By Melissa Clark
Updated Nov. 13, 2023
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- 5(2,604)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Brussels sprouts are quite possibly the best vegetable you can make in an air fryer; the leaves turn brittle and delightfully crunchy. Here they are paired with slivers of garlic, which turn into pungent golden chips as they fry. Then the whole thing is dressed with a mix of balsamic vinegar that’s been simmered until thickened, then seasoned with lime juice for freshness and soy sauce for complexity. Serve this as a side dish, or as snack with drinks; just make sure to have plenty of napkins on hand.
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Ingredients
Yield:3 to 4 servings
- 1pound brussels sprouts
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼teaspoon kosher salt
- 2garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ¼cup balsamic vinegar
- 1teaspoon fresh lime juice, plus more for serving
- ½teaspoon soy sauce
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
155 calories; 10 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 187 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
Trim the brussels sprouts and cut in halves through the stems. (Cut larger ones in quarters.) Heat air fryer to 400 degrees, if preheating is necessary.
Step
2
Place brussels sprouts in the air fryer basket; drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil and the salt. Fry for 15 minutes, shaking basket or stirring the sprouts halfway through.
Step
3
Sprinkle sprouts with garlic. Continue to fry until the garlic is golden brown, another 2 to 4 minutes.
Step
4
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring balsamic vinegar to a simmer. Continue to simmer until thickened and starting to look syrupy, adjusting heat as necessary to prevent burning, 2 to 3 minutes. (Keep a close eye on it; it will go from reduced to burned very quickly.) Remove from heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons oil, the lime juice and the soy sauce.
Step
5
Transfer brussels sprouts to a serving platter and drizzle with balsamic dressing. Squeeze more lime juice on top to taste.
Ratings
5
out of 5
2,604
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Cooking Notes
Jen
I have been doing the air-fryer Brussels sprouts for a while, and I find that blanching them first keeps them from drying out and getting hard. They still get plenty brown and crispy!
Cassidy
After reading the comments, to avoid the too dry and hard results:-Quartered the brussels and let them soak for a few (like 10) minutes in cold water (also did not dry them, just drain the water then continue with recipe);-Roasted at 360 for 10 min, added the sliced garlic and roasted another 2 min. Also shake the fryer basket at least twice while roasting.-Used pomegranate balsamic for an extra zing, skipping lime and soy sauce.Perfect.
Jan Klincewicz
We get great results parboiling sprouts and roasting them in a toaster oven wrapped in buttered parchment. They OOZE sugars and caramelize.
Frank
Step 2: Fifteen minutes at 390F in a Phillips air fryer and my first attempt turned into a collection of desiccated brown cinders. Suggest you start checking for doneness at 10 minutes for this step.
Pete Gray
I used our Brevielle toaster oven on the air fryer function at 375F. I soaked the sprouts in cold water for about 15 min after trimming and halving/quartering, then tossed in olive oil and salt and white pepper. After 10 min, I stirred the sprouts and added the thinly sliced large clove of garlic, then at 5 minutes intervals I stirred until they looked ready. Definitely will make again. Topped with fresh lemon juice on serving. Perfect.
Gigi
I do not own an air fryer and based on Melissa’s article and these comments, I probably wouldn’t bother. More easily and with the same amount of oil, or less, you can achieve the same results in the same amount of total time on a sheet pan. No additional cutting or parboiling required. Just place the halved sprouts on a pan, mix with oil, season, and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes and remove the foil. Place back in oven and bake for 10 minutes to crisp the outside. Perfect!
Jake
What would be the best way to adapt this to a conventional oven? Convection setting or broiler? Or some combination of the two?
Jennifer
Following the advice below, I parboiled and then air fried. I used the balsamic/soy sauce, but was too lazy (read hungry) to reduce. Balsamic is rather vicious by itself, especially when emulsified with the olive oil. The result was just delish :)
Trish
I tried this last night; they were charred after 15 mins in Philip AirFryer on full power. I parboiled the sprouts for 3 mins; they end up more moist that way when I do them in the oven. (Drain well after boiling, then toss with oil.) However, the loose leaves were quite burnt; I think I would do the extra step I do when I oven roast them, and that's to separate the loose leaves from the main sprout and add them a few minutes later.
bethg
Be careful about the temperature and time here. I have a new air fryer and after 15 minutes at 400 degrees the sprouts were totally burned. I think all fryers are not created equally. The manual has 300 degrees for air frying vegetables. It's a Corsari.
