Quick and easy pan-fried brussel sprouts tossed in a sweet honey soy sauce glaze made on a stovetop! No need for ovens or a roasting pan for this one!
Table of Contents
Pan-Fried Brussel Sprouts with Honey
For this pan-fried brussel sprouts recipe, I caramelized the onions, garlic, and brussel sprouts.
I found that caramelizing and browning the brussel sprouts gave it a wonderful nutty flavor and really added some wonderful dimension to the dish.
Brussel sprouts also don't need to be cooked for a long time, I find they taste best when they still have a bit of a soft crunch to them.
Lastly, I tossed these pan-fried brussel sprouts with a soy sauce honey glaze, which is made with honey and soy sauce. This easy sauce gave the whole dish a slightly sweet and savory flavor.
Ingredients for Honey Soy Brussel Sprouts
- Brussel sprouts - It's a bit counter-intuitive but when you are shopping for brussel sprouts, try to use fresh ones and pick the smaller ones. They have a sweeter flavor and tend to be more tender as well. 🙂 Also try to always buy fresh brussel sprouts - frozen brussel sprouts tend to be soggy and a bit waterlogged since it has been previously frozen which changes their texture of it.
- Garlic and Onions - The garlic and onions add a lot of flavors when combined with the brussel sprouts, especially when the onion is a bit caramelized and browned from the cooking.
- Soy Sauce - I use regular/light soy sauce for this recipe.
- Honey - I usually like to use honey for this recipe because I always have it on hand but you can also use maple syrup as well if you have it.
- Butter - Try to use unsalted butter for this dish, since the soy sauce will be providing the sodium and you don't want it overly salty.
- Corn Starch - I use corn starch as a thickener for the sauce so that the sauce can coat the brussel sprouts better for more flavor, however, I have tried this without a thickener and it worked just as well - the sauce is just a bit runnier. If you're okay with that, you can definitely skip the corn starch.
Tips
- Always use fresh, raw brussel sprouts and avoid frozen brussel sprouts if you don't want soggy brussel sprouts
- Use a large pan to make it easier to cook these brussel sprouts, flat side down in one layer.
- When picking brussel sprouts at the store, pick smaller ones, instead of large ones. The smaller ones are more tender, and sweeter.
How to Make Pan-Fried Brussel Sprouts
Brussel sprouts are pretty easy to work with, peel off any yellow outer leaves and cut off the ends if they look super dirty. A few leaves may come off, you can keep them or discard them - I don't like to waste food so I usually just keep them.
Generally, brussel sprouts are very clean, but I have found a few in the past with sand or grit stuck in between the leaves, so when you wash these, throw them in a bowl of water and dunk them up and down a few times for good measure 🙂
Smash the Garlic to Keep them in Larger Pieces
Whenever I cook with garlic, I tend to smash them instead of finely mincing it - I find they stay intact more and have a bigger surface area so they burn less.
Brown the Brussel Sprouts Flat Side Down
When you are browning the brussel sprouts, try to keep them flat side down as much as you can to maximize the caramelization. That's where all the flavors come from! 🙂
I converted a brussel sprouts hater with this honey-glazed pan-fried brussel sprouts recipe - do you have a brussel sprouts hater you want to convert? Try it with this recipe! 😛
What To Serve with These Honey Soy Brussel Sprouts
This recipe is a recipe I make every Thanksgiving and Christmas and I love serving it with my Herb Roasted Turkey Legs, Coffee Rub Turkey Thighs, or my Peking Chicken!
More Side Dishes You May Like
- Sweet Ginger Soy Fried Cabbage
- Roasted Okra Recipe
- Honey Miso Garlic Roasted Potatoes
- Curtido (Salvadoran Pickled Cabbage Slaw)
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Recipe Card
Pan Fried Honey Soy Brussel Sprouts
Joyce's Recipe Notes
- Always use fresh, raw brussel sprouts and avoid frozen brussel sprouts if you don't want soggy brussel sprouts
- Use a large pan to make it easier to cook these brussel sprouts, flat side down in one layer.
- When picking brussel sprouts at the store, pick smaller ones, instead of large ones. The smaller ones are more tender, and sweeter.
- To make this recipe simpler, I will often skip 2 steps:
- I only use brussel sprouts, and skip adding in the onions and garlic.
