Meet the easiest ever Thanksgiving side dish! We’re seasoning our brussels sprouts and butternut squash with olive oil, sage, thyme, and maple syrup. Then, add some bacon and roast everything together – yes, it all cooks together in one go – until tender and caramelized. Veggies never looked, or tasted, so good!
This post is sponsored by our friends at Oster. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that make Blue Bowl possible!
Let’s make the easiest ever side dish for Thanksgiving! It’s full of delicious fall flavor, and I guarantee that even the picky eaters at your table will go crazy for this recipe.
Start by slicing your brussels sprouts in half, and cubing your butternut squash. Buying pre-cut butternut squash definitely saves a bit of time here, but it’s a little pricier than buying a whole one and cutting it yourself. Add your squash and bacon to the pan that comes with Oster’s French Door Air Fry Oven, and drizzle with olive oil, maple syrup, and sprinkle on salt, pepper, thyme, and sage. Then, roughly chop a few slices of bacon and add those on last.
Oster’s French Door Air Fry Oven is a great option for this recipe because it’s designed with a faster preheat time than a conventional oven, which reduces your overall cooking time. And, it keeps your oven freed up for larger items, like that all-important turkey!
Add the pan to your pre-heated oven, and roast for about 30 minutes. Yes – everything roasts all at once – no need to separate out the squash from the bacon, or add something to the pan partway through cooking. I found that everything was cooked evenly by the end with this method – the squash and brussels come out tender and caramelized, and the bacon gets nice and crisp.
So, this recipe saves energy by roasting everything all at once (no separate batches of two different veggies, and then the bacon) and it uses up to 50 percent less energy than a conventional oven. Win win!
Once the veggies are done, remove them from the air fryer oven and sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese before serving. This is such a delicious and simple-to-make side dish that’s sure to disappear in a flash at your Thanksgiving celebrations.
Ingredient Substitutions & Variations:
And, if you want to keep this dish vegetarian, you can simply omit the bacon. Alternatively, if you don’t want to use brussels sprouts you could swap in an equal amount of the butternut squash, or vice versa.
Serving Size:
This recipe yields about 5 servings, assuming that people aren’t taking super huge portions, because they’re filling up their plate with a little bit each of so many different dishes. You can certainly double the recipe, but this pan only holds a single quantity of this recipe, so you’ll need to roast one pan at a time.
Alternate Cooking Methods:
The amount of ingredients in this recipe fits on one large cookie sheet/baking pan. You can bake in your oven at the same time for the same temperature if you don’t own an air fryer. Again, if you double the recipe, make sure to divide everything between two pans or things will be too crowded and may not brown evenly.
Happy cooking, friends!
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Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Butternut Squash and Bacon
Ingredients
- 12 ounces brussels sprouts, rinsed, trimmed, and halved
- 12 ounces butternut squash, peeled and cubed Aim for about 1" pieces
- 3 slices bacon, uncooked
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried rubbed sage
- generous sprinkle salt + pepper
- parmesan, for serving
Instructions
- Prep: Prep your veggies as directed in the ingredient list above. Roughly chop or cut your bacon into pieces that are similar in size to the cubed butternut squash pieces. Preheat your Oster French Door Air Fry Oven or regular oven to 400° F. Add the brussels sprouts and squash to the baking sheet and drizzle on the maple syrup and olive oil. Toss to combine. Sprinkle on the thyme, sage, salt, and pepper, and toss to combine again. Scatter the bacon pieces on top.
- Roast the Veggies + Bacon: Place the pan in your oven, and roast for 15 minutes. Remove the pan, and give everything a stir to make sure things are browning evenly. Return to the oven for 12-18 minutes more. It's done when the veggies are tender to your liking, and the bacon is cooked through.
- Serve + Store: Serve this fresh from the oven, with a sprinkle of parmesan. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
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