M
And how would one do this with the broiler?
Erika V
Definitely have to try blanching them first. Try a balsamic glaze to remove the entire Step 4, add soy sauce and lime to microwave for 15 seconds and you are ready to go. It tastes like take out!
Julie
My new favorite brussel sprouts recipe. I only used a drizzle of olive oil on the brussel before the air fryer, and used only 2 teaspoons (not tablespoons) in the glaze. Delicious!!!
Connie Payton-Nevels
OMG! Talk about delicious! Someone in the comments suggested that I soak the Brussels Sprouts in cold water before frying them so that they would not dry out and that was a great idea! Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly, except….I literally blinked and the balsamic vinegar had cooked down to nothing! They were fried crispy so I just sprinkled a little rice vinegar on them and they were absolutely delicious! Yummy! Definitely a repeat! ❤️
Gabe
So, in theory, it’s possible to ditch the one Tbs of oil that is applied to the ‘sprouts themselves, as mentioned in your referenced article*? Cooking for a very oil-adverse individual, to my not-inconsiderable chagrin...*and have the end result be less crispy but tasty nonetheless?
me
Made in convection oven. Took about 5 minutes longer. Quite tasty.
wondering in Wellesley
Try adding garlic a little earlier in process because by 15 min sprouts were done
cook time too long
When I went to turn them at 7 minutes they were already black. I did two more minutes with the garlic. Charred, but good. The sauce was great. I used elderflower vinegar and Worcestershire, because that was all I had. Lemon juice. I will adapt recipe or maybe use oven next time.
Zoe
We didn’t care for the sauce at all. Far too sweet and unbalanced. Added more lime but that didn’t help! Comments to parboil and lower cook time were helpful. The sprouts themselves were cooked well after 8 minutes and not dry or burnt. Thanks comments colleagues!
S & G Wallace
Agree, 400 degrees is just too hot for most air fryers. Lower temp for sure!
Barbara Bryson
I added some chopped sweetened, dried sour cherries into the balsamic mixture. I used pomegranate balsamic vinegar. Nicely charred outer leaves, and perfectly done.Delicious!
Maureen
We had previously tried a recipe for air fry Brussels and were disappointed - it called for 30 minutes in air fryer!! Yikes - and my husband (novice) followed by the book....what came out; as you can imagine were little burnt black nubs - awful. So searching NYT - and reviewing helpful hints we landed on a delicious version that required soaking halved Brussels 10 min before frying - other than the "soak" we followed NYT to the tee. The Brussels were absolutely delicious...winner!!
BC—
I’ve made these 5-6 times. Always tasty but BEST results if Brussel Sprouts were soaked in water overnight to fully hydrate.
Cara
Very tasty!
James
Great recipe. I’ve made this several times with the Breville smart oven air fryer pro and set the temp to 325-340 for 15 minutes and then up the temp to 375-400 for 5 minutes. They turn out perfect. Also recommend trying it with lemon instead of lime.
Pizza Quixote
FABULOUS recipe, truly delivers the crispness that is hard to create in an oven. TIP: save time and effort by skipping the soy sauce and balsamic reduction; use bottled reduction sauce. Alessi Asian Fusion Sauce is amazing for this and a lot of other uses.
Louise
Made this with cauliflower. Turned out very well. Thank you NYT!
Louise
Tried this with cauliflower. Delicious!
Stacy
To me the dressing was way too sweet to go with sprouts. Mine charred, in a wonderful delicious way but I don't think I'll use the dressing recipe again. It wasn't horrible, just odd. Every time I took a bite the sweetness was misplaced and I kept thinking a spicy, tangy dressing perhaps with chili crisp would be much more appropriate.
Emily
I used a ninja air fryer at 400- definitely should’ve read the notes to blanche or cut cook time down, first. Didn’t have enough time without burning all my sprouts to brown the garlic by the time it went in, so next time I’d add it earlier. I did add toasted sesame seeds which was a nice touch. Would totally make again with a few tweaks to avoid overdone sprouts.
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