If you know how to roast Brussels properly, you don’t need a deep fryer or tons of seasoning to enjoy this hearty winter vegetable.
Published October 16, 2024
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Long before fried Brussels sprouts were on every restaurant menu and home cooks were tossing them with balsamic and shallots or turning them into cheese-covered gratin, Ina Gratin was preaching the magic of simply roasting them with a bit of oil and salt.
As she is with most things, Ina was right: If you know how to roast Brussels properly, you don’t need a deep fryer or tons of seasoning to enjoy this hearty winter vegetable. Here’s what Ina taught me about roasting Brussels sprouts.
How To Make Ina Garten’s Roasted Brussels Sprouts
I first learned about Ina’s roasted Brussels sprouts recipe while testing recipes for a Good Eats episode on Brussels sprouts. The culinary team on the show often sourced recipes from notable cookbooks, and Ina’s The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook was included in our research.
The recipe is simple. You heat an oven to 400°F. While the oven heats, you clean up the Brussels sprouts by trimming their ends and removing imperfect outer leaves. Then the sprouts get coated with olive oil (Ina says “good” olive oil, as you’d expect) and seasoned with salt and pepper. The Brussels sprouts are roasted on a baking sheet for about 40 minutes. That’s it.
I tasted this over 18 years ago, and I still remember the first time. These Brussels sprouts are swoon-worthy; the outer layers get caramelized and crisp while the interior becomes mellow and creamy. The roasting makes them less cruciferous in flavor with a subtle sweetness, and the decent dose of oil and salt makes them satisfyingly snackable. Seriously, try to eat just one off the baking sheet before serving them!
A Few Tips for Making Ina’s Brussels Sprouts
While I’ve tried lots of other Brussels sprouts recipes, I’ve always credited Ina’s recipe as the one that turned me into a Brussels sprouts lover. It’s the first recipe I recommend. Over the years, I’ve found a few tips to make Ina’s recipe even easier.
Get smaller Brussels sprouts: If you’ve got any thicker than an inch, cut them in half before tossing them with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then, be sure that the cut-sides of the halved sprouts are facing down on the baking sheet for maximum crispiness.
Use parchment paper: Covering your baking sheet with parchment paper will make the job much easier, and you’ll still get plenty of delicious browning and lots of crispy Brussels sprouts.
Use flaky salt: Ina recommends seasoning the roasted Brussels with kosher salt for a “french fry-like” effect, but I’ve found that crunchy, flaky salt adds to the crispiness and holds on better as you move the Brussels sprouts from the baking sheet to the serving dish.
Ina Garten may not have single-handedly popularized Brussels sprouts over the past 25 years, but when you try this recipe and note that it was first published in 1999, it’s hard not to credit her (and this recipe) for our decades-long love of crispy, caramelized Brussels sprouts.
