Brussels Sprouts Hash: Side Dish + Healthy Breakfast
Learn how to make my new favorite quick breakfast recipe that can also be enjoyed for lunch, dinner, or as a side dish recipe.
I don’t know about you, but I’m always trying to find different ways to eat my vegetables, especially in the mornings. I joined the green smoothie movement for a bit, pureeing my kale and spinach with the health-nuttiest of them, but it didn’t take me long to realize that I just didn’t like my vegetables in cold liquid form. It did get me thinking though – what other forms could my usual veggies take?
I had always cooked brussels sprouts whole or halved. Could there be another form? And one that worked for breakfast? It turns out the answer was YES.
Brussels sprouts are effectively just miniature cabbages, and what do you do with cabbage? You slice it! I can’t believe that I had never thought to prepare brussels sprouts this way, but once I started to, a new world opened up. Sliced up, I could eat them for breakfast, throw them into soups or salads, or saute them up for an easy side dish.
Today’s recipe is now one of my favorite 10-minute side dish recipes: Sweet and Tangy Brussels Sprouts Hash. For those that usually complain about the bitterness of brussels sprouts and are wondering how to cook brussels sprouts so they taste delectable, we have a solution for you!
When you slice sprouts down and flavor them with some tart balsamic vinegar and sweet brown sugar, any trace of bitterness disappears. Add toasted crunchy pine nuts and this is a form of vegetable I can definitely get behind!
Try our delicious brussels sprouts recipe and savvy cooking tips below and get ready to be amazed by this great side dish. Since it only takes 10 minutes to whip up, try making it for a healthy savory breakfast next week and start the day with a good dose of nutrients!
Meal Planning Smarts
- Budget Cooking: If you’re looking to cut costs, there are plenty of ways to reduce the price of this already inexpensive dish. One way is by swapping out pine nuts for less expensive sliced almonds or even pepitas to get that great crunch. Another way is to use common green cabbage instead of brussels sprouts.
- Time Savers: It is super easy to double up the recipe so you cook once and eat twice. With a double batch, you can enjoy half for dinner with a seared protein and then wake up to leftovers for a quick savory breakfast, topped with a fried egg! To save more time, you can also use a food processor to shred brussels sprouts like this.
Prepping Smarts
- Chopping an onion doesn’t have to be a long, tearful process. Learn how to slice an onion quickly and efficiently with our 1-minute video, so you can add aromatic flavor to the dish:
How to Slice an Onion
Learn the most efficient way to slice, dice, and chop onions so that your prep always goes smoothly.
Equipment Smarts
- If you don’t have a saute pan in your cookware cabinets, it might be time to add one to the ranks. This no-drip sauté pan makes breakfast hashs come together seamlessly, but you can also use it for other classic cooking techniques like slow simmers, rolling boils, and liquid reductions.
For more kitchen and equipment and tool smarts, visit our Essential Kitchen Cookware and Tools
Ingredients
- Onions, red - 1, sliced
- Brussels sprouts - 1 lb, sliced
- Pine nuts - 2 Tbsp
- Olive oil - 1 Tbsp
- Balsamic vinegar - 2 tsp
- Brown sugar - ½ Tbsp
Instructions
Prep
- Red onions – Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Brussels sprouts – Slice in half, and then slice thinly (ends can be discarded). (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
Make
- Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add pine nuts and toast lightly for 3 minutes, shaking pan every so often to prevent burning. Remove and set aside when golden.
- Return pan to medium-high heat. Add olive oil and then red onions with a pinch of salt. Sauté onions for ~3 minutes. Then add sliced brussels sprouts with some more salt, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar. Sauté until softened, another ~5 minutes. Season to taste with any of the ingredients.
- Top with toasted pine nuts and enjoy!
A little note:
This blog post was originally published in February 2013 and has been updated with new and helpful resources.
Some of the above links are Amazon affiliate links, which means we earn a small percentage from those sales. We use this affiliate revenue to support the continued growth of Cook Smarts. Thank you!
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