe is an easy and quick side dish to prepare. Because it is a one-pan recipe, it will leave your oven available for a main dish (such as turkey and/or ham for Thanksgiving.) While the brussels sprouts are crunchy and savory from the caramelization, the honey adds a melting sweetness to the dish that is irresistible in flavor!

I recently pulled out my Thanksgiving and Christmas recipe notebooks to flip through. The seasons have changed, the cold weather is here, and fall/winter produce is becoming available! It’s time to start cooking brussels sprouts again!

The brussels sprouts season in the USA is from late September through March. If you try to cook seasonally like me, you are probably excited to finally dust off your cold weather recipes. Brussels sprouts are a favorite side dish in our household, so we make them a lot when they come into season.

For those who do not know, sprouts are not small cabbages. Instead, they grow on a stalk. — For those who do not know, brussels sprouts are not small cabbages. Instead, they grow on a stalk like seen in this photo!

Why Make Brussels Sprouts?

Unfortunately, in the past, brussels sprouts have had a bad reputation. Not because they were inherently bad, but because of how they were cooked. For many, many years, British and American households simply boiled brussels sprouts. Not only does boiling make your house smell strongly of the vegetable, but it also creates a tough, flavorless mush of greens. No wonder they were unpopular.

Nowadays, I rarely come across anyone who hates brussels sprouts. Thanks to chefs, food writers, and bloggers, we learned how to properly cook these small veggies: WE ROAST THEM!

Roasting makes all the difference. When roasted, brussels sprouts gain a crunchy exterior. The golden, flaky edges change brussels sprouts from just a boring vegetable into a side dish everyone will rave about.

How to Roast Brussels Sprouts

Preparing our roasted brussels sprouts recipe: First trim. To trim: remove the tough bottom of the sprout and slice in half. — When preparing brussels sprouts, wash and trim. To trim: remove the tough bottom of the sprout and slice in half.

What is roasting? To roast something means to cook by prolonged heat in the oven or over a fire.

When roasting brussels sprouts, you can do it two ways. The first involves pan-roasting on the stove top (caramelizing through sautéing.) The second involves popping the brussels sprouts into the oven.

Before roasting, start by properly picking your sprouts. Look for ones without brown spots and with leaves still fully intact. Don’t get huge sprouts because they tend to be a bit tougher and bland in flavor. I typically look for the medium/small sized sprouts.

Helpful Hint: Try to pick sprouts that are the same size. You want them to cook evenly and at the same rate.

Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe (AKA Sautéed)

First, prepare your sprouts: Wash your brussels sprouts to remove any excess dirt and grime. Pat dry. Thinly slice off the bottom ends. Don’t cut off too much, otherwise the sprouts will fall apart. Once those tough ends are removed, slice the sprouts in half.
Preheat your pan on medium/high heat. Heat oil in the pan. Once the oil is heated, add the sprouts to the pan cut side down. Do not overcrowd the pan! If you need to, do it in batches. The brussels sprouts need space so that they can crisp up.
Leave undisturbed for a few minutes until the sprouts start browning. Then, stir/flip to brown the other side.

Picking Your Pans and Skillets

Try making your pan-roasted brussels sprouts in a cast-iron or stainless pan. You can get really crunchy bits that cook more evenly in these types of pans. For those who fear the cast-iron skillet, check out our guide to caring for your cast-iron.

Below is a list of pan recommendations we have via amazon. I have personally tried cooking on all of these. If you have questions about any of these pans, feel free to email us at [email protected]. We can help point you in the right direction for your needs. After all, buying a new pan is a HUGE investment.

My Pan Recommendations:

Caramelized brussels sprouts. Topped with parmesan cheese. — Caramelized, honey-roasted brussels sprouts. Topped with parmesan cheese.

Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

First, line your pan. Start by cutting parchment to fit onto your baking sheet.
Then, prepare your sprouts. Like the pan roasted version, wash your brussels sprouts to remove any excess dirt and grime. Pat dry. Thinly slice off the bottom ends. Don’t cut off too much, otherwise the sprouts will fall apart. Once those tough ends are removed, slice the sprouts in half.
Sprinkle olive oil over your sprouts and place them on the tray cut side down. Spread them out evenly so that the sprouts are not touching. If they are crowded, the brussels sprouts will not crisp up properly.
Finally, set your oven on a high temperature to caramelize your sprouts and cook them quickly. If cooked slow, the brussels sprouts tend to get a chewy texture. Check often so that you do not accidentally overcook them! I recommend temperatures between 400°F to 425°F (204.4°C to 218.3°C). Roast for 20 to 25 minutes (longer at a lower temperature) until they turn golden.
In the end, when you pull your sprouts out, you will have the most beautiful golden vegetables to serve on your table.

Picking Your Baking Sheets and Pans

Like your skillet/pan, picking anything you put into your oven is also an investment. All of these options work well for roasting vegetables. Personally, we love the round pre-seasoned cast-iron baking pan. We seriously, seriously love cast-iron in our house.

