The Best Way To Clean And Prep Brussels Sprouts

Every home cook has been there. You think you're just going to toss together a quick salad or roast some vegetables in the oven. Essential parts of a quick, simple, weeknight dinner. But by the time you've merely prepped your produce, you're practically in big meal territory. Properly washing and drying your veggies is somehow always a surprising pain. Particularly for something like Brussels sprouts, petite as they are with all those tightly packed layers where tiny, grainy bits of debris or even itsy-bitsy pests might be lurking. Short of a pulverizing pressure washer, your best bet is to give 'em a good soak.

This actually requires a three-pronged approach. First, pile your Brussels sprouts into a colander and give them a good run under the tap, using your sink's most powerful setting. Give each sprout individual attention the way you would with larger items like apples and pears; it really only takes a few extra moments. Then, fully submerge them in a big bowl of water, swirling the buds with clean hands or any suitable kitchen utensil. Let it all settle for a couple of minutes, then remove the Brussels sprouts with a slotted spoon. The hope is that any little particles will have settled to the bottom of the bowl. Another quick rinse under running water completes the process. But if this whole routine sends you running to the freezer aisle, we've got ways to make frozen Brussels sprouts taste fresh, too.

But wait, there's more! Unless you're simply boiling them, you want to get your Brussels sprouts as dry as possible before cooking. This is why we wash most of our veggies a few hours before we want to use them. By late lunchtime, we've typically cleaned items like leafy greens, broccoli, scallions, and herbs, and set them out to dry. Less-porous things like tomatoes, which you can easily wipe to dry, blessedly do not require this level of attention. A salad spinner can also expedite this step, but often not to the like-new degree we desire.

Brussels sprouts, in particular, need this more elaborate treatment. While a few drops of water are kind of a drag in some recipes, they aren't always totally ruinous. But soggy sprouts just won't crisp up properly, so not drying them can be a mistake that's keeping you from perfectly roasted vegetables, which really is the best way to eat those often bitter-tasting Brussels sprouts. So, you should truly take this hands-off extra step every time you prepare Brussels sprouts.