Sweet, salty, and crispy mingle together in this fast and easy Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Onions recipe that’s reminiscent of a tasty Red Lobster side.
I was recently updating my Eating Out Guide, specifically the Red Lobster portion. And I came across a new menu item that my most beloved and favorite restaurant now sells–Crispy Brussels Sprouts. They sounded amazing, but RL unfortunately doesn’t have much description online. So my family and I took that as an excuse to visit RL for lunch one day.
Those Crispy Brussels Sprouts were AMAZING!!! They had a great blend of sweet, salty, and crispy. The negative–they were definitely NOT Trim Healthy Mama friendly. They had obvious brown sugar in them and breaded French fried style onions. Both of these things of course taste super good, and made for a great treat, but I like to eat healthfully on most occasions.
So I decided to recreate them, only Trim Healthy Mama-fied. This Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Onions recipe is the result (obviously).
These Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Onions are super quick and easy to make. They make an awesome S side dish with any savory meal. They’re good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You will, however, need some protein to go with them since there is none in this dish.
About Some of the Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Onions Ingredients
I have a wee bit to say about a couple of the ingredients in this Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Onions recipe. By the way, if you are a person who actually reads the blog post (I gotta put out 350 minimum words, 600 ideal, to make Google happy before I dive into the recipe), please leave me a comment below saying you read it. It makes my bla-bla feel a little bit important at least.
- Avocado oil. Well, you can use any oil or fat that you want. You can use olive oil, butter, bacon fat. But I specifically settled on avocado oil because it has a smoke point of 520° F. Why is that important? Because fats and oils tend to go rancid or break down if they are cooked past their smoke point. This means that they cause free radicals, which are bad news for your body. And this recipe, in order to be deliciously crispy enough, needs an oven temperature of 425° F. So using avocado oil means that its smoke point is never reached during the cooking process.
- Allulose. You can use a different sweetener (see my sweeteners page for ideas), but I chose allulose specifically because it tastes and acts the most like sugar, including caramelizing a bit in the glaze.
- Molasses. This ingredient is totally optional. But it gives the dish that brown sugary flavor like the Red Lobster dish has. Molasses (especially unsulphured blackstrap, which is the easiest on blood sugar) is allowed on Trim Healthy Mama in small quantities as long as it doesn’t spike your blood sugar too much. You should know you, so if your blood sugar spikes too much with molasses, don’t use it. If you want that molasses-y flavor without using molasses, you can always add a wee bit of maple extract flavoring after you’re done roasting the sprouts (this tastes close-ish enough for many people, though not exact).
Crispy Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
For Brussels Sprouts
- 24 ounces brussels sprouts (if using frozen, thaw, drain, and pat somewhat dry first), halved and dried stems removed
- 3 tablespoons
avocado oil - ½ teaspoon mineral salt (more or less to taste)
For Crispy Onions
- 1 small onion or 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon
avocado oil
For Balsamic Glaze
- ¼ cup
allulose - 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (regular or white)
- 1½ teaspoons unsulphured blackstrap molasses (optional)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon mineral salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (more or less to taste)
Instructions
For Brussels Sprouts
- Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet (it should have a lip so sprouts doesn't escape) with a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Mix together the brussels sprouts, 3 tablespoons oil, and ½ teaspoon salt on the baking sheet. Spread out into a single layer and pop into oven for 30 to 45 minutes (give or take) or until the brussels sprouts are partially browned and crispy. Stir halfway through for more even roasting.
For Crispy Onions
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the 1 tablespoon oil. Add the onion and saute, stirring frequently, over medium heat until the onion is browned and crispy caramelized.
- Remove onions from the saucepan and set aside on a paper towel.
For Balsamic Glaze
- Whisk together the allulose, vinegar, molasses, garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and black pepper over medium-high heat. Allow to heat, stirring frequently, until sweetener has dissolved.
Finishing Up
- Put the roasted brussels sprouts in a bowl or serving dish. Drizzle with balsamic reduction (mix it in if you'd like it to be more even) and sprinkle the crispy onions on top.
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