Roasted Buffalo Brussels Sprouts
Buffalo sauce on oven-roasted veggies? Yup! These Roasted Buffalo Brussels Sprouts are delicious!
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I love to eat. More specifically, I love to eat delicious comfort food. Coming out of the holidays, I definitely crave healthier soups and other meals…but it doesn’t take long before I start craving delicious comfort food again. (Sure, healthy soups definitely count as comfort food…but I’m talking about comfort food.) I feel like the Super Bowl arrives at the perfect time each year. We’ve all been good for a few weeks after the holidays, so why not celebrate with some epic homegating snacks? Nachos…dips…wings…that sort of thing. Bring it on!
Well this year, I’m hedging my bets a little bit. At least with this recipe. I love buffalo sauce, and my eyes light up when presented with a plate of saucy buffalo wings. But I’m going a different direction. I’m using that buffalo sauce with vegetables. Yes, vegetables. Brussels sprouts to be more exact. I love Brussels. They’re like little mini cabbages, and they become extremely tasty when roasted. (They’re also extremely tasty in brothy soups, too…the sprouts soak up flavor from the broth and become little flavor balls of awesome!)
Over the past several months, Laura and I have really cracked down on our eating habits. Let me tell ‘ya…that’s hard to do around the holidays! We certainly let ourselves splurge here and there, but overall we tried to keep a pretty good balance. We more or less followed the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time we were really good, but occasionally we’d let ourselves have a slice of cake or a pizza while watching a college football bowl game.
We’ve also been waking up 3 days a week at 4:45am to work out. We don’t love waking up that early, but it’s really the only way to do it when we have to wake Robbie up around 6:15 to get him ready for school. We purchased some interactive exercise equipment, and we head down to our makeshift gym in the basement. It’s not ideal. But it works. And it’s been a great way to slowly (very slowly!) shed those extra pounds that we put on during pregnancy. Laura at least had a good excuse with the baby. Me? Not so much. Well, I was being sympathetic towards my wife! Yes, that’s it!
Anyhoo, back to these Roasted Buffalo Brussels Sprouts. They turned out amazing! Check that. Not just amazing, but amazing! The Brussels get roasted by themselves, and they’re pretty darned tasty at that point. (I might’ve snuck one off the pan…) But then those roasted Brussels get tossed in a bit of buffalo sauce and then sprinkled with blue cheese. Wow.
These Roasted Buffalo Brussels Sprouts totally hit my craving for buffalo wings, but I was able to do it in just a fraction of the calories. Sure, the buffalo sauce isn’t exactly healthy, but that’s why you just toss the roasted Brussels in it rather than pour the sauce all over the top. Flavor win!
I’ve got some other fun football food recipes coming up that totally qualify as comfort food, but I’m pretty darned pleased with these Roasted Buffalo Brussels Sprouts. Give ’em a shot sometime!
Roasted Buffalo Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
For the Brussels
- 2 pounds Brussels sprouts
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ Tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
For the Buffalo Sauce
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 Tbsp hot sauce
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce
- pinch cayenne pepper
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Rinse Brussels sprouts and slice each one in half lengthwise. Place sliced sprouts in a medium bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss until sprouts are well covered.
- Spread sprouts onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Stir the sprouts and continue baking for 15-17 more minutes, or until sprouts are golden brown in color.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the Buffalo Sauce ingredients (butter, hot sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper).
- Transfer roasted sprouts into a large bowl. Add Buffalo Sauce and toss until well coated. Top with crumbled blue cheese before serving.
What a great idea, David! I love brussels sprouts and lovely little twist making them ‘wing like’ with the hot sauce and blue cheese! Don’t you just love food that’s good for ya and tastes great?
Ok, 4:45am to workout? Ugh!!!! I can see why you do it, but I don’t think I’d be able to do that myself. I have to work out in the evenings after work. Not ideal, either, but definitely better for me than in the morning. Don’t get me wrong, would love to be able to work out that early in the morning and have it out of the way, but my bod won’t function on the treadmill that early, lol 😀 High five to you and Laura 🙂 !!
Oh man, we had so much fun with these Brussels, Dawn! I mean they don’t replace a real deal wing…but they can totally stave off your wing craving. As far as the 4:45am working out thing? I don’t think I could do it at the end of the day. I’d just dread it all day long…this way, I’m already well into my workout before I fully wake up. And then I’m like, well…might as well finish now. 🙂
Hahaha! Dude, I LOVE your reasoning behind enjoying ALL the comforting homegating snacks – after a mini healthy break after the Holidays!
