Brussels sprouts with onions and garlic, what could be better than that? With browned butter and walnuts, this side dish is sure to be a hit for whoever you’re cooking for. 

THE INGREDIENTS: 

Shaved Brussels Sprouts: Who doesn’t love easy? By buying pre-shaved brussels sprouts, you can avoid the hassle of cleaning and cutting. However, if you have some full brussels sprouts on hand, that’s no problem! Your goal should be to fill 2.5 cups with shaved brussels sprouts, which should take you around 20 of them. 

Unsalted Butter: Butter, after the brussels sprouts, is the star of this show. Brussels sprouts pair well with a lot of fat, so please don’t reduce the amount of butter in this recipe. If you want to add more, go ahead, but keep in mind that they might be too greasy after a certain point! Browning butter gives it a nuttier, more distinct flavor-perfect for elevating the flavor of this side dish. We prefer unsalted butter so that we have full control over how much salt we add to the dish. 

Yellow Onion: Onions add flavor to these vegetables, which is just what we want! If you don’t have yellow onions on hand, the best replacements would be white onions, sweet onions, or shallots. Shallots are lighter in flavor and much smaller, so be prepared to add quite a few if you choose to use them. The flavor of green onions and red onions do not pair well with this dish. Since this recipe is short and sweet in terms of ingredients, we recommend using an actual onion instead of onion powder. The less ingredients there are, the more you want to make sure you’re using the best you have! However, in a pinch, go ahead and replace the onion with 1 tablespoon of onion powder. 

Garlic Cloves: Garlic, like the onion, is important for flavor and pairs extremely well with brussels sprouts! With such a simple side dish, it really is best to use fresh garlic cloves-it’s just not the same with garlic powder! However, whether it’s not in your pantry or you just don’t feel like mincing it, go ahead and replace it with 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. 

Salt: Many dishes taste “flat” or unfinished if they don’t have salt-so make sure to not skip it! Salt brings in a savory punch. We don’t recommend reducing the salt beyond the amount that we have already stated in this recipe. If you have saliter taste buds, though, feel free to add an extra ¼ tsp of salt to this recipe. Taste and adjust! 

Black Pepper: Black pepper adds a small kick to these brussels sprouts! Everyone has their own preference when it comes to black pepper, so adjust as needed. For such a basic dish like this, freshly cracked black pepper would really make a difference and help this side dish truly shine. Freshly cracked black pepper has much more of a zing and deeper flavor than pre-ground black pepper. 

Walnuts: Texture, texture, texture! Brussels sprouts, as tasty as they can be, can also be very soft. Walnuts provide that missing crunch and help make sure that this dish is not monotonous. Walnuts add some protein to balance out your meal, too! You can easily adjust this to your preference or even leave it out entirely. Good substitutes would be toasted breadcrumbs or pecans. We even only had pecans in our pantry, so that’s what we used for the dish in the photo! 

KEY INFORMATION: 

How Do You Brown Butter? To brown butter, you’ll want to cut it into 1 tablespoon-sized pieces and place it in a pan. Turn the heat to medium high so that the butter melts and begins to bubble and foam. Lower the heat as needed so that the bubbling is not too fierce. Stir occasionally. The butter will not just turn into a shade of brown, per say, but there will be browned bits in it and the liquid will also be slightly darker. Once those brown bits are dark and the liquid is a golden hue-it’s ready! Be careful to not let it burn. Continue to the next step of the recipe or use it for whatever purpose you’re going for. 

How Long Should You Really Cook Garlic? A common cooking misconception is that you should cook garlic until the small pieces in the pan are golden brown. With that being said, are you familiar with that nice fragrant smell that fills your kitchen not so long after your minced or finely chopped garlic has hit the pan? That’s the garlic telling you it’s ready for you to move on to the next step! To get the most garlic flavor out of your dishes, you should only have to cook garlic for anywhere between 20 seconds to a couple minutes, depending on how much fat you have in your pan, how crowded it is, and how hot your pan is. For this recipe especially, it should take under a minute! 

What are Shaved Brussels Sprouts? Shaved brussels sprouts are essentially brussels sprouts that have been sliced very thin. So thin, in fact, that they break apart into shreds! If you don’t have shaved brussels sprouts on hand, the best thing you can do is slice your brussels sprout in half, then cut it into “slices”-pretend you’re cutting an onion! That’s what we do when there aren’t any shaved brussels to be had. They mostly fall apart into shreds naturally after they’ve been cut into slices.