These Maple Bacon Brussel Sprouts will be your new favourite vegetable side dish! Coated in a maple balsamic glaze, these oven roasted brussel sprouts are so flavourful and delicious! Perfect to pair with an easy weeknight dinner or served along with a fancier holiday meal! {gluten-free & paleo}
If you’ve been looking for the ultimate way to serve up brussel sprouts, these maple bacon brussel sprouts will not disappoint!
Coated in a maple balsamic glaze, the brussel sprouts are oven roasted until lightly browned and crispy and are then tossed with crispy bits of bacon. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and savoury that even non-brussel sprout lovers will love!
This vegetable side dish is easy enough to serve up for an everyday family meal, yet fancy enough to serve during those fancier holiday gatherings.
Both easy and delicious, this brussel sprouts recipe will be your new favourite way to serve up this highly underestimated vegetable!
For more vegetable side dishes, be sure to try this Green Bean Almondine Recipe and Roasted Beet & Carrot Kale Salad too!
Table of Contents
Why we love these maple balsamic glazed brussel sprouts
Just in case, you’re not totally convinced about brussel sprouts, here are a few points that may just convince you to give them a shot.
These brussel sprouts:
- Only take 25 minutes to prepare
- Have the most incredible flavours (can you ever go wrong with maple, brussel sprouts and bacon?!)
- Are easy enough to make on a busy weeknight
- Fancy enough to make for a holiday
- Are perfect for meal prep
- Always a crowd pleaser (even for non-brussel sprout lovers)!
Ingredient notes
For a super flavourful vegetable side dish, these roasted brussel sprouts are pretty simple to prepare.
- Brussel sprouts: Look for brussel sprouts with bright green heads that are firm and heavy for their size with tightly packed leaves. Avoid brussel sprouts with yellowing leaves or black spots.
- Olive oil: Helps the brussel sprouts to get nice and crispy in the oven. I typically like to use extra virgin olive oil, but you could also use lite if preferred.
- Maple syrup: Adds a nice sweetness to the glaze which compliments the balsamic and bacon. Use 100% pure maple syrup.
- Garlic: Use freshly grated garlic for best results.
- Dijon mustard: Adds a slight tanginess to the glaze. Use smooth to ensure that it gets evenly distributed in the glaze mixture.
- Balsamic vinegar: Good quality balsamic vinegar will generally have ‘Grape must, tradizionale’ listed first on the ingredients list. This means that it has been aged for at least 12 years, and the vinegar will be thicker and sweeter. If you prefer to go with a cheaper variety, it still works well in this recipe.
- Bacon: Adds a nice saltiness and light crunch to this recipe. I typically like to look for a reduced sodium bacon to lower the sodium content.
Roasted brussel sprouts with bacon- Step by step instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Whisk together the ingredients for the maple balsamic glaze in a small bowl.
- Place the brussel sprouts in a large bowl and toss with half the maple balsamic mixture until they’re well coated.
- Spread evenly on a baking sheet (you may wish to use two pans) and bake for 20-25 minutes or until tender on the inside and golden and crispy on the outside.
- Meanwhile, in a medium-sized frying pan, cook bacon for 10-12 minutes over medium high heat until crispy. Transfer to a cutting board and cut the bacon into small pieces.
- Transfer roasted brussel sprouts to a serving bowl or tray. Just before serving, drizzle remaining maple balsamic sauce over brussel sprouts and toss until every distributed. Add bacon and toss again. Serve warm.
Recipe Tips
- Look for brussel sprouts that are similar in size so that they cook up evenly. Smaller brussels sprouts tend to be sweeter and more tender than larger ones.
- Before halving the brussel sprouts, slice off the nubby ends, as they tend to be more tough.
- Be sure to distribute the brussel sprouts in a single layer on the baking sheet to ensure that they cook up evenly and get nice and crispy. For best results, place them flat side down to ensure the edges turn deeply golden and crispy when roasted.
- Although it may be tempting to skip this step, it’s very important that you reserve half the maple balsamic sauce to drizzle on the brussel sprouts after they’re baked. It really helps to amplify the flavour when you pour some of the sauce on just before serving.
- Although I typically recommend flipping roasted vegetables half way through the cooking time, in this case, it’s not necessary. Brussel sprouts tend to get more crispy on the outside if you don’t flip them.
- After cooking the bacon, place on some paper towel to soak up some of the grease to cut back on some of the saturated fat.
- If you want to minimize clean up, you can line the baking sheet with parchment paper before roasting the brussel sprouts.
