Smoked Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Onions
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I think the reason many folks don't like Brussels sprouts is because they've never been served properly cooked Brussels sprouts.
These smoked Brussels sprouts are cooked in the smoker for a bit and then finished off at a higher temperature in the cooker, grill or oven.
These may just give you a whole new perspective on life and cause you to re-think everything!
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 1.5 hours
- Smoker Temp: 200°F (93°C)
- Meat Finish Temp: N/A
- Recommended Wood: Cherry
- 1 lb of Brussels sprouts
- 8 piece of thick sliced bacon
- ¼ cup (2 ounces) of bacon grease (from cooking the bacon)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
Start by rinsing them off under cold water.
Cut off about 1/8 inch of the stem end to remove any browned area.
Remove any leaves that look brown or splotchy.
Cut the Brussels sprouts in half.
Note: Some folks cut an “X” in the stem end to help speed up the cooking time. When you cut them in half, this is not neccessary.
Place the Brussels sprouts in a large pan or skillet. I like to use the big iron skillet!
Now we need to prepare the bacon so fry up about 8 slices of thick sliced bacon.
When they are done, eat 2 of them for all of your hard work and tear the other 6 into bits.
Save the bacon grease, you'll need it.
Pour the bacon grease over the top of the Brussels sprouts and toss them around in it to coat well.
Mix a teaspoon of kosher salt and a teaspoon of coarse ground black pepper to make a quick salt/pepper rub.
Note: One reader commented that the Texas style rub works really well on these as well.
Sprinkle all of this over a pound of brussel sprouts.
Place the bits of bacon that you made into the skillet.
Add about ½ to ¾ cups of chopped onion to the skillet. I used a small onion, chopped.
Now mix all of this together real well like you are tossing a salad and set it aside.
We gotta go get the smoker ready.
Set up your smoker for cooking at about 200°F (93°C) or a little cooler than that is fine. If you can manage 180°F (82°C), perfecto!
Use cherry wood or whatever smoking wood you have available.
Place the skillet with the Brussels sprouts, bacon, etc. into the smoker and let them begin to cook.
In about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes they should be starting to get some softness to them and plenty of smoke flavor.
Taste one and see what you think.
Brussels sprouts are best when they are finished with some high heat and I especially like to find some stray crispy leaves here and there.
If you are using a pellet smoker then you can simply crank up the heat to about 450°F (232°C) . You could also use the grill or the oven at the same temperature for about 25 minutes. Stir everything around several times during the roasting process.
The Brussels sprouts are finished when they are soft and slightly browned around the edges.
Enjoy!
Print oprion slease.
I agree, a print option would be awesome!
Hey, Jeff – love this recipe. It would be great if you could post this in actual recipe format so I can easily import it into my recipe collection…
Thanks for all your work in creating and posting these!
Sounds good and I will get this one done. Brussels sound like a great taste also
Jeff, your recipes are next to impossible to print & read. Everything looks good until I press the “Print Recipe” button. All the text goes from a black to a light gray in the print preview & it prints the same way. It’s so light you can barely read it. I don’t have this problem printing anything from other web sites. I’m missing printing off a lot of your recipes because of this. It didn’t used to be this way. I have the same computer & printer, so I’m sure there isn’t a problem there.
Are the sprouts left in the iron skillet for smoking?
Yes, that’s how I do it but you can use almost anything else as well if that’s more convenient. I have updated the recipe to clarify this.
Jeff,
I too can not find the print option.
Assistance Please.
A few of the recipes on the website do not have a printable recipe yet.. working on it. I have added a custom print button at the top left on desktop which will allow you to do some custom printing and hopefully that will help.
Hi, I would like to print this recipe, but I can’t seem to locate the print button to change the page to a print format. Am I missing something? Thanks
A few of the recipes on the website do not have a printable recipe yet.. working on it. I have added a custom print button at the top left on desktop which will allow you to do some custom printing and hopefully that will help.
Jeff, if my recipes don’t print I save them to a pdf file and Presto, they print. I have two folders of your recipes and refer back to them often. Thanks! Don
Just made these….fantastic…BUT….I added Jeff’s Texas Rub to the mix. There is nothing the Jeff’s Texas Rub can’t make better…I even tried it on Bluebell Homemade Vanilla ice cream and it worked just fine.. Didn’t have a lot of time, so I just got everything ready in skillet and put the whole shooting match on the Camp Chef at 275-300 and took them off when still just a little crunchy…They disappeared as soon as my sons got hold of them. Should have double the recipe.
Made these for Christmas this year and they were a show stopper. Very easy recipe with a big payoff. I did a few things slightly different, but the base recipe itself is what you need. I half cooked the bacon in the cast iron skillet, then added the rest of the ingredients and mixed thoroughly to get that bacon grease all over the sprouts. Smoked it at around 200 for the 1.25 hours and finished it off on the frill, moving the sprouts around every five or so minutes to get a nice char all around.
Will be making this MANY more times this year. Thanks for the recipe.
You skip me this week am I still on your list?
Lorin, you are still on the list and we are sending the recipes to you. Please check your spam folder and be sure to add my email address ([email protected]) to the address book in your email system.
Looks great and I want the recipe. Have you left off the print function?
Troy, Thank you for letting me know. I have correct this issue. The print button is now showing at the top of the left sidebar.
There’s still no print button here.
I still can’t find a print button/function anywhere on the page…
A few of the recipes on the website do not have a printable recipe yet.. working on it. I have added a custom print button at the top right sidebar on desktop which will allow you to do some custom printing of the recipes and hopefully that will help.
What did you put them on before you placed them in the smoker? The pieces will fall through my Bradley racks.
These should be placed into an iron skillet or a pan and placed into the smoker that way. They should be stirred occasionally to make sure all of them get some access to the smoke. If you are using a Bradley smoker, be sure to use a pan or multiple pans that are small enough to allow plenty of air/heat circulation around the Bradley racks. Bradley warns against using foil and pans in the smoker.
What thermometer do you recommend that you can read from a distance without opening the door ?
Thank You
I highly recommend the “Smoke” by Thermoworks if you are looking for a remote meat thermometer. It is wireless up to 300 feet away, dual probes, 1800 hour battery life, the main unit and the remote unit stays synced at all times (no re-syncing needed), and it is splash-proof. Very durable thermometer unit and looks tough like it could last a very long time. Check it out at https://www.smoking-meat.com/smoke
Look delicious!
Though – why bother frying the bacon separately or moving to the oven? We do much the same recipe, but don’t bother to fry the bacon beforehand – instead, dice the uncooked bacon and “smoke” it at 250-300 mixed with the sprouts. Saves work and captures the same delicious flavor. (You can bring the temp up at the end to speed up the cook if needed.)
Will have to try adding onion.
If you smoked the sprouts along with the salmon in a Masterbuilt smoker, how, if at all, would it affect the smoking time?
Love your site and recipes!
–Rich Kitchens