Side Dishes Archives | Bake With a Grain of Salt

Minestrone Soup with Tortellini

Minestrone Soup is the perfect vegetable soup packed full of flavor. Eat it alone as a side dish or with Tortellini to make it the main star. It’s a super healthy and tasty soup.

Minestrone Soup is the perfect vegetable soup packed full of flavor, eat with Tortellini or alone as a side dish!

You can add as many vegetables as you want or swap some of the ones in this recipe out for ones you like better. Celery, carrots, and zucchini are the classic ingredients!

After you saute the celery, onions, carrot, and garlic make sure you saute the tomato paste thoroughly. Don’t let it burn but do let it cook. It will reduce the sourness that raw tomato paste can have in many soups and sauces.

Once the diced tomato and herbs are added you can add the water.

At this stage you have a few choices. You can either use 4 cups of water with 2 bullion cubes mixed in. You can use either vegetable (to keep the soup vegetarian) or chicken bullion (it adds a lot of flavor), and you can choose regular or low sodium! OR you can use 2 cups of water and 2 cups of broth (vegetarian or chicken, low sodium or regular).

Add the bay leaves as well. And once everything has mixed, you can add the sugar and some salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste. The sugar is used to counter the acidic sourness of the tomatoes in the soup.

Let the soup cook for a bit and then add the zucchini, red kidney beans, and the tortellini. Let cook at a rapid boil so the tortellini can cook. This may take around 8 – 10 minutes.

Add the spinach at the very end so and serve hot!

Add some grated parmesan for some more flavor!

Make sure you remove the bay leaves before servings!

This Minestrone Soup with Tortellini is fully vegetarian!

(depending on which broth or bullion cube you use!)

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Minestrone Soup with Tortellini

Minestrone Soup is the perfect vegetable soup packed full of flavor. Eat it alone as a side dish or with Tortellini to make it the main star. It's a super healthy and tasty soup.

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Course: Main Course, Side Dish, Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 6 -8 Bowls

Calories: 200kcal

Ingredients

1 Cup Celery, chopped
½ Medium Onion, chopped
1½ Cup Carrot, chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, grated
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1½ tsp Herbs du Provence
1 14 oz Can of Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
4 Cups Water
2 Cubes Bullion (veg or chicken, low sodium)
½ tsp Sugar
2-3 Bay Leaves
Salt, Black Pepper, Crushed Red Bell Pepper, to taste
1 Cup Zucchini, chopped
1 Cup Red Kidney Beans
1 Cup Tortellini
2 Cups Baby Spinach, roughly chopped, stems removed

Instructions

Heat up some oil in a pot and saute the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots.
Add the tomato paste and saute it.
Add the canned fire roasted diced tomatoes and the herb du provence.
Dilute the two bullion cubes in 4 cups of warm water. (You can use 2 cups of low sodium broth with 2 cups of water instead) Add the water to the pot.
Add the sugar, bay leaves. Stir and add salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste.
Add the zucchini, red beans, and tortellini and cook for about ten minutes.
Add the spinach and a half cup of water if you want your soup to be thicker.
Remove from heat once your tortellini is cooked!

Easy Buttery Garlic Knots

Soft, fluffy and easy to make, these buttery garlic knots are perfect with any italian dish or soup! Eat on the side with a salad or just as a snack! Top with parmesan or flaky salt!

Okay, what’s better than easy to make buttery garlic knots to eat with any of your Italian dishes?

This recipe only requires about ten to fifteen minutes of active prep time and a few hours of down time.

This is what the dough will look like after you mix the yeast water, half of the dry ingredients, and the olive oil. At this point you want to switch to a dough hook if you’re using a stand mixer.

This is what the dough should look like once it is done being mixed.

After the dough has done it’s first rise. Once you punch, roll, and shape the dough this is what they should look like.

Let them rise once more for an hour before baking.

Then brush with garlic butter and enjoy!

Once you brush the easy knots with garlic -y buttery goodness, you’re welcome to top the knots with flaky salt, grated parmesan, or crushed red pepper!

Some tips on storing these knots if you want to premake them and bake them when the craving strikes.

You can freeze the whole batch or just half of it, whatever you prefer.

