These crispy Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts with Bacon are ready in less than 25 minutes, and taste incredible! Soft on the inside, and crisp on the outside, laced with crunchy almonds, bacon, and a hint of honey, this is the perfect side dish for all occasions. Serve them at your next holiday meal or even with a quick weeknight family dinner. Perfect for picky eaters!
❤️ Why you will love this recipe
- Easy: To make this great side dish, all you have to do is par-boil the brussels sprouts, mix them with seasoning, bacon, almonds, honey, and oil, and air fry them!
- Quick: This easy recipe is ready in less than 25 minutes. Much quicker than roasting brussels sprouts in a regular oven.
- Simple ingredients: This easy side dish contains just a handful of ingredients: brussels sprouts, salty bacon, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, honey, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
- Healthy: Regular roasted brussels sprouts need to cook in much more oil to make them crispy. For this delicious recipe, I only added 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil.
- Perfect texture: One thing I just can’t stand is a rock-hard brussels sprout. They must be perfectly soft in the center and crispy on the outside. These tender brussels sprouts are just crispy perfection.
- Goes with anything: This healthy side dish goes with just about any main meal. Roast beef, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey, and tofu, this is a great way to serve a healthy vegetable on your plate.
- Adaptable: This air fryer bacon brussel sprouts recipe can fit in so many diets including keto, whole30, and paleo.
🗝️ Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Brussels Sprouts: Use fresh brussels sprouts and not frozen. You’ll need to trim off the ends of the sprouts, remove any discolored outer leaves, and slice them in half. Large sprouts may need to be quartered instead of halved. It took me about 5 minutes to prepare 500g (a little over 1lb).
- Bacon: I used 6 slices of bacon. The bacon should be thinly sliced, smoked bacon. Thick cut bacon would be fine too, just used fewer slices. UK readers, make sure that it’s steaky bacon and not regular.
- Almonds: A delicious crunch is added not only with the crispy bacon but almonds too. I sliced whole almonds in half and added them to the brussels sprouts mixture. They roast perfectly in the air fryer. Other nuts that would work well in this recipe are pecans, walnuts, and hazelnuts.
- Olive oil: Olive oil gets in between the leaves to make them nice and crispy in the air fryer. You can substitute another healthy oil like avocado oil if needed.
- Balsamic vinegar: This just adds a wee bit of acidity. Apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar are great alternatives.
- Seasoning: I mixed in garlic powder, kosher salt, and ground black pepper. Feel free to add your favorite seasoning, or some cayenne pepper or chili powder to make the crispy sprouts a little spicier.
- Honey: A couple of teaspoons of honey give just a hint of sweetness. It’s delicious! Sweet maple syrup, or brown sugar, can be added instead. You can add brown erythritol or skip this to make the crispy brussels sprouts recipe more keto-friendly.
- Parmesan cheese: Optionally, you can add a little sprinkle of parmesan cheese after cooking. I highly recommend it. Bacon and cheese is just magic!
- Lemon juice: Another way to finish off the brussels sprouts recipe is to add a squeeze of lemon at the end. So good!
🥣 How to make Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
1. Turn on the air fryer: Preheat the air fryer to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F.
2. Heat water: Boil water in a kettle or add hot water to a medium pot on the stove and being to heat it up.
3. Prepare the sprouts: Wash the brussels sprouts thoroughly and then trim them by slicing off the end with a sharp knife and removing any discolored outer leaves. Slice each brussels sprout in half from top to bottom (vertically) and not through the middle (horizontally). I like to give the sprouts a quick rinse again after cutting of more dirt has appeared from between the leaves.
4. Boil sprouts: Add the brussels sprouts to the hot water on the stove, and when the water reaches boiling, boil them for 5 minutes.
5. Drain & dry: Drain the cooked brussels sprouts and carefully pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel, squeezing out any excess moisture.
6. Cut bacon: Dice the strips of bacon.
7. Halve almonds: Slice the almonds in half if you’re using whole almonds.
8. Mix: In a large bowl, mix together the chopped bacon, almonds, salt, pepper, garlic powder, balsamic vinegar, honey, and olive oil.
9. Add sprouts: Add the brussels sprouts and mix well.
10. Air fry: Add the brussels sprouts mixture to the air fryer basket in a single layer (it’s okay if they overlap just a little) and air fry them for 5 minutes.
11. Stir and air fry: After 5 minutes, stir the brussels sprouts and continue cooking for 5 more minutes.
12. A little longer? If after 5 minutes you would like the brussels sprouts and bacon to be even crispier, cook them for another 1-2 extra minutes.
