If you like Kung Pao dishes, you’ll have a hard time not falling in love with these Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts. It’s like the most delicious vegetarian Chinese take-out. Only it’s homemade and so easy to make.
This recipe is adapted from Chef Kevin Gillespie’s recipe who was a former Top Chef contestant and owner of Gunshow, a new (fairly) restaurant in Atlanta.
The brussels sprouts are roasted in a hot oven until nicely browned with just some olive oil, salt and pepper.
While they roast, you make a super flavorful Kung Pao sauce to coat them with when you remove them from the oven. The sauce is made from fresh ginger, garlic, red chile paste, soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, and dried chiles de arbol. It has all that wonderful sweetness, saltiness, and spiciness that I love.
The sauce really packs a lot of flavor and you’ll want to taste it before you coat the Brussels sprouts with it so you can customize it to suit your tastes if necessary. You may want a little more heat or sweetness.
A nice sprinkling of finely chopped peanuts finishes them off. I like to really chop them up so they easily stick to the Brussels sprouts.
These Brussels sprouts deserve to be the star of your meal so serve them with some white rice as a main dish. You’ll want to eat a whole plate of them. Promise.
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Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Brussels sprouts,, cut in half
- 4 tablespoons Peanut oil or Vegetable oil,, divided
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic,, minced
- 2 green onions,, chopped
- 2-3 teaspoons red chile paste
- 8-10 dried chiles de arbol
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup finely chopped roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425. For easy cleanup, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Toss Brussels sprouts with 3 tablespoons oil. Spread out on prepared baking sheet. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Sauce will be salty so you don't need much.
- Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- In a pan, heat remaining oil over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic, and green onion. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add red chile paste, chiles, soy sauce, 3 tablespoons sugar, rice vinegar, and 1/2 cup water to pan. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with the 1 1/2 tablespoons water. Add to pan. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook until sauce thickens. Give sauce a taste and if it tastes salty and not very sweet, add the extra teaspoon of sugar.
- Drizzle sauce over Brussels sprouts and sprinkle with peanuts.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Brussels Sprouts
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Tabasco Honey Glaze
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My favorite Brussels sprouts ever!
My brussels sprouts always seem to turn out more on the mushy side. Any suggestions? Am I not roasting long enough? Or roasting too long??
It’s not too often that I crave Brussels sprouts, but I am right now! These look amazing.
Oh, my husband would adore this dish! He loooooooves spicy food, and we love Brussel Sprouts around here. How beautiful are those peppers?! Definitely must try this =)
What gorgeous photos!! These sprouts are absolutely beautiful! Pinning.
Oh my! I absolutely adore brussels sprouts just roasted with a little salt and pepper …. but with that sauce?? Gosh that sounds good!!
I love the way you combined gentle pumpkin spicy with sour cranberry sauce! It looks perfect to me 🙂
I love kung pao chicken so I guess with brussels sprouts it’s probably amazing. The glaze looks so appetizing and spicy 🙂
I love kung pao tofu (my absolute favorite takeout order) and so these brussels sprouts look fabulous 🙂
These brussels sprouts look fantastic, Christin! I love that you coated them in a kung pao flavor! I bet these smelled amazing when they were roasting!