It’s that time of week where most of us are looking through the fridge thinking “Why didn’t I go to the store yesterday?” You’re wondering what’s for dinner, and you only have a few ingredients to work with. Well, no big deal – as long as you have a little bit of protein to go on the side, you’ll be set with this!

Brussels sprouts are a great way to get some texture into your dish for a vegetable, but you could easily do this with broccoli or cauliflower. You’ll have a nice crisp crust to break through to get to your ooey-gooey, cheese covered al dente Brussels sprouts.

You can use ANY type of smoked cheese you want to make this – smoked gouda, smoked cheddar, or smoked mozzarella. I absolutely love smoked cheese, but it does break the bank slightly, so I decided to go with the “cheaper” version while I was making this. Just be sure to not add the liquid smoke if you’re going down that route. Oh, and make sure you save me some, would you!?

Feel free to top with a little sprinkle of oregano. It’s sometimes known as Mexican mint or Mexican thyme, and really shines through when you grab a piece of that crisp crust with the Brussels sprouts – adding just the right amount of freshness to a side dish that is quite dense and heavy.

Yields 4 Servings of Keto Au Gratin Brussels Sprouts

The Preparation

Brussels Sprouts

6 ounces brussels sprouts
1.8 ounces onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or coconut aminos)
½ teaspoon liquid smoke
¼ teaspoon pepper

Cheese Sauce

1 tablespoon butter
½ cup heavy cream
2.5 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum

Pork Rind Crust

0.5 ounces pork rinds
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon paprika

The Execution

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Chop all of the stems off of your brussels sprouts, then in half down the spine of the stem. I started with about 7.5 oz. of Brussels Sprouts.

2. Dice the onion and garlic.

3. Bring a pan to high heat and add 2 tbsp. butter. Let it start to brown slightly, then add the brussels sprouts and season with pepper. Let this cook for about 2-3 minutes, then add onion and garlic. After the onions start to get soft, add 1 tbsp. soy sauce and 1/2 tsp. Liquid Smoke. Set aside.

4. In a saucepan, combine heavy cream and butter. Season with 1/4 tsp. Paprika, 1/4 tsp. Turmeric, 1/4 tsp. Pepper, and 1/8 tsp. Xanthan Gum. Whisk together so that the xanthan gum can start to thicken it.

5. Add grated cheese to the sauce and stir in slowly.

6. Once cheese sauce is thickened and creamy, add to the brussels sprouts and mix together well.

7. Seperate into ramekins. In retrospect, I should have used smaller ramekins (to make 4 servings). I ended up breaking these into 2 servings because they were far too filling for 1 person. Before dinner, I ate half of one and was not hungry for dinner, so keep that in mind – this is a very, very dense cheese sauce.

8. Grind 0.5 oz. Pork Rinds, 3 tbsp. Parmesan Cheese, and 1/2 tsp. Paprika in a spice grinder or food processor. Use the crumbs to top the ramekins.

9. Bake at 375F for 17-20 minutes or until the pork rind and parmesan crust is crisped slightly.

10. Serve warm!

This makes 4 total servings of Keto Au Gratin Brussels Sprouts. Each serving comes out to be 313.25 Calories, 27.79g Fats, 5.79g Net Carbs, and 10.71g Protein.

Keto Au Gratin Brussels Sprouts	Calories	Fats(g)	Carbs(g)	Fiber(g)	Net Carbs(g)	Protein(g)
6 ounces brussels sprouts	73	0.51	15.21	6.5	8.71	5.75
1.8 ounces onion	20	0.05	4.76	0.9	3.86	0.56
1 teaspoon minced garlic	4	0.01	0.93	0.1	0.83	0.18
3 tablespoons butter	305	34.55	0.03	0	0.03	0.36
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or coconut aminos)	8	0.09	0.79	0.1	0.69	1.3
½ teaspoon liquid smoke	0	0	0	0	0	0
½ teaspoon pepper	3	0.04	0.74	0.3	0.44	0.12
½ cup heavy cream	405	42.94	3.26	0	3.26	3.38
2.5 ounces cheddar cheese, grated	286	23.61	2.19	0	2.19	16.21
¾ teaspoon paprika	5	0.22	0.93	0.6	0.33	0.24
¼ teaspoon turmeric	2	0.02	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.07
1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum	0	0	0.25	0.25	0	0
0.5 ounces pork rinds	80	5	0	0	0	9
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese	62	4.1	0.51	0	0.51	5.68
Totals	1253	111.14	30.1	8.95	21.15	42.85
Per Serving(/4)	313.25	27.79	7.53	2.24	5.29	10.71