Cheesy Brussels Sprouts (Instant Pot + Oven)

This creamy, cheesy Brussels Sprouts Instant Pot recipe makes for a delicious side dish that can be served for family dinner, Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's somewhere between a brussels sprouts casserole and an au gratin bake and is very easy to make!

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Creamy Cheesy Brussels Sprouts

This dish is a crossover between brussels sprouts au gratin and a good old creamy veggie bake. The Brussels sprouts are cooked in a creamy broth in the Instant Pot, then transferred to a baking dish and finished cheese under a broil. 

This is your classic comfort food recipe that is gluten-free, vegetarian, low-carb and keto friendly.

Why cook Brussels sprouts in cream?

While you can make the sprouts in water or stock, strain and then stir in the cream afterwards to avoid any curdling, cooking directly in cream or milk adds a lot more flavor as it penetrates the fibres of the vegetable.

Don't worry if the dish looks a bit funny after the pressure cooking stage, it all comes together nicely once it's baked!

Serving Cheesy Brussels Sprouts

Creamy, cheesy Brussels sprouts are great as a side dish with many types of meat or chicken mains or with some roast potatoes and quinoa for a vegetarian dinner. They will compliment any Thanksgiving or Christmas table too.

Make Ahead Tip

This recipe comes together pretty quickly so there is no need to make it ahead but you can trim the Brussels sprouts and grate the cheese to give yourself a head start.

Here are the ingredients you will need to make creamy, cheesy Brussels sprouts.

Brussels Sprouts. We recommend medium to large sprouts. If they are quite small, leave them whole and trim off the ends only or they will overcook.

Creamy broth. You can use light or whipping cream (pouring cream in Australia) as the base, which is flavored with a little garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper. Super simple yet delicious!

Cheeses. We love the combination of Cheddar and Parmesan, both strong, sharp flavors but you can also use milder cheese, Mozzarella and increase the amount for extra gooeyness.

You will find the full recipe with ingredients and nutritional breakdown in the recipe card below.

There are two simple stages to making this dish in the pressure cooker. The first stage is to pressure cook the Brussels sprouts in the creamy broth using the Instant Pot. This is very quick and means your stove is free for other dishes.

The second stage is to bake or broil the sprouts with grated cheese on top. This also doesn't take long so the whole dish comes together fairly quickly.

Here is the video for how to make this recipe and step-by-step photo instructions below.

Trim Brussels Sprouts

Step 1. Wash the Brussels sprouts and trim the ends off. Cut them in halves but leave the small ones whole as they won't need as much cooking. Set aside.

Cooking Brussels Sprouts In Instant Pot

Step 2. Pour the cream into the Instant Pot and add the garlic and onion powders, salt and pepper. Add the Brussels sprouts and ¼ cup of water and stir through gently.

Step 3. Secure and lock the lid. Set to Pressure Cook/Manual and adjust the time to ZERO minutes on HIGH. That's right, zero minutes simply means that majority of cooking will happen while the Instant Pot is coming to pressure. 

If you like soft Brussels sprouts OR you are using whole, unhalved sprouts, set to 1 minute on HIGH. 

Once the timer is done, release the pressure immediately using the quick release. Remember that the Brussels sprouts will continue to cook if the pot remains on natural release. You may get away with 1 minute on NPR, but as it gets more than 2 minutes, we found our Brussels sprouts got too soft. 

Step 4. Open the lid. At a first glance, it will look like the cream curdled but don't worry, simply stir the sprouts into the sauce and it will melt back in.

Finishing Sprouts In The Oven

Step 5. If you plan to broil the cheese in the oven, preheat it on the highest broil setting while the sprouts are cooking. Move the rack up closer to the broil.

Step 6. Transfer the cooked Brussels sprouts and the sauce to a casserole dish and sprinkle all over with cheese. Pop under the hot broil for 5 minutes or so.

If you don't want to use the oven, simply stir the grated cheeses into the Brussels sprouts while still in the pot on Keep Warm setting. Stir to melt and combine.

Serve with chopped chives or parsley on top - this is optional!

• Refrigerator: store any leftover Brussels sprouts in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• How to Reheat: you can reheat in a preheated 350 F oven for about 10 minutes, or until warm. If you happen to have an air fryer, you can also toss them into there for a few minutes.
• This dish doesn't freeze well!

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More Instant Pot Sides

• Instant Pot Brussels Sprouts With Bacon & Garlic (with VIDEO)
• Instant Pot Loaded Mashed Potatoes (With Or Without Oven!)
• Instant Pot Ranch Potatoes (Creamy & Cheesy)
• Instant Pot Broccoli With Lemon & Garlic
• The Best Air Fryer Christmas Recipes

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