These Sous Vide Brussels Sprouts are so flavorful and evenly cooked edge-to-edge. The sous vide cooking followed by a quick sear in the pan achieves the ideal texture that’s tender in the center and beautifully caramelized and crispy on the outside.
This is a no-fuss and no-fail recipe! Perfect for a Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish.
Featured on 12 Best Sous Vide Vegetable Recipes
Table of Contents
Why Sous Vide Brussels Sprouts?
- Brussels sprouts have a bad reputation for being easily overcooked. Sous vide cooking produces a softer and more tender texture than other cooking methods.
- As the vegetables are cooked in a sealed bag, they retain all the nutrition and flavors.
- Sous vide machine cooks the vegetable evenly all the way through, and you’ll get an even texture edge to edge. The outer leaves won’t get burned before the centers cook through.
- Never overcook your brussels sprouts. As the sous vide method cooks the food to the temperature you set, you don’t need to worry about overcooking again!
What is Sous vide? It means “under vacuum” in French. It’s a water bath cooking method by sealing food in a bag, then cooking for a long time to a very precise temperature in a water bath.
Ingredients
- Brussels Sprouts: Wash your brussels sprouts and dry them properly. Remove any dry leaves. Trim the ends and then slice the sprouts in halves lengthwise. I like to cut them into halves, but you can also sous vide them whole. You’ll need to increase the sous vide time to 1 hour if you are cooking whole brussels sprouts.
- Olive Oil: Use regular olive oil for this recipe. Avoid extra virgin olive oil as it has a lower smoke point.
- Salt: I used regular salt, but you can use coarse salt or sea salt.
- Pepper: Freshly ground black pepper works the best.
How to Sous Vide Brussels Sprouts
- Pre-heat the Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 183°F (84°C).
- Prepare brussels sprouts: Trim the ends and then slice the sprouts in halves lengthwise.
- Add seasoning: In a large bowel, mix the halved sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss until they are evenly coated.
- Vacuum seal seasoned Brussels: Arrange the Brussels sprouts in a single layer. Use multiple bags if necessary. Then Seal the bag. You can use a vacuum sealer or zip-top bags using the “water displacement” technique.
- Sous vide brussels sprouts: Place the bag in the water bath, and cook for 40-45 minutes. (Note that you’ll need to use some heavy kitchen items to weight down the bag, otherwise, it will float above the water)
- Sear the cooked brussels sprouts: add oil to a skillet on medium-high heat. When hot, add brussels sprouts and sear for 2-3 minutes or until lightly caramelized.
Temperature and Time
Set your sous vide cooker at 183°F (84°C) for the best result. It will produce the perfect tender and soft brussels sprouts.
- Cooking Brussels sprouts halves: 40 to 45 minutes depending on the size of your Brussels sprouts
- Cooking Brussels sprouts wholes: 1 hour
Seal the Bag without a Vacuum Sealer
If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can use Ziploc Freezer Bags, which are perfect for sealing the food. The technique is called the “water displacement method” by using the pressure from the water to force all the air out of the bag.
Just place the bag with seasoned brussels sprouts on the counter, arrange the brussels sprouts in one single layer. Seal all but one corner of the bag. Slowly place it in the water bath, and make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag.
How Can I Prevent the Bag from Floating
The biggest challenge of cooking veggies sous vide is that the vacuum-sealed bags tend to float on the surface of the water. As the food needs to be completely submerged into the water in order to be properly cooked. You can either use sous vide weights or heavy kitchen items to weigh down the bag. Make sure the seams are above the water if you use zip-top bags.
Equipment You’ll Need
Sous Vide Other Vegetables
Most vegetables can be cooked sous vide at the same temperature. But they need different cooking times.
If You Like this Recipe Try these Out:
If you’ve tried this sous vide Brussels sprouts, leave me a comment. I love hearing from you!
Sous Vide Brussels Sprouts Recipe (+VIDEO)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds Brussel sprouts fresh*
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Optional for Serving
- parmesan cheese
- balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Fill a large container or pot with water. Attach the sous vide precision cooker and set the temperature to 183ºF/84ºC.
- Wash and dry Brussels sprouts. Trim the ends and then slice the sprouts in halves lengthwise.
- In a large bowl, mix the halved sprouts with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss until they are evenly coated.
- Add the Brussels sprouts into a zip-lock bag and arrange in a single layer. (Make sure to arrange in one layer. If your bag is not large enough, use multiple bags). Feel free to use a vacuum sealer if you have one.
- Seal the bag using the “water displacement” technique or a vacuum sealer. (Just seal all but one corner of the bag. Slowly place it in the water bath, and make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag.)
- Keep the bag in the warm water bath and cook for 40 to 45 minutes. Make sure to submerge the Brussels sprouts completely. You can use heavy kitchen items such as saucepan and kitchen tongs to weight down the bag.
- When the time goes off, take the bag out and remove Brussels sprouts from the bag. Pat dry with paper towels. (Wet surface will interfere with searing).
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.
- Add Brussels sprouts and fry for 3-4 minutes until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet and transfer to a plate.
- Serve warmly, and drizzle with optional balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese.
Notes
- *If you cook with frozen Brussels sprouts, add 20-30 minutes to the cooking time to allow for thawing in the water bath.
Video
Nutrition
UPDATED JULY 15, 2020: This post was originally published on October 18, 2019. We spiffed it up and added a brand new video to make it sparkle!
Followed your methods for cooking the sprouts with my joule. They were perfect. I finished them off in a cast iron skillet. During the cooking, I cooked six strips of low sodium bacon in the skillet. So, I seared the sprouts in that rendered fat until they were charred a bit. I made a gastrique of white balsamic, hot pepper flakes and sugar. When the sprouts were ready to be served, I crumbled the bacon into them and poured the gastrique over them. Amazing combo of sweet, salty and just a hint of heat. I can make myself sick eating these, they’re so delish! Mostly happy to have a more forgiving way to cook the sprouts two perfection which takes the guesswork out of oven roasting at very high temps. Thanks!
Glad that you like the recipe, and thank you very much for sharing your experience! Great idea to pour the gastrique over the Brussels sprouts!