If you want to store these, then place them on a parchment paper lined sheet pan and place in the freezer right after you shape them into the knots. Do not allow the dough to do its second rise. Freezing the knots at this stage will freeze the yeast in the dough and prevent it from fermenting or rising more during storage.

Once the knots are frozen, you can remove them from the sheet pan and store in a freezer safe container or plastic bag and place back into the freezer. They can last for a few weeks like this.

When you’re ready to eat them, remove them from the freezer and place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Cover with a damp towel and allow to thaw and proof. Once they have thawed, you can bake them the same way you normally would.

Finally, finish the knots with a generous coating of garlic butter and any other seasonings and enjoy!

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Easy Buttery Garlic Knots

Soft, fluffy and easy to make, these buttery garlic knots are perfect with any italian dish or soup! Eat on the side with a salad or just as a snack! Top with parmesan or flaky salt!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Proofing Time2

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: American, Italian

Servings: 6

Calories: 115kcal

Ingredients

Knots

1 tsp Instant Yeast
½ Cup Water, lukewarm (95° – 110° F)
1½ Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Fine Sea Salt
1½ tsp Olive Oil

Garlic Butter

2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Cloves Garlic
Parmesan (Optional)
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)
Flaky Salt (Optional)

Instructions

Mix the yeast into the water thoroughly and set aside while prepping the rest of the ingredients.
Mix the salt, sugar, and flour thoroughly in a bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl (or your stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment) Add half of the dry ingredients mixture and the yeast water. Mix with a wooden spoon (or on low with your stand mixer) until combined.
Add the oil and mix until combined (turn the speed up one notch on a stand mixer).
(If using a stand mixer, swap to a dough hook. Make sure you scrape the dough off of the paddle attachment) Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is smooth (turn up to a medium/medium low speed on the stand mixer)
Add the dough to a greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature for about an hour (until the dough has doubled in size)
Punch the dough down once it has risen and cut into 12 even pieces (they can be any shape since we will be rolling these)
Roll those 12 pieces into balls and then roll them out into thin logs that are about 8 inches in length.
Cut those logs in half and tie each half into knots.
Set the knots on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and cover with greased cling wrap. Let rise for an hour.
Once proofed, place the knots in a 400° F oven for 10 – 13 minutes.
While the knots are baking, melt the butter and grate the garlic cloves into the butter. Let the garlic steep.
Once you remove the knots from the oven, brush the garlic butter on.
Sprinkle on any option flaky salt, crushed red pepper, or grated parmesan and enjoy!
Read the blog post above for information on how to store the garlic knots so you can bake them on demand!

Fluffy Spicy Mexican Rice

This fluffy mexican rice recipe has a slight spicy and sweet kick to it that you can adjust by taste. It’s one of my favorite things about this recipe! Some days I want extra corn and other days I want it with more lemon.

This recipe is written to be the baseline ingredients, you can adjust to your taste and how you prefer it!

The most important thing about cooking rice is to wash any of the starch out of it and let it soak with some water before you cook it. Drain the water the rice was soaking in and use fresh water to cook with or it will be too sticky.

As far as the ingredients inside go. You’ll want to cook the onion and garlic before adding the corn and black beans. You can add jalapenos to your taste but make sure to account for any additional spice. If you want to add cilantro, it’s better to add it at the end!

Once the rice, tomato sauce, and water is added, add the seasoning and taste. Keep in mind that you want the flavors to be a little more bold than what you would prefer because it’s takes more spice and salt to season rice.

Cook the rice uncovered at a medium heat for above 10 minutes while stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, refer to the photo below.

Once it gets to that stage, add the lemon juice, turn to a simmer and cover for about ten minutes or until the rest of the water has cooked off.

Add the cilantro and use a fork to make your spicy mexican rice fluffy!

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5 from 1 vote

Fluffy Spicy Mexican Rice

Fluffy Mexican Rice with corn, beans, and a spicy kick! This recipe is really simple and doesn't utilize any special ingredients, perfect for any home cook.

