A cheesy Brussels sprouts gratin with smoky bacon. A delicious festive vegetable side dish that the whole family will love, even sprout haters.
Serve the sprout gratin with turkey at Christmas, or honey roast gammon for a tasty Sunday roast dinner.
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Brussels sprouts are often overlooked as a side dish, but this recipe brings out the very best in this tasty and nutritious vegetable.
It's rich, cheesy, and comforting - perfect for a cosy festive meal.
👩🍳 Love sprouts? Try my easy air fryer sprouts with chestnuts!
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✔️ Why you'll love this recipe!
- The earthy Brussels sprouts, smoky bacon, and creamy cheese sauce make a delicious flavour combination.
- The sprout and bacon gratin can be served as a side dish with roasted meats or as a main course.
- It can be assembled ahead of time and then baked when needed. This makes it a perfect dish for busy weeknights or when entertaining guests.
Finally, a way to make Brussels sprouts that my husband will actually eat! Thank you for such a great recipe! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Megan
🛒 Ingredient notes
Brussels Sprouts - the recipe can be made with fresh or frozen sprouts. If using fresh sprouts, trim and remove outer leaves, and halve any that are large. Small sprouts can remain whole.
Bacon - smoked bacon lardons or swap for smoked streaky bacon.
Garlic - 2 cloves, finely chopped.
Cheese Sauce - a classic cheese sauce made with butter, flour, milk, dijon mustard and grated cheddar. I like to use an extra mature cheddar for the best flavour.
Topping - made with dried breadcrumbs (e.g. panko breadcrumbs), Parmesan, and freshly chopped thyme leaves.
Nutmeg - freshly grated nutmeg gives a lovely earthy flavour to the dish.
Salt & Pepper - for seasoning.
🔪 How to make sprout gratin
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Preheat the oven to 200 C (180 fan/ 400 F/ Gas 6). Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and cook the sprouts for 3 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water to retain their colour, and set aside.
Top Tips
- If you're using frozen sprouts, there is no need to cut them in half. Frozen sprouts are usually small and tender. If using fresh sprouts, make sure they are roughly the same size.
- Salt the water for the Brussels sprouts generously - it helps to reduce bitterness and cranks up the flavour.
- Reserve a cup of Brussels sprouts cooking water in case you want to thin down the cheese sauce.
- Take the white sauce off the heat before adding the grated cheese. The residual heat will quickly melt the cheese, without it going stringy.
- If you would like to make your own breadcrumbs for the topping, blitz two slices of stale white or sourdough bread in your food processor until you get fine breadcrumbs.
🍴 Serving suggestions
I serve the cheesy Brussels sprouts gratin on Christmas Day with slow cooker beef and air fryer turkey crown, roast potatoes, honey roast parsnips and carrots, slow cooker red cabbage, sausage meat stuffing, cauliflower cheese, devils on horseback, cranberry sauce, and bread sauce.
It's also a tasty comforting vegetable side for other dishes such as air fryer chicken, slow cooker lamb breast, and sticky sausage traybake.
📖 Variations
- Make it vegetarian-friendly and leave out the bacon.
- Add chopped walnuts or hazelnuts to the topping for extra crunch.
- For an even smokier flavour add some smoked paprika and cayenne pepper to the cheese sauce.
- Add other cooked vegetables to the gratin such as cauliflower and broccoli, turning it into a cheesy vegetable gratin.
- Swap the cheddar for gruyere or crumbled blue cheese. Parmesan and mozzarella could also be used.
- Add in cooked pasta or gnocchi for a Brussels sprout pasta bake.
- Add a sprinkling of red pepper flakes before serving.
🥡 Storage
Make-Ahead - The cheesy Brussels sprouts gratin can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. Make the dish up to the point of baking, then cover with foil and refrigerate. When you are ready to eat it, bake as directed in the recipe.
Store - Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat - Place in the microwave and cook until piping hot.
Freeze - The dish can be frozen for up to 3 months (either before or after it has been baked). Defrost in the fridge before baking as directed or reheating.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Salt is the key to getting rid of bitterness. Generously salt them both before and after cooking.
To clean sprouts, trim the ends, discard the outer leaves and then rinse them in a colander under cold running water. Pat dry before storing them in a resealable bag.
Yes! Brussels Sprouts are very low in calories, and high in fibre. They’re also rich in vitamin K and high in vitamin C. They also contain small amounts of vitamin B6, potassium, iron, thiamine, magnesium and phosphorus.
😋 More easy side dishes
😋 More easy Brussels sprouts recipes
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Recipe
Cheesy Brussels Sprouts Gratin with Bacon
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Equipment
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Saucepan
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 600 g Brussels Sprouts trim the bottoms and remove outer leaves. Halve any large ones.
- 50 g Butter
- 200 g Smoked Bacon Lardons
- 2 Garlic Cloves peeled and chopped
- 1 teaspoon Thyme Leaves chopped (or use dried thyme)
- 50 g Plain Flour
- 700 ml Milk
- 2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- ¼ teaspoon Grated Nutmeg
- 200 g Cheddar grated
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
For the topping
- 50 g Dried Breadcrumbs
- 3 tablespoon Grated Parmesan
- 1 teaspoon Thyme Leaves chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (180 fan/ Gas 6/ 400°F).
- Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and cook the sprouts for 3 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water to retain colour, and set aside.600 g Brussels Sprouts
- In a large heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter then fry the bacon, thyme leaves, and garlic for 2-3 minutes.50 g Butter, 200 g Smoked Bacon Lardons, 2 Garlic Cloves, 1 teaspoon Thyme Leaves
- Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.50 g Plain Flour
- Turn the heat up, whisk in the milk and continue to stir until the sauce thickens. It should coat the back of a wooden spoon.700 ml Milk
- Take the sauce off the heat and stir in the grated cheese, dijon mustard, grated nutmeg, and salt & pepper.2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard, ¼ teaspoon Grated Nutmeg, 200 g Cheddar, ½ teaspoon Salt, ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- Mix in the cooked sprouts then pour the cheesy sprouts into a baking dish.
- Mix together the breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan and thyme leaves and scatter over the top of the gratin. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the cheese sauce is bubbling.50 g Dried Breadcrumbs, 3 tablespoon Grated Parmesan, 1 teaspoon Thyme Leaves
Notes
- If you are using frozen sprouts there is no need to cut them in half. Frozen sprouts are usually small and tender. If using fresh sprouts, make sure they are roughly the same size.
- Salt the water for the Brussels sprouts generously - it helps to reduce bitterness and up the flavour!
- Reserve a cup of Brussels sprouts cooking water in case you want to thin out the cheese sauce.
- Make it vegetarian-friendly and leave out the bacon.
- Add chopped walnuts or hazelnuts to the topping for extra crunch and flavour.
- Add other cooked vegetables to the gratin such as cauliflower and broccoli, turning it into a cheesy vegetable gratin.
- Swap the cheddar for gruyere or crumbled blue cheese.
- Add in cooked pasta or gnocchi for a Brussels sprout pasta bake.
MS
Love this brussels sprouts recipe. The bacon takes it to the next level!
Nikki
Yum! Brussels sprouts with bacon and cheese sounds incredible.
Megan
Finally a way to make brussels sprouts that my husband will actually eat! Thank you for such a great recipe!
Jess
Love how cheesy this is!