So much awesomeness in this post, for one, two thumbs up to both of y’all for waking up so early to work out AND reaping the benefits of y’alls healthier habits! And two – I LURRRVE the 80/20 rule – especially when applied to food and finances – by the way, have you met Neil from http://neilshealthymeals.com/ ? The reason I ask is that he’s a huge advocate of the 80/20 plan too. And third, David – these Brussels Sprouts are freakin fantastic! Being vegetarian, Lil Shashi wouldn’t feel the need to say “meat is murder” if I pulled these out of the oven rather than Buffalo wings! Happy Wednesday, my friend!
Yeah, you know that 80/20 rule works pretty well for us, Shashi. I eat 80% of the cake and Laura eats 20%. 😉 Just kidding! But for real I think it’s important to give yourself some off meals. We just had pizza the other night, and I don’t feel bad at all. I workout and eat smart during the week…that way I can cheat a little on the weekends! These Brussels totally held off the wing craving a little bit longer, too. (especially after I looked up the number of calories in a traditional chicken wing. *gulp*)
I definitely need to get on track when I get back home. Good for you guys to take time for exercise, it’s so important! love this dish, sounds flavorful!
Hopefully you’ll be able to come back home soon, Manali! Gosh…it’s probably been forever since you’ve been home home (i.e. not Texas). Hope everything is going well! 🙂
Haha, your pont about those extra pounds is hilarious, David. And I do like it. Sounds reasonable. I wish I could use it as well, but unfortunately nobody was pregnant during the passed holidays:) And what a coincidence! I do love Brussels sprouts. You know that, don’t you? And this version sounds and looks fantastic to me. The only one thing that upsets me a little is that I’ve never mixed it with blue cheese, and I wish I would have thought of this combo before you did it!:) Well done.
Hey, Laura was the one pregnant around here, and I was the one who packed on the pounds. And it was totally because I stopped working out with her! But we’re back on track now, and these Brussels totally help us stay smart with our eating. I mean they aren’t a real deal chicken wing, but they are pretty darned tasty! I see mix it up and make these Brussels for dinner tonight, my friend! 🙂
I totally laughed when you mentioned “shedding the weight that we put on during pregnancy,” hehe. Good for you for staying committed to a very early workout routine, and congrats on shedding some weight! Slow & steady is the best way to do it 🙂 And I’m with you, I feel like I can’t wait to get back to healthier eating after the holidays, but after a week or two, I’m ready for a glass of wine and dessert!
So, yeah, that early workout routine. I think Laura prefers to workout later in the day, but I like to hop up and get it over with. We even worked out several times over the holiday break! (That was so that I could justify eating cake for dessert…haha!) And this is the time when the healthy eating goal starts to struggle a bit. I gotta stay strong! Hope your week is going well out there, Nicole…thanks! 🙂
I always get excited about brussels sprouts and I would cook them more often if the other members of my family would like them. However, your combination with the buffalo sauce might work for them 🙂 Your 80/20 rule is great – it is important to treat yourself every now and then but to be still sensible about it. Very impressed that you get up at 4:45 a.m. to exercise – I am slowly getting back at my fitness routine after the holiday season! Have a lovely weekend!
You know, it took me a little bit of time to get on board the Brussels train. (Not the train to Brussels, but rather the Brussels sprouts train. Haha…a little travel humor there!) But seriously I love cooking Brussels in a hot cast iron skillet now. The edges get so crispy and caramelized! Good luck with that fitness routine…you can do it, Miriam! 🙂
Wow, this one is a total surprise. I’d be interested to give it a try.
Thanks, Jeff! Laura and I really liked this one. Of course, we like roasted Brussels to begin with, so the addition of a little bit of buffalo goodness certainly didn’t hurt. 🙂
Brussel Sprouts are one of my favorite vegetables, I love the funkiness, the smell, the taste, they are super versatile and who can say no to Brussel Sprout Chips? I know I can’t. I’ve never had buffalo Brussels; I’m trying this recipe next week. Love it 🙂
Brussel Sprout Chips? Say what!? I don’t think I’ve ever about those, Mary…but I am super intrigued. I love Brussels, and I love chips…so it just makes sense that I would love the combination. 🙂 In the meantime, though, these Buffalo Brussels are pretty darned tasty. Hope you had an awesome weekend!
Dude, this is epic- I swear the best part of wings are the buffalo sauce (or maybe the notion of using our hands to eat….) and now you’ve given them a healthier spin. Who said diets were hard 😉
How kind of Laura sharing her pregnancy weight with you! 😀
Hey, there is nothing wrong with using your hands to eat! Now that I think about it, you should use your hands to eat these Buffalo Brussels. Just get in there and get messy! 🙂 And, yes, Laura was so generous to share with me…now I’m just trying to return it. Haha!