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 4 – 6 Servings

Calories: 215kcal

Ingredients

1 Cup Uncooked Rice medium or long grain, I used basmati
1½ tbsp Olive Oil
3 Cloves Garlic, grated
½ Cup Diced Red Onions
½ Cup Canned Black Beans, drained and rinsed
½ Cup Corn, frozen or canned (drained and rinsed)
½ tsp Cumin
½ tsp (Mexican) Chili Powder
1½ tsp Kosher Salt
½ Cup Tomato Sauce, canned
2 Cups Water
1 tsp Lemon Juice
3 Sprigs Cilantro chopped
Jalapeno, diced Optional

Instructions

Rinse the rice and set aside to soak while you prep the other ingredients.
Add the oil to a saucepan and cook the garlic and onions (and optional jalapenos)
Add the beans and corn to the pan followed by the rice, water, and tomato sauce.
Season with cumin, chili powder, and salt and stir. Taste and adjust, the water should be slighlty spicy and salty or the rice will be bland.
Cook uncovered at a medium heat for about 10 minutes until the water has almost fully evaporated.
Stir to ensure that the rice doesn't stick. Add the lemon juice, cover the pot and turn the heat to a simmer. Cook for another 8 – 10 minutes.
Sprinkle the cilantro and fluff the rice up with a fork so it doesn't clump.
The rice is ready to serve!

Spicy Sweet Corn Disks

Spicy seasoning for sweet corn disks sauteed with onions and a dash of lemon juice! The perfect snack or accompaniment for a main entree. A 10 minute dish!

So corn really is one of my favorite foods in the entire world. I could eat corn in any form, from bread to creamed to steamed and anything inbetween. These spicy sweet corn disks are super easy to make and full of flavor. There is no added sweetness, just the sweet corn!

Aside from the spices, there are four main ingredients: corn, onion, lemon, and cilantro.

Take a medium pan and sautee the onion until translucent and add the spices. Stir well.

Then toss the corn in and add water to cook and steam the corn.

Add the cilantro and lemon just before serving and enjoy!

Check out some of my other side dishes if you liked this spicy sweet corn disks recipe!

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Some tips: This recipe is super simple and will only take about ten minutes to cook but it’s best to ensure that your corn disks are no more than 3 but no less that 2 kernels thick.

You might need to use a mallet to help you cut the corn if the cob core is too thick. If you want you can also make this a corn salad and use off the cob sweet corn with the same seasonings! It’ll be a great burrito bowl or salad topping!

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Spicy Sweet Corn Disks

Spicy seasoning for sweet corn disks sauteed with onions and a dash of lemon juice! The perfect snack or accompaniment for a main entree. A 10 minute dish!

Prep Time5

Cook Time5

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4

Calories: 110kcal

Ingredients

2 Whole Sweet Corn Cobs, sliced every two to three kernels
½ Yellow Onion, diced
2-3 sprigs Cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ tsp Kosher Salt
½ tsp Chili Powder
¼ tsp Cumin
Juice of quarter lemon
¼ Cup Water

Instructions

Prep your onions, cilantro, lemon, and corn. The corn may need a mallet to help with the cutting of them.
Saute onions in the olive oil until lightly translucent.
Add the chili powder, salt, and cumin and stir properly.
Add the corn, stir well, sprinkle in the water, and cover immediately. Let the corn cook and steam for about five minutes.
Stir the corn again and toss in the cilantro and lemon juice just before serving.
Enjoy! You can even lightly drizzle some sour cream on there if you want!

Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)

Bread Bonda is an Indian recipe for fried balls stuffed with potato, onion, and cilantro! Easy to make with household ingredients.

Bread Bonda are these fried potato balls that my moms aunt used to make her growing up. It’s called bread bonda because they are potato balls wrapped in white bread and shallow fried to crispy perfection!

I know, I know, the idea of taking white bread, slightly wetting it and frying it doesn’t sound that great but it’s not that different from croutons!

Boil whole, medium sized gold potatoes (2 pounds of them) with the skin on until they can be pierced with a fork. Peel the skin off after you drain and cool them and crush them with a fork. You want them to be crumbly and a little chunky.

Mix the potatoes with the salt, chili powder, grated ginger, diced onions, and chopped cilantro.

Make sure to use red onion for this recipe, they stay crispy and add a great balance to the creaminess of gold potatoes.

