Easy Instant Pot brussel sprouts with bacon recipe! Perfect side dish in your Ninja Foodi pressure cooker, like we made our Instant Pot Steamed Vegetables but so garlic buttery!
Adding all my favorite flavors together, we created this easy Instant Pot brussel sprouts recipe. I will say it took until I was an adult to actually give them a shot. I’ll also say it is all in how you cook them and what you add to the pot that determines just how delicious they will become. Even my kids loved them….seriously!! One of our favorite vegetable Instant Pot recipes now. (affiliate links present)
Instant Pot Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
Look at these brussel sprouts in an Instant Pot!!! Yes you can make them as an easy Ninja foodi recipe or in your Crockpot Express pot too. Yes bacon is a must, okay and butter. It’s one of the most delicious recipes we’ve made in our multi cooker yet.
I have not found a main dish that these don’t go well with. They will come out as tender as possible. You can enjoy it as is right out of the pot this way or make crispy with a quick trip in your air fryer. If you have the Instant Pot air fryer lid you can pop that on at the end too. Either way is delish.
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
I picked up a bag in my grocery store which was about 2 lbs. or so and ended up using the whole thing. I’ll tell you that I didn’t eat these growing up. My dad loved them and Mom hated the smell, she turned me off.
I wouldn’t even give them a real solid chance until I was an adult and was bound and determined to make them really GREAT! This was it. Really, I mean how can anything mixed with bacon and butter be bad anyway right??
How Long do you cook brussel sprouts in Instant Pot?
Just 3 minutes!! This is after you saute the butter and bacon which takes a few as well. With a little tweaking I tasted, adjusted, tasted again and OH MY even my 11 year old said they were delicious. I’m serious. My husband is a super picky eater too and I convinced him that we should make these weekly.
From there I went all out and made ALL THE THINGS with these little babies. Next to this one, we are totally obsessed with these air fryer brussel sprouts too. Try them both if you have a Foodi.
Cooking Tips
- Cutting brussel sprouts in half is key to making sure they are steamed to perfection.
- I mean it kinda’ makes sense right? It’s hard otherwise to get the very center nice and soft like you’ll want them to be.
Of course you will get a variety of sizes so the small ones will become more tender than the monsters. But the mixture of textures works great. Once you’ve rinsed and cut them you’ll pressure cook them in your vegetable steamer basket with a little water.
If you didn’t want to slice them at all you can still make this. I would add ONE more minute to the cook time because you want to get them tender all the way thru. Negative to this is the outside will get quite soft, mushy to some, by the time the centers are perfect. That is why I suggest slicing, or soaking beforehand.
Ok so you can make these and whole pressure cooker cauliflower in a Ninja Foodi multi cooker too, but you can air fry in the same pot as well. You may want only one of them but you do have the option which is sure nice. Below is just for the first function. If you want the other just swap lids and air crisp at 400 for a few minutes until browned.
Ingredients
- Brussels sprouts – steam as many as you like, just don’t pass the top of your basket much
- Bacon is optional but makes it way better and adds a bit of fat to keep them moist
- Butter for flavor and to keep tender
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Lemon, shallots and/or parmesan are optional for flavor
Equipment Used
Vegetable steamer basket is handy to have for all sorts of other sides too like our Instant Pot spaghetti squash too.
Substitutions
As far as seasonings we usually just add garlic salt & salt – everyone is different so use these according to taste, can salt at the end if you wish. I mean there are so many ways to cook brussel sprouts, but this you will love! You can use a dairy free vegan alternative if you would rather.
Extras you can add, or steam and then transfer to a pan and make cast iron brussel sprouts from there.
Not with this method. If you insist on cooking them whole then that would help. Just sit in cool water for 30 minutes beforehand. Once that is done saute together all your add ins. Next you’ll mix them all together and serve immediately for the best taste and texture.
We love adding these two flavors even when making our baked brussel sprouts and cauliflower recipe. I mean buttery garlic is where it’s at. There is a printable recipe below at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick step by step though so you can get an idea of how we did this:
How to Cook Brussel Sprouts in Instant Pot
- Add halved brussel sprouts into your steam basket with a cup of water underneath.
- Cook at high pressure for 3 minutes, quick release the pressure when done.
- Everyone has a different preference as far as how tender you like vegetables. 2 – 3 minutes is perfect for us.
- Remove, drain, and set pot to saute.
- Add butter and diced bacon, you could add some minced garlic and/or balsamic vinegar too. You can substitute some olive oil if you’d like to decrease the amount of butter listed below.
- Cook crispy bacon. When done to your liking combine back in and gently stir.
For crispier roasted brussel sprouts close your Crisp Lid on a Ninja Foodi, put under your broiler at 400 degrees for 4-5 minutes, or bake brussels sprouts at 450. Jump to recipe.
If you’re ready to try other Instant Pot vegetable recipes you can print out this cook time sheet and try more below Instant Pot recipes:
Instant Pot Brussel Sprouts
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 cups brussel sprouts, was about 2 lbs., halved
- 3 slices bacon, diced
- 1-2 medium shallots, depending on how many you want, dice
- 1 stick butter, + 1 tbsp., salted
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Wash and cut your brussel sprouts in half lengthwise.
- Put a vegetable steamer basket at the bottom of your Instant Pot with 1.5 c. water.
- Put your cut brussels into your basket and close the lid and steam valve.
- Set to pressure high for 3 minutes, if cutting this recipe in half I would set to 2 minutes.
- Do a quick release, take out basket with vegetables and drain liquid in the pot.
- Put pot back in and set to saute normal.
- Add 1 tbsp. of your butter and your diced bacon.
- Cook until bacon is almost done and then add your shallots for last minute, then add the last stick of butter so it melts.
- Once your butter is melted and bacon is done cooking to your liking turn your pot off.
- Put your cooked brussels sprouts back into your pot and gently stir so they are all coated with your bacon/butter mixture. Squeeze lemon juice on top (optional), sprinkle seasonings and gently toss again.
- Serve topped with parmesan cheese and chives if desired.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Absolutely fantastic! The sprouts were perfectly cooked and the rest of the ingredients made them so delish. Thank you!
Awesome
Hello, I’m new to pressure cooking I’m going to try these Brussels sprouts just wondered if you can do different vegetables together, like Carrots and sprouts, its z whole new learning curve, thanks Sue.
Loved this… they came out perfect and tasted great!
Oh yay!
Can I make this in the slow cooker instead?
The sprout-lovers among us enjoyed these very much and the haters deemed them ‘good for a sprout,’ which makes this an all-around winner in my book! I drained off all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease before adding the butter and shallots, and I only used 1/4 cup of butter total — just personal preference. Love the lemon and Parmesan — bright and unexpected! Bonus: The flavors in this recipe work very well with sausage, cabbage, and potatoes for a quick one-pot meal.
OHhhh that would be a great twist, thanks for the idea!