13. Garnish and serve: Remove the brussels sprouts from the air fryer and sprinkle parmesan cheese with a squeeze of lemon juice over them before serving.
🫙 Storage Instructions
- Store: Store leftover brussels sprouts and bacon in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
- Reheat: Reheat the brussels sprouts with bacon in the air fryer until they are heated through and crispy again. You can also reheat them in the microwave but they won’t be crispy.
- Freeze: Freeze this vegetable side dish in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 4 months. Thaw completely before reheating.
🪄 Recipe Notes & Tips
- Bacon: Thick cut bacon can work in this recipe, just. cut the number of slices down to 4 instead of 6.
- Almonds: I’ve made these air fryer brussels sprouts with hazelnuts before and they were delicious. Other nuts to try include walnuts and pecans.
- Air fryer brands: Different brands of air fryers will yield results and require different cooking times. For reference, I used a Tower 4.3L air fryer.
- Size matters: The size of the sprouts can make a difference in cooking time. If they are larger sprouts, I recommend quartering them instead of slicing them in half.
- Keto: To keep these crispy air fryer brussel sprouts as low carb as possible, skip the maple syrup/honey and add brown erythritol instead if desired.
- Paleo: For a paleo version, skip the parmesan cheese.
- Whole30: To make this air fryer brussels sprouts recipe whole30 compliant, skip the maple syrup/honey and the parmesan cheese.
- Vegan: Try my regular Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts recipe instead.
🍽️ What Can I Serve With Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts with Bacon?
I love serving this side dish with roasted meats for family dinners. Here are some of my favorites:
- Apple & Sage Pork Loin
- Greek Citrus Leg of Lamb
- Holiday Christmas Roast Beef
- Citrus Garlic Butter Roasted Turkey
- Holiday Chicken Recipe
- Baked Whole BBQ Chicken
It also goes really well with my air fryer recipes like:
- Air Fryer Chicken Legs
- Air Fryer Chicken Tenders (no bread crumbs)
- Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks
- Air Fryer Sausage Recipe
- Air Fryer Steak Bites
😋 More air fryer recipes you will love
- Air Fryer Roasted Walnuts
- Easy Air Fryer Candied Walnuts
- Air Fryer Rice Paper Dumplings
- Air Fryer Honey Butter Carrots
- Air Fryer Pumpkin Seeds
- How to Cook Acorn Squash in the Air Fryer
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📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts Recipe with Bacon
Ingredients
- 500 g 1.1lbs brussels sprouts
- 6 slices bacon
- 36 g 1/4 cup almonds, halved or slithered
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons honey or maple syrup, coconut sugar, brown sugar, keto brown sugar substitute
- 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese grated (optional)
- A squeeze of lemon juice optional
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F.
- Boil water in a kettle or add hot water to a medium pot on the stove and begin to heat it up.
- Prepare the sprouts: Wash the brussels sprouts thoroughly and then trim them by slicing off the end with a sharp knife and removing any discolored outer leaves. Slice each brussels sprout in half from top to bottom (vertically) and not through the middle (horizontally). See post for more details.
- Add the brussels sprouts to the hot water on the stove, and when the water reaches boiling, boil them for 5 minutes.
- Drain the cooked brussels sprouts and carefully pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel, squeezing out any excess moisture. Caution: they will be scalding hot.
- Dice the strips of bacon.
- Slice the almonds in half if you're using whole almonds.
- In a large bowl, mix together the chopped bacon, almonds, salt, pepper, garlic powder, balsamic vinegar, honey, and olive oil.
- Add the brussels sprouts and mix well.
- Add the brussels sprouts to the air fryer basket in a single layer (it's okay if they overlap just a little) and air fry them for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, stir the brussels sprouts and continue cooking for 5 more minutes.
- If after 5 minutes you would like the brussels sprouts to be even crispier, cook them for another 1-2 extra minutes.
- Remove the brussels sprouts from the air fryer and sprinkle parmesan cheese over them and a squeeze of lemon juice before serving.
Notes
- Air fryer brands: Different brands of air fryers will yield results and require different cooking times. For reference, I used a Tower 4.3L air fryer.
- Size matters: The size of the sprouts can make a difference in cooking time. If they are larger sprouts, I recommend quartering them instead of slicing them in half.
- Keto: To keep these crispy air fryer brussel sprouts as low carb as possible, skip the maple syrup/honey/
- Paleo: For a paleo version, skip the parmesan cheese.
- Whole30: To make this air fryer brussels sprouts recipe whole30 compliant, skip the maple syrup/honey and the parmesan cheese.
- Vegan: Use maple syrup and skip the parmesan cheese or use a dairy-free alternative.