Roll the potato into ping pong sized balls, you’ll get about 20 of them.

Take a slice of bread for each potato ball you have and cut the crusts off. Then flatten them with your hand or a rolling pin.

Here comes the slightly tricky part: wrapping the potato balls in the bread.

If you get a presliced loaf of white bread (think Mrs Baird’s or Sara Lee) the size of the slices should be just large enough for you to wrap the potato balls.

Generously wet your hands and pat the water onto the bread slice to get it slightly wet. This will help you mold the bread around the potato balls. Bring the four corners of the bread together and wet your hand once more. Use your wet hands to help you seal the edges of the bread around the balls. Don’t be afraid to keep using water if you need to. It’s okay for the bread to be damp, you just don’t want it to be soggy. (refer to the photo above)

In a small, deep pan on medium heat prepare 2 cups of canola oil for frying.

Keep turning them as they brown. They’ll hit a beautiful golden brown but they won’t be done yet. The first photo below shows that stage but the second photo will indicate that they’re done.

Place the balls on a draining rack or on a paper towel.

My favorite way to each bread bonda is with ketchup or Maggi Hot and Sweet sauce!

You can make the entire batch of bonda all at once or you can store the potato filling in the fridge for up to a week!

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5 from 1 vote

Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)

Bread Bonda is an Indian recipe for fried balls stuffed with potato, onion, and cilantro! Easy to make with household ingredients.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 20 Balls

Calories: 150kcal

Ingredients

2 pounds Gold Potatoes
½ Red Onion, diced
5-6 Sprigs Cilantro, finely chopped
½ Tbsp Ginger, finely grated
½ tsp Chili Powder
½ tsp Kosher Salt
20 slices White Bread Mrs Baird's Large White Bread
2 Cups Canola (for frying)

Instructions

Boil potatoes with skin on until they can be pierced with a fork (don't overboil or they will be too mushy, boil them just until they can be pierced and no longer)
Drain and peel the potatoes.
Take a fork and lightly mashed (crumble) the potatoes. Refer to the photos in the post.
Mix in the ginger, onions, chili powder, salt, and cilantro. You want the potatoes to still be somewhat chunky.
Roll the potato mixture into ping pong sizes balls. You'll get about 20 of them.
Cut the crust off of your bread slices and roll lightly with a rolling pin (you can flatten the bread with your hands if you want)
To wrap the potato balls in the bread, you want generously wet your hands and pat the water onto the bread slices. (this will help them wrap better)
Place a ball on a dampened bread slice and bring the four corners together. Wet your hands again and pat the bread around the balls to seal the edges. Roll the bread ball between your palms.
Heat up 2 cups of canola oil in a medium pan on medium heat to shallow fry.
Fry the bread bondas until they are medium to dark golden brown. Turn the balls often as they fry to get an even color.
Enjoy with ketchup or Maggi Hot and Sweet Sauce!
You can refrigerate some of the potato mixture for up to a week if you don't want to make a large batch.

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

A super easy recipe for AUTHENTIC homemade sun dried tomato pesto. Eat on your favorite toasted bread or with some pasta!

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto! The extra flavorful younger sibling to the classic green basil pesto. This recipe is as authentic as it gets and stays true to the Italian classic!

This recipe requires a food processor (or a high powered blender) but aside from that it’s pretty easy.

sun dried tomtato pesto ingredients photo

It’s really important to get high quality ingredients for this recipe. Make sure you have the freshest basil leaves you can find.

Don’t get pre oil soaked tomatoes, you won’t be able to control the amount of oil you have in the final product. This recipe is formulated to be used with dry sun dried tomatoes.

I used raw / unroasted / unsalted pine nuts for this recipe as well.

The most important thing to keep in mind is the quality of your parmesan. Please don’t use pregrated parmesan, the quality is not there at all. Make sure to get parmigiano reggiano in a wedge shape.

Roasting the red bell pepper is really important to impart really good flavor in the pesto. You should do it on an open flame if you can, or on a grill, but if not then you can roast them in an oven at 450 for 15 minutes.

Once the red bell pepper is roated, peel the skin off so you get really tender, sweet smelling flesh.

