An easy peasy spectacular side dish: Quick Charred Brussels Sprouts

These burned-looking Brussels sprouts are actually perfectly done—and delicious. Extremely simple recipe and variations below.

SOME HOME COOKS ARE VERY SIDE DISH-FOCUSED. ME, NOT SO MUCH. I want sides to be healthy and delicious, of course, but I also want them to appear magically while I’m working on the main course. These quick charred Brussels sprouts come close.

Healthwise, Brussels sprouts are rock stars. They’re high in fiber, vitamins and minerals, and rich in antioxidants. They may also protect against heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancers of the stomach, lungs, kidney, breast, bladder, and prostate. Brussels sprouts belong to the brassica family, along with broccoli, kale and cabbage—we often call them baby cabbages, at least in part to remind ourselves to turn on the vent when cooking.

And with this approach, cooking them couldn’t be easier. Trim the ends and halve them. Cook them cut side down in a well-oiled skillet, flip them and cook some more, and stir in salt and butter at the end. Maybe a little lemon juice or Parmesan, and you’re set to eat some flavorful, rich and amazingly tender Brussels sprouts. They’ll probably be quite charred in spots (or even all over). That’s a good thing.

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Quick Charred Brussels Sprouts

These burned-looking Brussels sprouts are actually perfectly done—and tender and delicious.

Servings 2

Ingredients

• 8 to 10 Brussels sprouts (see Kitchen Notes)
• olive oil
• 1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• salt
• fresh lemon juice or Parmesan (optional—see Kitchen Notes)

Instructions

• Rinse the Brussels sprouts under cold running water and pat dry. Barely trim the bases (these are where the leaves are attached, and the higher you trim, the more leaves you lose), then slice the sprouts in half lengthwise, discarding any loose or wilted leaves.
• Coat the bottom of a medium-sized lidded sauté pan generously with olive oil and heat over medium heat until the oil is good and hot. Place sprouts cut side down in the pan and set timer for 5 or 6 minutes. The sprouts will be kind of crowded together and that’s okay.
• At 5 or 6 minutes, flip one of the first sprouts you put in the pan. If it has a decent char on it, flip all of them. If not, flip it back and let the sprouts cook a little longer. If it’s nicely cooked, flip the rest and let them cook for another 5 or 6 minutes. The sprouts can get lively at this time—some may flip back. If they seem too charred, don’t despair; see the Kitchen Notes.
• Turn off the heat, add the butter in pats to the pan and cover it with a lid. Let it sit for a minute, then stir to coat the sprouts with butter. Season with salt.
• Now, optionally, you can grate some Parmesan over the sprouts or top them with some fresh lemon juice. Serve.

Kitchen Notes

How many sprouts make a serving? The Brussels sprouts we’re seeing this season are quite large. Four whole ones will make a good serving for one, eight satisfyingly large pieces. If the ones you find are on the smaller side, do five whole sprouts per person.

How charred is too charred? We’ve cooked this recipe a number of times now, at least once cooking them until the cut sides were completely black. They were still delicious. Honestly, undercooking is a bigger problem—we did that once when we were in a hurry and the results were chewy and just not as flavorful.

Optional add-ons. For this simple recipe, we stick to either lemon juice or grated Parmesan—if we add anything extra. There are many Brussels sprouts recipes that include bacon, feta and all other kinds of flavorings. They’re also delicious, just not this super simple side dish we seem to have on repeat.