- I do not cook the honey soy sauce with corn starch to thicken it. Instead, I just add the soy sauce and honey directly into the bowl of cooked brussel sprouts and toss everything together (do not include the water and corn starch). The sauce will be runnier but I find that it's still flavors the brussel sprouts well. 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 lb brussel sprouts (fresh, not frozen. approximately 25 small ones)
- 1 small onion (approx. ½ cup. sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped, or grated)
- 1 tablespoons butter
Honey Soy Sauce Glaze
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
Instructions
Preparing the Honey Soy Sauce Glaze
- In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cold water and 1 teaspoon corn starch and mix until the starch has dissolved.
Prepare the Brussel Sprouts, Onions, and Garlic
- Slice 1 small onion up and set aside
- Use the side of your knife and smash 2 cloves garlic to flatten it. Set it aside for later
- For each brussel sprout, remove any yellowed outer leaves from the brussel sprouts and slice off the dark tips at the ends and cut them in half lengthwise.
- Give them a good soak in water and dunk it a few times to remove any dirt or soil from between the leaves. Drain them once they are clean.
Browning the Brussel Sprouts
- In a cast iron skillet or frying pan, set to medium heat and add a little oil and 1 tablespoons butter
- Once the pan is hot, and the butter has melted, add in the onions and cook them for approximately 1 minute
- Add in the brussel sprouts into the pan and try to keep all the brussel sprouts flat side down to brown them (this will take approximately 3-5 minutes depending on how hot your stove is)
- Once the brussel sprouts are brown on the flat side, add in the garlic and stir everything together. Flip the brussel sprouts and brown the rounded side of the brussel sprouts for a minute.
- Once both sides are brown, stir everything together again for a few more seconds and add in ¼ cup of water or broth and cook the brussel sprouts until the water evaporates. **If my brussel sprouts are very large, I like to use a lid at this point to trap in the steam to make it easier to cook them all the way through.
- Once all the water has evaporated, and the brussel sprouts are soft, transfer everything off the frying pan onto a plate and cover it while you make the sauce.
Putting It Together
- With the same pan, set the heat to medium-low
- Mix the sauce in the bowl with a fork again (the corn starch may settle on the bottom) before adding it into the pan.
- When the pan is hot, add the sauce to the pan and keep stirring the sauce until it has thickened. If the sauce boils too violently, turn down the heat. You still want the sauce to gently bubble and thicken. Depending on how hot your stove is, this should take about 1-3 minutes.
- Add all the brussel sprouts back into the pan and toss it with all the sauce and serve with toasted sesame seeds!
- Enjoy! 🙂
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Joeie says
I love to eat brussel sprouts , but I haven't try to do your way (use honey for cooking). It is a simple way and a stimulating photo as well.
Joyce says
Hope you enjoy this! 🙂
Shannon @loveatfirstbento says
I am literally salivating over these gorgeous photos - who knew brussels sprouts could be so pretty? 😛 And that honey soy sauce glaze sounds to die for delicious! I've never tried doing anything with brussels sprouts other than roasting them with some olive oil, S&P, so this sounds like an exciting new twist I absolutely MUST try! Love that you caramelize them too, along with the onions. Bookmarking this recipe for sure, cannot wait to try it out!
Joyce says
Aww thanks Shannon, you're too kind. The sweet definitely gives this a interesting flavour and I love caramelized onions in everything haha 🙂 So much flavour! Hope you enjoy this!
Pam says
Like you, I've learned to love brussel sprouts later in life. What a lovely surprise to find out how delicious they are, and your recipe sounds divine! I can't wait to try it.
Joyce says
It's funny how our taste buds change as we grow up, I wondered sometimes if I started eating them when I was younger if I would feel the same about them now...haha 🙂 Definitely surprised me how much I enjoyed them.
Monica | Nourish & Fete says
These sound fantastic, and I love your tip to look for the smaller brussels sprouts when shopping - will definitely do that in the future!
Joyce says
It's actually kind of funny how we should be getting the smaller ones right? Seems so backwards but it makes sense you want the less stronger flavored ones! 🙂
Helen of Fuss Free Flavours says
There are right and wrong ways to eat Brussel Sprouts, and this is certainly one of the right ways. Sounds utterly delicious and the perfact way to take away any bitterness. A great idea for a Christmas side dish.
Joyce says
I will definitely be serving this on Christmas as well 🙂
Savita @ Chefdehome says
I’m obsessed with brussel sprouts these days. Honey glaze sounds so perfect ?
Joyce says
It's definitely my a fave part!
Sandi says
I am a huge Brussels sprout lover...unfortunately my family is not. Maybe this recipe will convince them to try again.
Joyce says
I had this problem too haha 🙂 I think the sweetness combined with the less 'brussel sprouty' flavours by picking out the smaller ones helped in the convincing of eating them in this house. haha