Blitz the ingredients in intervals, begin with the bell pepper, garlic, and soaked tomatoes. Then add the pine nuts, black pepper, and salt. Blitz again, and add the grated parmesan, basil, and crushed red pepper. Blitz!

Finally, stream in the remaining olive oil while the processor is going.

At this point you can add more crushed red pepper, salt, or black pepper according to your taste preferences!

Store the finished sun dried tomato pesto in an air tight glass container. But make sure not to seal the lid before the pesto is completely cooled. If not, you may run the risk of getting mold in your pesto.

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Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

A super easy recipe for AUTHENTIC homemade sun dried tomato pesto. Eat on your favorite toasted bread or with some pasta!

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 12 Servings

Calories: 175kcal

Equipment

Food processor (if not, high powered blender)
Air tight jar or container

Ingredients

1 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes
¼ Cup Pine Nuts
5 Cloves Garlic medium to large, peeled
¼ Cup Grated Parmesan
1½ tsp Kosher Salt
¼ tsp Cracked Black Pepper
¾ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil divided ½ and ¼
1 Red Bell Pepper
½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper
10 leaves Basil large leaves

Instructions

Soak sun dried tomatoes in ¼ cup olive oil.
On an open flame on your stove top, roast the red pepper until the skin is charred and black. (if you dont have a gas stove top, roast the bell pepper at 450° in an oven for 15 minutes)
Peel the charred skin off of the roasted bell pepper.
In a food processor, blend the roasted red pepper, oil soaked tomatoes, and garlic until fully chopped. (it'll be chunky)
Add the pine nuts, black pepper, and salt and blitz again. (it'll still be chunky)
Add the grated parmesan, basil, and crushed red pepper and blitz once again. (still sort of chunky)
Turn on the food processor (or blender) and continuously stream in the remaining ½ cup of olive oil.
Blend for a solid minute.
Add salt to taste and enjoy!
Let cool fully before storing in an air tight glass jar in the fridge.

Cheesy Asparagus Parcels

Asparagus smothered in a garlic butter all wrapped in a cheesy pillowy pastry cushion! These Cheesy Asparagus Parcels are the PERFECT side dish to impress!

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

This garlic and herb compound butter is perfect for sauteeing with vegetables, basting your meats, as a pad of finishing butter, or spread on bagels or to toast for homemade garlic bread!

Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)

Bread Bonda is an Indian recipe for fried balls stuffed with potato, onion, and cilantro! Easy to make with household ingredients.

Minestrone Soup with Tortellini

Minestrone Soup is the perfect vegetable soup packed full of flavor. Eat it alone as a side dish or with Tortellini to make it the main star. It’s a super healthy and tasty soup.

Cheesy Asparagus Parcels

Asparagus smothered in a garlic butter all wrapped in a cheesy pillowy pastry cushion! These Cheesy Asparagus Parcels are the PERFECT side dish to impress!

I like cheese, I like asparagus, and I like puff pastry. If you guys do as well then you’ll be sure to love these Cheesy Asparagus Parcels.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical about the combination of asparagus and puff pastry. But I started to think about artichoke spinach puffs. Well, those are green veggies, cheesy, and wrapped in pastry and those taste delicious. So I decided to push through with this recipe!

Make sure your asparagus as super green and super healthy. Some people prefer the thinner stalks and some prefer the fatter ones. Here, I’ve used the fatter ones, but you can choose whichever you prefer.

This recipe calls for store bought puff pastry. (store bought puff pastry is great! I love the Pepperidge Farms puff pastry) Aside from the thawing process, you don’t need to roll or reshape the pastry sheets. Just unfold it and cut it into square quarters.

The asparagus should be tossed in a garlic butter before assembly but I’m including the above photo to show how the parcels should be assembled.

The type of cheese you end up using is optional BUT I think pepperjack cheese is the best option. The flavor compliments the buttery texture of the puff pastry and the cheese is extra gooey as it bakes.
IF you want a little heat, you can add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes before you wrap the parcels up.
Don’t forget to sprinkle some kosher salt on the puff pastry after you give it an egg wash.

Pro tip! Use the egg as glue for the portion of the parcel where one side of the pastry overlaps with the other. If not, your parcels won’t stay intact and they’ll split open as they bake.

