Name: Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Balsamic
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 32 min
Ingredients: 2 lbs Brussels sprouts (trimmed and halved through the stem end); 6 slices thick-cut bacon (chopped into 1/2-inch pieces); 3 tbsp olive oil; 3/4 tsp kosher salt; 1/4 tsp black pepper (freshly ground); 3 tbsp balsamic glaze (store-bought or homemade, for drizzling after roasting); 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, for a little heat)

From the roundup: 12 Easy Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes the Whole Family Will Reach For

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Roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon and balsamic glaze have earned a permanent spot on my rotation, and not because I was trying to sneak vegetables past anyone. It is the high heat and the hot pan that do all the work. The cut sides hit a preheated 425-degree sheet pan and start browning immediately, which is the difference between sprouts that taste caramelized and nutty and sprouts that taste like boiled cabbage.

Hands-on time is about 10 minutes: trim, halve, toss with oil and bacon, spread on the pan. Then you leave them alone for the first 15 minutes. No stirring, no checking. The oven does the rest, and you have a side dish ready in just over 30 minutes total.

The balsamic glaze goes on at the table, not back in the oven. That one detail matters more than it sounds. Heat flattens the brightness of the glaze and you lose the contrast that makes this dish worth making.

How this one became a Thanksgiving staple

The first time I made these was the year I ran out of oven space on Thanksgiving and needed something that could cook at whatever temperature the oven happened to be at that moment. Brussels sprouts are forgiving that way. I slid the pan in at 425 alongside the rolls and they came out better than anything I had planned. My oldest, who had refused Brussels sprouts for years, ate them straight off the pan before I could get them to the table.

Now I make them year-round, not just for holidays. On a regular Tuesday I will chop the bacon the night before and trim the sprouts after dinner so the next day I am just tossing and roasting. That small bit of prep makes it feel like almost no effort.

Why you will love this

The cut sides get deeply browned and almost crispy at the edges because the pan is already hot when the sprouts hit it.
Bacon fat bastes the sprouts as everything roasts together, so there is no separate step.
You can trim and halve the sprouts the day before, which cuts active prep on a busy night to about 5 minutes.
The balsamic glaze is a drizzle at the end, so you can adjust it to taste at the table.
The dish shares an oven comfortably with other sides and does not need its own precise temperature.

Tips for success

Preheat the baking sheet inside the oven while it comes to temperature. A hot pan gives the cut sides an immediate sear instead of letting them sit in their own moisture.
Place every sprout cut-side down and leave space between them. If they are crowded or overlapping, they steam and turn soft. Use two pans rather than pile them on one.
Do not stir for the first 15 minutes. Pulling them away from the pan before the browning sets just delays the whole process. Check at 18 minutes and give them another 3 to 4 if the cut faces are not deep golden brown.
Drain excess bacon grease from the pan before transferring to a platter if it pooled heavily during roasting. A little fat is good. A lot makes the sprouts greasy rather than crispy.

If your sprouts come out soft

Soft sprouts almost always mean the pan was too crowded. The moisture has nowhere to go and they steam instead of roast.
Wet sprouts are another culprit. If you rinsed them, dry them thoroughly before tossing with oil.
If they are soft but not burned, spread them back on the pan and give them 5 more minutes at 425. They will not crisp up perfectly but they will improve.
Frozen Brussels sprouts need to be fully thawed and patted very dry before roasting, otherwise the extra water guarantees steaming.

Substitutions

Turkey bacon or pancetta both work in place of regular bacon. For a vegetarian version, skip the bacon entirely and add 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika to the olive oil before tossing. It gives a little of that savory depth without the meat. If you do not have balsamic glaze, a small spoonful of maple syrup stirred with a splash of apple cider vinegar is a reasonable stand-in.

For picky eaters who object to anything bitter, the high-heat browning mellows the flavor considerably, but you can also pull their portion a minute or two early for softer centers with less char on the leaves. Red pepper flakes are optional and easy to leave out for kids who are sensitive to heat.

Make-ahead and storage

Trim and halve the Brussels sprouts up to 24 hours ahead and store them in a zip-top bag in the refrigerator. Chop the bacon separately and keep it refrigerated as well. Day-of, you are just tossing and roasting. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. The microwave works if you are in a hurry, but the texture goes soft.

These do not freeze well. The roasted outer leaves turn mushy after thawing and there is no recovering the texture, so plan to finish them within a few days.

Brittany Stage