Instant Pot Brussels Sprouts
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound brussels sprouts trimmed and halved lengthwise
- 4 strips bacon chopped
- 1/4 cup
low-sodium soy sauce - 1/4 cup
apple cider vinegar - 1/2 teaspoon
sea salt - 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Select the saute mode on the pressure cooker for medium heat. When the display reads HOT, add chopped bacon and cook for about 5 minutes until crispy, stirring frequently. Turn off the saute mode. - Add brussels sprouts, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir to mix well, using a wooden spoon to briefly scrape up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Secure and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 4 minutes, followed by a manual pressure release. Use a slotted spoon to scoop up the brussels sprouts and bacon onto a serving plate.
NUTRITION
| Makes 4 Servings |
| Amount Per Serving: |
| Calories 100 (19% from fat) | |
| Total Fat 2g | 3% |
| Saturated Fat 1g | 4% |
| Cholesterol 5mg | 2% |
| Sodium 750mg | 31% |
| Net Carb 6g | |
| Total Carb 10g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 4g | 16% |
| Sugars 3.5g | |
| Protein 5g |
I’m all for salt and vinegar snacks. Salt and vinegar chips, salt and vinegar popcorn, and salt and vinegar almonds. So why not salt and vinegar brussels sprouts? These Instant Pot brussels sprouts are pressure cooked with sea salt and apple cider vinegar, giving them a nice acidic zing to every bite. I also add a bit of soy sauce to give them an extra depth of flavor.
It only takes a couple of minutes to pressure cook brussels sprouts until they come out nicely tender. I pair them with chopped bacon because I can never resist the brussels sprouts + bacon combination — see Exhibit A: Bacon Wrapped Brussels Sprouts or Exhibit B: Pan Fried Brussels Sprouts with Bacon. When Thanksgiving finally rolls around again, I’ll definitely be making them in the Instant Pot as a quick and easy side dish.
Generally, brussels sprouts take 3-5 minutes to cook until tender in a pressure cooker such as the Instant Pot. This assumes that the sprouts have been cut in half beforehand. It will only take 3 minutes if you have smaller sprouts (or if you like them to be on the firmer side) and 5 minutes if you have larger sprouts (or if you just like them really tender).
I recommend 4 minutes as a good rule of thumb for anyone making them in the pressure cooker for the first time. This time estimate is assuming that you’re using a manual quick release and not natural release.
I think the short pressure cooking time makes this recipe easier than conventional methods, like baking brussels sprouts in the oven or pan frying them on the stovetop, which is what I find to be true for most Instant Pot recipes.
Some quick tips on making this recipe:
- Don’t chop the bacon with a knife. If you have kitchen shears, overlap the bacon slices on top of each other and snip through them all at once into small pieces. It’s so much easier this way.
- I make this in a 6 quart Instant Pot. The ingredients don’t take much space and you should be able to fit everything into pressure cookers as small as 3 quarts. If you’re using something as large as 8 quarts, you might want to double the ingredients but keep the pressure cooking time the same.
- Vegan? No problem — skip the bacon and go directly to step 2 of the recipe.
- Paleo? Just replace the soy sauce with coconut aminos to make it paleo friendly.
Can this be made from frozen Brussel sprouts?
I love the bacon and sprouts a little crispy. Would you shorten the cooking time and put it under the broiler for a bit to crisp it up?
Hi Sarita, I wouldn’t change the cooking time but the broiler is a good idea for giving them a nice crisp after pressure cooking.
Hi! I’m new to the instant pot so I’m on a learning curve! The bacon goes in chopped and uncooked with the sprouts? Or do they get cooked before they go in with the sprouts? I just wanted to double check because I didn’t realize the instant pot would cook bacon well!
The bacon goes in chopped and uncooked, BEFORE the brussels sprouts. See recipe instructions — bacon is added in Step 1, brussels sprouts in Step 2.
Love this recipe! I doubled the recipe and cooked for 4 min and it turned out perfectly! This goes great with my low carb, low sugar eating plan. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
😍😍😍
Just made this – delicious! I have a six quart and want to double the recipe. Should I also double cooking time?
Glad you enjoyed it! The pressure cooking time remains the same, even if you double the ingredients.
I grew brussels sprouts in my garden but a lot of them are really small, will they over cook or should I keep them whole instead of halve them?
If they are really small, I recommend leaving them whole.
I’m brand new to instant pot cooking, and I just received an 8 qt. pot. If I don’t double the recipe will there be a problem cooking it in the larger pot? Do I need to reduce the cooking time? Can’t wait to try it!
8 quart should be fine. The only potential problem is getting the larger pot to pressurize. If the pot has trouble pressurizing, or takes a really long time, you can add a few tablespoons of water to the pot along with the other ingredients.
Thank you!
I have no made this, but was wondering – if I double the recipe, do I add time for the pressure cooking?
The pressure cooking time would remain the same.
This looks wonderful! I have a pack of burssels sprouts and some turkey bacon in the fridge, so guess who’s making this soon! 😉 One question though, why so much liquid? Liquids don’t seem to reduce very much in the IP, and wouldn’t the brussels sprouts be crispier without so much of the soy sauce+acv? Thanks!
Hi Fran! The liquid serves 2 purposes. One, to provide liquid for pressurizing the pot. Two, so that the brussels sprouts can more easily soak up the flavor while pressure cooking. At the end of the recipe, you can either serve with the extra liquid or you can use a slotted spoon (see step 3) to take out the brussels sprouts so that the extra liquid stays in the pot. Note that nothing ever gets crispy in the Instant Pot — it just doesn’t happen with pressure cooking, which tends to make things tender and moist.
This is absolutely delicious … my husband (not really a brussels sprouts fan) even went back for more!!
Haha that’s awesome!! Once brussels sprouts are back in season, I’ll definitely be making this a lot more 🙂
I love balsamic vinegar on my sprouts.
My first Instant Pot meal. Should be don’t in a couple of minutes… Already rating it a Five based on ease of prep.
Really easy recipe to follow. Your picture looked so good, I had to try it. Mine turned out to salty. I will make it again, but use less low sodium soy sauce and no salt. I did follow the suggestion of another comment and added a vidalia onion, which I cut into six wedges. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Emma, thanks for your feedback! It’s definitely possible that I like my foods on the saltier side 🙂 Depending on the type of sea salt you use (finely or coarsely grated), the same 1/2 teaspoon volume of sea salt could be too salty or not salty enough. Personally, I use coarsely ground sea salt.
I would reduce or remove the salt. Whole family loved it. Suggest add a small amount of onion. I would also consider this same recipe for asparagus
Wow, this was so easy to make!!