OOEY GOOEY CHEESE

Enjoy your Cheesy Asparagus Parcels as a side dish or make a smaller version of them for a potluck and they’ll surely be loved by everyone!

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Cheesy Asparagus Parcels

Asparagus smothered in a garlic butter all wrapped in a cheesy pillowy pastry cushion! These Cheesy Asparagus Parcels are the PERFECT side dish to impress!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4 Parcels

Calories: 325kcal

Ingredients

20 Stalks Asparagus (about 1 pound)
1½ Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
1 Clove Garlic, grated
¾ tsp Kosher salt, divided
¼ tsp Black Pepper
4 Slices Pepper Jack Cheese
.5 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (optional if you want a kick)
1 Package Puff Pastry (fully thawed)
1 Egg, beaten

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Cut off some of the stem of the asparagus, I usually cut about .5 to 1 inch off depending on the stalk.
Melt the butter and stir in the grated garlic, ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, and ¼ tsp of black pepper. (if you want a little more spice, you can add the crushed red pepper to this mixture)
Generously coat and toss the asparagus in the garlic butter mixture.
Unfold the sheet of puff pastry so it lays flat on a clean surface. (there is no rolling required)
Cut the pastry in half horizontally and vertically so you have four pieces. Arrange them so they are sitting diagonally.
Lay a slice of cheese on each of the four pieces (the slices should be a little smaller, which is exactly what you want)
Lay five stalks of asparagus on each parcel. The stalks should be centered on the parcels to they stick out evenly top and bottom. The asparagus should also be arranged with a layer of three and a layer of two stacked on top.
Brush the part of the pastry that is exposed around the cheese with the beaten egg.
Then fold the side corners of the pastry squares over each other. Make sure to brush some of the beaten egg where the overlap, it'll act as glue.
Brush the outside of the pastries with the egg.
Sprinkle the remaining ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt on the pastry parcels.
Bake for 20 minutes at 400°.

Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts

A step up from the simple and classic oven roasted brussel sprouts. These Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts are garlicky, savory, a little sweet, and have a small kick of heat. Great even for those that don’t like the bitter taste of brussel sprouts!

No Cream Carrot Ginger Soup

Simple and straight forward. Packed with flavor. You’ll be sure to love this No Cream Carrot Ginger Soup. 30 minute meal and fully vegetarian!

Easy Buttery Garlic Knots

Soft, fluffy and easy to make, these buttery garlic knots are perfect with any italian dish or soup! Eat on the side with a salad or just as a snack! Top with parmesan or flaky salt!

Honey Soy Chili Shrimp

Spicy, tangy, a little sweet, and full of flavor! Honey Soy Chili Shrimp is an easy Asian inspired dish created with ingredients that most home cooks have.

Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts

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Raise your hand if you love brussel sprouts! If you don’t, don’t worry about it. There’s a chance you just haven’t have the right brussel sprouts. I’d give these Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts.

To be honest, I hadn’t eaten brussel sprouts until I started dating my fiance and a family friend made me try them at our first Thanksgiving together. It was….. okay, to say the least. But it shocked me because I just always assumed brussel sprouts were as bad as all my friends growing up said they were but it was just okay.

That’s when I realized that brussel sprouts are fine, I just think there’s one superior way of cooking them. And that is by oven roasting them. As far as brussel sprouts go, there’s nothing better than super brown and crispy roasted sprouts, and layering them with a sweet and salty glaze will help cut any bitterness that the sprouts may have.

This recipe is super easy but I include a trick for how to get the BEST roasted sprouts. That is preheating your baking sheet along with the oven so that it is already ripping hot when you place the brussel sprouts in the oven. You also want to leave your sheet unlined and place the sprouts face down so there’s continued and direct contact between the hot metal and the open face of the sprout.
In the last five to ten minutes of baking time you want to turn the sprouts over so that they cook evenly. And with just that, you’ll always have the most perfectly roasted brussel sprouts.

You should always toss brussel sprouts in salt, pepper, and oil before you roast them. That’s how you get your classic roasted brussel sprouts.
But here’s how you get your Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts.

After the sprouts are cooked, saute the garlic and butter together for about 30 seconds and then stir in honey, herbs de provence, and crushed red pepper and then toss the roasted brussel sprouts in and coat!

