Christmas dinner just wouldn’t be Christmas dinner without Brussel sprouts and this recipe for Cranberry, Chestnut and Tofu Facon Brussel Sprouts is utterly delicious. We might even convert some sprout haters!
Those veggies we may not have liked as children are actual wonderfully versatile if you know how to flavour them. There are so many ways you can make this amazing vegetable more interesting and tasty to go along with quintessential Christmas flavours.
This recipe is pretty much the same as the recipe my sister used to make at Christmas before we all (yes, the whole family!) went vegan. My sister, Alex, is a fantastic cook and designed our Christmas dinner. So when we went vegan, we had to make a few adjustments to family favourites such as this recipe. We think it has come out just as well as the original, it's possibly even more tasty.
This recipe was developed by Vanessa, one of the original co-founders of this site. Vanessa is now working on her plant based health coaching business, Energise and Thrive Plant Based. She helps people get high energy, great health, and balanced eating with delicious plant-based food.
She’s also brought out her FREE Guide - 5 Steps to Balanced Plant Based Eating which you’re welcome to download. Of course, all the recipes she has created for The Vegan Larder (like this one!) will remain here for you to access.
Alex used to fry Brussel sprouts with lardon bacon and butter, along with cranberry jelly and fresh cranberries. So in this recipe, I have used oil instead of the butter, and instead of bacon, we have a fantastic smoked tofu. The smoked tofu can be marinated yourself (we have a delicious smoked ‘facon’ recipe) or you can buy it pre made from most health food stores. This bit of the dish gives a lovely chewiness which contrasts well with the cranberries and sprouts. To add even more Christmas cheer I also added chestnuts. Because there is no such thing as too much Christmas flavour!
Fresh cranberries and the cranberry jelly make this dish so festive, and give a lovely red colour to it, which looks beautiful as part of the Christmas spread.
This brussel sprout recipe is also a super quick dish to make. Even better, it re-heats beautifully, and creates a lovely flavour if you make the classic post Christmas Bubble and Squeak (one of my favourite parts of Christmas!)
Cranberry, Chestnut and Tofu 'bacon' Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
- 500 g Brussel sprouts (5 ½ cups)
- 100 g smoked tofu (or a small packet) (either use our Facon recipe or use a pre-bought smoked tofu, available from most health food shops)
- 100 g pre-cooked chestnuts (¾ cup)
- 150 g fresh cranberries (1.5 cups)
- 2 tablespoon cranberry jelly (pre-bought, or make your own if feeling particularly adventurous)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or oil of choice for frying)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the hard ends off the sprouts, and discard the outer layer. Make a cross with a knife on the bottom of each sprout.
- Boil the sprouts for just 5 minutes so they are partially cooked.
- Once cooked, drain the sprouts and cut each one in half-length ways.
- Cut the smoked tofu into thin slices about 3mm thick and 1 cm long.
- Heat the olive oil in frying pan. Add the sprouts, chestnuts, tofu, fresh cranberries, cranberry jelly, salt and pepper. Fry for 5 minutes or until the sprouts have some brown on them.
- Serve with all your other Christmas dinner dishes!
Nutrition
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