Seared Brussels Sprouts With Crispy Pork
Updated November 25, 2025
- Ready In
- 40 min
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ pound ground pork
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, minced
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 teaspoons fish sauce, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 small bunch chives, cut into ½-inch lengths
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)
11 grams carbs; 27 milligrams cholesterol; 232 calories; 10 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 17 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 347 milligrams sodium; 10 grams protein; 3 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add the ground pork and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, breaking up into bits with a spoon, until browned and crispy in parts. Add the garlic, shallots and crushed red pepper, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Transfer pork to a plate using a slotted spoon, leaving any fat behind.
- Step 2
Add remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet. Add the brussels sprouts in an even layer, flipping all pieces cut sides down. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes over medium heat, undisturbed, until browned underneath. (Feel free to peek under one or two to check on progress.) Give the skillet a good shake to flip the brussels sprouts over, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until tender.
- Step 3
Return the pork to the skillet and stir. Cook to allow flavors to meld, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, and stir in the fish sauce, lime juice and half the chives. Taste and adjust seasoning with fish sauce or salt if needed.
- Step 4
Transfer to a platter and garnish with the remaining chives.
Private Notes
Comments
This was just delicious. Was easy after the prep. Cut the sprouts into quarters so they were more bite size. Threw in half a sweet potato and used fresh bratwurst instead of ground pork. Next time will skip the fish sauce as it was a bit too salty. A few grounds of Parmesan also would be good. Served with onion baguette.
Absolutely great using the recipe as written. Everyone went back for seconds.
this was pretty good! I served it with fettuccine (I was riffing on lo mein) and the hubs enjoyed it with some chili crisp mixed in. I got scared of the fish sauce because it smelled pretty ghastly after I added it, but it didn't taste at all salty, like the other commenter said (I don't use a lot of salt at all) would definitely make again!
A bit south of meh. Followed the recipe carefully. We ate a little. We tried to like it. Sadly we don’t even want it as a leftover for lunch tomorrow. Textures and flavors were just not pleasing. Maybe subbing out the ground pork for slices, and perhaps trading in the sprouts for other veggies and adding noodles and mushrooms. But then course it’s a different dish. We will not make this again.
This was lovely! I ended up using a whole pound of pork (I could only buy whole pounds at my local store and I didn’t want a 1/2 pound of ground pork lying about) and breaking up the Brussels more in the finishing stage so that more leaves are scattered through the whole dish, but otherwise followed the guidance of the recipe (cranking up the heat a bit at the pork-browning stage). Enjoyed this with Japanese short-grained rice and had many high protein portions leftovers!
Made as directed. Pretty good, but I'd be careful with the fish sauce. I used Red Boat (Vietnamese) and the fish sauce flavor was a bit forward. (BTW I am very fluent with S.E. Asian cooking, and know what to expect.) Starting with one tsp. might be a better strategy, or substituting Worcestershire sauce.