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Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4

Calories: 125kcal

Ingredients

1 Pound Brussel Sprouts
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ tsp Kosher Salt
¼ tsp Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 Clove Garlic, finely minced or grated
¾ Tbsp Honey
½ tsp Herbs de Provence (or Italian seasoning)
½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400° and place a baking sheet in the oven while it preheats (make sure it is an unlined baking sheet)
Trim the stem end of the brussel sprouts and remove any outer leaves, them cut the brussel sprouts in half, lengthwise.
Toss the brussel sprouts in the olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
Once the oven has reached 390°, remove the baking sheet and arrange the brussel sprouts face down on the sheet (please do this carefully as the pan will be very hot and make sure the pan is still an unlined sheet. The sprouts should not stick to the pan as they bake and preheating the pan will help to really roast the sprouts)
Place the brussel sprouts in the oven at 400°. Bake for 20 minutes and then flips the sprouts so they are face up. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes (remove when the sprouts are roasted to your preference. I did the full 10 minutes)
Once you remove the brussel sprouts, heat up the butter in a pan and cook the garlic for about thirty seconds (do all of this on a medium low heat)
Add the honey, herbs de provence, and crushed red pepper. Stir thoroughly.
Immediately add the roasted brussel sprouts and toss until they are coated.
Serve warm!

Enjoy this recipe with my Crispy Smashed Potatoes or any of my other dishes!

Spicy Sweet Corn Disks

Spicy seasoning for sweet corn disks sauteed with onions and a dash of lemon juice! The perfect snack or accompaniment for a main entree. A 10 minute dish!

Spicy Salty Snack Mix

Spicy Salty Snack Mix utilizes unique flavors to create a wonderful homemade alternative to the store bought stuff! It’s super easy to make, which is great because it’s a super addicting snack!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Perfect as an entree or a side dish, on a chilly day or when it’s warm! Simple and easy but customizable with your preferred toppings.

Fluffy Spicy Mexican Rice

Crispy Smashed Potatoes

Crispy and creamy! Sweet and salty! These crispy smashed potatoes are herby, garlicky, and incredibly satisfying.

Crispy and creamy! Sweet and salty! These crispy smashed potatoes are herby, garlicky, and incredibly satisfying.

Smashed potatoes have all the creaminess as mashed potatoes (without all the gluttony – which isn’t always a bad thing) with the addition of a satisfying crunch!
I love mashed potatoes but I always feel like I am missing substance. It took me a while to realize that the missing element is something crispy and crunchy, so these smashed potatoes will be a go to of mine!

Most smashed potatoes recipes I looked at when it came to developing this one used (Yukon) Gold Potatoes. Gold potatoes are great because they’re really creamy and have a smooth consistency. They even make the best mashed potatoes.

I really wanted to make a recipe using red potatoes. I like how buttery and kind of sweet that red potatoes can be. If you boil them enough, they get just as creamy as gold potatoes can be, and their skin is really flavorful. The flavors work really well with the herby, salty flavor of the seasoning.

For the seasoning, you can use a premixed Herb De Provence or Italian seasoning, but if you have all of the individual herbs, I would use them instead.
I’m not the biggest fan of salt but you can feel free to add another 1/2 tsp of salt to the seasoning.

When you boil the potatoes, the result is best if they are boiled until are fork can easily pierce it to the center.

Try to make sure that you don’t smash the potatoes TOO much when you crush them with a spoon. I used a flat heavy wooden spoon to smash my potatoes. You want them to still have ridges and be held together for the most part.

This recipe is named Crispy Smashed Potatoes for a reason, but everyone has varying preferences for how crispy they like their potato skins.
The recipe calls for 40 minutes for the baking time but I would start checking the potatoes at the 30 minute mark and pull them when they are to your preference!

Print Recipe

Crispy Smashed Potatoes

Crispy and creamy! Sweet and salty! These crispy smashed potatoes are herby, garlicky, and incredibly satisfying.