Once again, we have tried and currently own all of the items we recommend below. Let us know if you have questions about these as well!

Some Oven-Safe Options:

What Is the Difference Between the Two Methods?

To me, there is a marginal difference between the flavor and texture when pan-roasting and roasting in the oven. Both allow the brussels sprouts to brown, caramelize, and deepen in flavor.

BUT, if you had to make me really compare, I would say the pan-roasting method allows the brussels sprouts to maintain more of a crunch in the interior than the oven-roasting method. The extra crunch adds slightly more mouthfeel. Beyond that, I believe both taste similarly delicious!!!

We Are Making Caramelized, Pan-Roasted Honey Brussels Sprouts

Though many individuals in the USA don’t know this, ovens are not readily available in every household around the world. When living in South Korea, I had to completely re-learn how to cook without an oven. The stove top eventually became my best friend. By the time I bought a toaster oven, I barely used it because I became so accustomed to my stove top lifestyle.

Because of this, pan recipes are very popular amongst many of my friends around the globe. Whether they are living in small city life apartments, college dorms, or just don’t want to use the large oven for one or two people at home, this one-pan roasted brussels sprouts recipe will be a wonderful addition to your cooking during these cold months.

Our pan-roasted honey brussels sprouts recipe actually came from my husband! He does a lot of cooking as stress-relief from work and school (lucky for me!). I immediately fell in love with this crispy, sweet, and savory dish. The caramelization and honey just make the brussels sprouts melt in your mouth.

Top with some parmesan cheese or toasted walnuts to create the perfect holiday side dish this year. This one-pan recipe will allow you to empty some space in the oven for your Turkey or main dish during Thanksgiving and/or Christmas! We hope you enjoy our roasted brussels sprouts recipe.

About the Honey…

When using honey, know what flavors you are looking for in a dish. Honey tends to take on the flavors of the different flowers the bees gathered the pollen and nectar from. The temperatures, region, types of flowers, and more affect the flavor of a batch of honey.

We used our Charlotte Honey given to us by our grandmother. She participates in making this honey by keeping bees in her expansive–and gorgeously flower-filled–garden. If you order this, know that the honey is not neutral in flavor. It does have a distinct floral taste to it.

Try different types of honey. We recommend Charlotte Honey for those who like floral flavors. For those who like spicy, try Mike's Hot Honey. Look for neutral flavors if you do not want anything competing with the brussels sprouts flavors. — Our Charlotte honey from our grandmother, Nina! So delicious!!!

If you do not like floral flavors in dishes, look for a neutral honey at your grocery store.

Also, if you want your dish to be spicy, try using Mike’s Hot Honey listed below. We have that in the refrigerator. It is SPICY!

Some Honey Options:

Let Us Know If You Make Our Honey Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe!

Our delicious honey-roasted brussels sprouts recipe.

If you would like to try some of our other fall and winter recipes:

We would love to hear from you! Let us know if you enjoy our recipes, would like to work together, and/or have questions. Reach out to us via email: [email protected].

You can follow us at @carvingajourney on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Also, you can subscribe to our blog by joining our mailing list.

Caramelized, Honey-Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

Recipe by Emily

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Recipes, Side DishesDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

1 Pound Brussels Sprouts
6 TBSP Olive Oil
2 TBSP Honey
1/2 TBSP Ground Mustard Seed
2 TBSP White Vinegar
1/2 TSP Salt
Optional: Parmesan Cheese and/or Tasted Walnuts

Directions

Prepare the brussels sprouts: Wash your brussels sprouts to remove any excess dirt and grime. Pat dry. Thinly slice off the bottom ends. Don’t cut off too much, otherwise the sprouts will fall apart. Once those tough ends are removed, slice the sprouts in half.
Preheat your pan on medium/high heat.
Heat 2 TBSP olive oil into the pan. Once the oil is heated, add the sprouts to the pan cut side down.
Let the brussels sprouts roast in the pan undisturbed for 5 minutes.
While the sprouts are roasting, combine 4 TBSP olive oil, the honey, ground mustard seed, white vinegar, and salt into a lidded container. Shake to fully combine (these ingredients need to be shaken because olive oil and vinegar separate.)
Once the bottom of the sprouts become golden brown, pour in the honey mixture. Let the mixture bubble and thicken around the brussels sprouts for 1 minute until caramelized.
Remove the brussels sprouts from heat. While still in the pan, gently stir the sprouts and caramelized honey mixture together.
Optional: Stir in toasted walnuts or top with parmesan cheese. (We love the cheese version.)

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @carvingajourney on Instagram and hashtag it

Like this recipe?

Did you make this recipe?

Follow Carving A Journey on Facebook

Carving A Journey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Although we may earn commissions for our endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website, these opinions are my own and I fully support these products.

Autumn brussels sprouts Christmas honey seasonal thanksgiving