Recipe FAQs
These bacon brussel sprouts can be stored in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to four days. They generally taste best when fresh out of the oven since you get all of those nice crispy bits, but the flavour is still good after they’ve been sitting in the fridge for a few days.
Oven method: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the brussel sprouts out in a single layer on a baking sheet and reheat them for 10 to 12 minutes.
Microwave method: For a quicker method, you can also reheat them for 1-2 minutes in the microwave, but they won’t be as crispy using this method.
Although brussel sprouts can be cooked in a number of ways, my personal favourite way to cook them is by oven roasting them. It makes them tender on the inside and lightly crispy on the outside, while bringing out a nice caramelized flavour, especially when baked in the maple balsamic glaze.
Brussel sprouts pair well with lots of different meats. They taste especially good with turkey or chicken, meatloaf, roast beef, or steak. You can also serve them up with seafood such as salmon, trout, arctic char, or any type of white fish.
It’s possible that the pan is overcrowded and too much steam is being produced so the brussel sprouts aren’t able to crisp up. For best results, spread the brussel sprouts out on the pan and give them plenty of breathing room.
You may wish to use two baking sheets arranged on different racks near the middle of the oven, rather than trying to fit all of the brussel sprouts on one pan.
Another reason your brussel sprouts might not be getting crispy is because you’re using too low of a cooking temperature. I recommend cooking the brussel sprouts at 400 degrees F so that they can get nice and crispy with golden edges.
I recommend cutting the brussel sprouts in half before roasting and lying the flat surface directly on the pan if possible to ensure that they get nice and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.
If brussel sprouts are not halved prior to roasting, they will take longer to roast and will not get as tender, crispy and caramelized.
Serving suggestions
These roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic and bacon pair well with so many different dishes from simple weeknight meals to more elaborate holiday dishes!
Here are some combinations to try out!
Pair baked brussel sprouts with:
- Pistachio & Cranberry Stuffed Turkey Breast
- Sweet Potato Coconut Mash
- Healthy Squash Casserole
- Mini Turkey Meatloaf Muffins
- Cranberry Party Meatballs
- Dijon Mustard Salmon with Walnuts
Recipe variations
- Make them vegan: Leave out the bacon.
- Add a sweeter kick: Toss in some dried cranberries at the end.
More similar recipes
- Roasted Turmeric Cauliflower
- Roasted Ranch Carrots
- Red & Green Vegetable Saute
- Butternut Squash, Pomegranate & Kale Quinoa Salad
Did you make this recipe? Scroll down to leave a rating and review!
Maple Bacon Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients
For the maple balsamic sauce:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Freshly ground pepper
For the brussel sprouts
- 4 cups halved brussel sprouts (about 1 1/2 pounds brussel sprouts)
- 6 slices of reduced sodium bacon cooked until crispy
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Whisk together the ingredients for the maple balsamic glaze in a small bowl.
- Place the brussel sprouts in a large bowl and toss with half the maple balsamic mixture until they're well coated.
- Spread brussel sprouts evenly in a single layer on a baking sheet (you may wish to use two pans). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tender on the inside and golden and crispy on the outside.
- Meanwhile, in a medium-sized frying pan, cook bacon for 10-12 minutes over medium high heat until crispy. Transfer to a cutting board and cut the bacon into small pieces.
- Transfer roasted brussel sprouts to a serving bowl or tray. Just before serving, drizzle remaining maple balsamic sauce over brussel sprouts and toss until every distributed. Add bacon and toss again. Serve warm.
Notes
- Look for brussel sprouts that are similar in size so that they cook up evenly. Smaller brussels sprouts tend to be sweeter and more tender than larger ones.
- Before halving the brussel sprouts, slice off the nubby ends, as they tend to be more tough.
- Be sure to distribute the brussel sprouts in a single layer on the baking sheet to ensure that they cook up evenly and get nice and crispy. For best results, place them flat side down to ensure the edges turn deeply golden and crispy when roasted.
- Although it may be tempting to skip this step, it’s very important that you reserve half the maple balsamic sauce to drizzle on the brussel sprouts after they’re cooked. It really helps to amplify the flavour when you pour some of the sauce on just before serving.
- Although I typically recommend flipping roasted vegetables half way through the cooking time, if this case you don’t have to. Brussel sprouts tend to get more crispy on the outside if you don’t flip them.
- After cooking the bacon, place on some paper towel to soak up some of the grease to cut back on some of the saturated fat.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted November 2019 and was updated November 2021 to include better tips and photos.
Brussels sprouts never tasted better!
Thanks so much Alan! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! I appreciate you swinging back to leave a review :)