Prep Time25

Cook Time40

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4

Calories: 170kcal

Ingredients

1 lbs Red Potatoes

Seasonings (use herbs individually or an Herb de Provence seasoning)

½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Black Pepper
½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper
1 Clove Garlic Finely Minced or Grated
½ tsp Dried Basil
½ tsp Dried Thyme
½ tsp Dried Rosemary
½ tsp Dried Oregano
4 Tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°.
Place the potatoes into a pot of water and bring to a boil. Boil until the potatoes they are tender and a fork can pierce them easily to the center.
Mix together the salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, garlic, dried basil, dried thyme, dried rosemary, dried oregano, and olive oil in a bowl.
Arrange the potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet.
Using the back of a heavy bottomed spoon smash the potatos but keep them lumpy (refer to photos).
Evenly drizzle the oil seasoning over the potatoes.
Place in oven and bake for at least 30 minutes but up to 40 depending on how brown you want the skins.

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Garlic and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Juicy, earthy, and tasty! These stuffed mushrooms are simple and delicious! Perfect for an appetizer or a side dish. Fully vegetarian!

I LOVE stuffed mushrooms. They’re earthy, soft, crispy (with the right topping), and creamy. These garlic and cheese stuffed mushrooms check all the boxes! They’re also even easy to make!

Stuffed mushrooms come with all kinds of mushroom bases. Many recipes use white mushrooms or cremini mushrooms, but I love cooking with portabella mushrooms and I think they have the most flavor out of all the mushrooms that are easy to find at grocery stores.
Feel free to use any other kind of mushroom but be sure to use baby mushrooms!
Just keep in mind that this recipe was created with baby portabella mushrooms in mind.

When it comes to mushroom, please make sure you thoroughly clean them. They’re a LOT dirtier than they look. Usually when I’m cleaning mushrooms I’m trying to keep the stems and caps attached but for this recipe they need to be separated anyways. Which is great because it makes cleaning thoroughly a LOT easier!

You want to try to chop the mushroom stems as finely as possible and keep them uniform with the size of the chopped bell pepper pieces. Both vegetables shrink as the water in them cooks off, which is good. We want that so that they mushroom caps don’t get soggy as we cook them

This is what the cooked mushroom stem and bell pepper mixture will look like. Let the mixture cool a bit before you mix it with the cheese and cream cheese so the cream cheese doesn’t soften too much.

Evenly distribute the stuffing among the mushroom caps and then top it with the seasoned panko bread crumbs. It will help to spoon the panko on and then press it on with your fingers or the back of a spoon. This will make sure that the panko cooks on the stuffing so that it won’t fall off as you eat it.
I wouldn’t use regular bread crumbs, like the kind you would use for chicken parmesan. It’s too finely ground and the panko will get more crispy.

I hope you enjoy these Garlic and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms!

Print Recipe

Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Juicy, earthy, and tasty! These stuffed mushrooms are simple and delicious! Perfect for an appetizer or a side dish. Fully vegetarian!

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 Mushrooms

Calories: 65kcal

Ingredients

16 Ounces Baby Portabella Mushrooms
.5 tsp Butter
2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
1 Orange or Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped can use ¾ if you want
1 tsp Italian Seasoning or Herbs de Provence
⅓ Cup Shredded Colby Jack or Mexican Cheese (heaping scoop)
3 ounces Cream Cheese
1½ tsp Cayenne Pepper, divided
½ Cup Panko Crumbs
1 tsp Garlic Powder
Salt
Black Pepper
½ Tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.
Thoroughly wash and clean the mushrooms, remove stems whole.
Finely chop the garlic, mushroom stems. and bell pepper
Saute garlic, mushroom stems, and bell pepper in the butter until all liquid has cooked off.
Mix together 1 tsp cayenne, 1 tsp herb seasoning, cream cheese, shredded cheese, and the cooked mushroom stems and bell peppers. Season with a pinch of salt and some black pepper.
In a separate bowl, season panko crumbs with 1 tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp cayenne, and a pinch of salt.
Lightly toss the mushrooms caps in the olive oil and place top down on a foil lined baking sheet.
Evenly distribute the stuffing among the mushroom caps.
Top mushroom caps with the seasoned panko. (The best way is to spoon the panko on and pat it in to make sure it sticks)
Bake for 25 minutes (or until the panko is golden brown). Time may vary by your oven heat.

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