The third day of Christmas – Christmas Brussels sprouts
Christmas Brussels sprouts: a festive classic
Love them or loathe them, Brussels sprouts are a staple of the British Christmas dinner – and for good reason. Their festive fame is deeply rooted in tradition, nutrition, and a growing appreciation for bold seasonal flavours.
Originally grown in ancient Rome, sprouts were first recorded in the Brussels region of Belgium, which is where they got their name from.
Brussels sprouts have been grown in the UK since the 18th century, but their Christmas connection took hold during the Victorian era. This timing coincides with their peak season – late autumn through winter – making them a fresh, local and economical choice for a winter feast. Their robust, earthy taste also complements rich Christmas fare like roast turkey or mushroom wellington.
How nutritious are Brussels sprouts?
Brussels sprouts are nutritional powerhouses. Belonging to the cruciferous vegetable family, they’re rich in essential nutrients that support winter wellbeing.
An 80g serving of your Christmas Brussels sprouts can provide more vitamin C than an orange, boosting immune health during the cold season. They’re also a valuable source of vitamin K, important for maintaining bone health and supporting blood clotting.
High in fibre, Brussels sprouts promote healthy digestion and help regulate blood sugar levels. Additionally, they contain antioxidants like kaempferol, which has been linked to anti inflammatory and heart- protective effects.
Being rich in sulphur, brassica vegetables like brussels sprouts may support gut health, and as a result improve your defence against infection, as well as conditions like colorectal cancer.
This is because sulphur supports the production of glutathione, which is important for maintaining the integrity of the gut lining, as well as supporting repair. As a powerful antioxidant, glutathione works throughout the body, protecting cells from inflammatory damage and improving the body’s ability to detox.
Some people can find their Christmas Brussels sprouts hard to digest due to the presence of a complex sugar called raffinose. It is a trisaccharide composed of galactose, glucose, and fructose, and its indigestibility is due to the lack of a required enzyme in the human small intestine. Instead, it passes into the large intestine where gut bacteria ferment it, which can cause gas and bloating in some people. Limiting the portion size can be beneficial for these groups rather than avoiding them all together.
How sustainable are Brussels sprouts?
Brussels sprouts have moderate sustainability when they are grown here in the British Isles due to their cold-hardiness, high yield, and long storage life, but they can also be resource-intensive due to a long growing season and the use of pesticides in conventional farming.
In general, however, your Christmas Brussels sprouts are a sustainable food, given that they’re vegetables. Fruit, vegetables, and legumes nearly always have a lower environmental footprint than animal products, regardless of where they’re produced. Moreover, even amongst other vegetables, Brussels sprouts perform well. Recent life-cycle assessment comparisons have showed that they’re among the most sustainable vegetables on a per-kilogramme basis. Despite this, however, sustainability still isn’t a given; factors such as farming practices, yield efficiency, transport, and waste all have an impact.
The recent trend for buying Brussels sprouts on their stalks may be seen as more sustainable, but in reality it makes little difference to the carbon footprint of the sprouts themselves as transport costs could be higher for the larger stalks rather than large crates of loose sprouts.
Here’s some inspiration for using up your leftover Christmas Brussels sprouts…
Warm roasted Brussels sprouts salad (vegan, contains nuts)
Serves 12 adults/16 children
Ingredients:
For the salad:
- 2.5kg Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
- 120ml olive oil, for roasting
- 600g quinoa
- 1.2kg mixed salad leaves (radicchio, frisee)
- 400g dried cranberries
- 400g chopped nuts (e.g. walnuts, pecans or almonds)
- 6 spring onions, thinly sliced
For the soy-sesame dressing:
- 100ml soy sauce
- 80ml sesame oil
- 100ml olive oil
- 100ml rice vinegar
- 60ml maple syrup
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2tbsp fresh ginger, grated
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C). Toss the halved sprouts with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread evenly on baking trays and roast for 25–30 minutes until golden and slightly crispy.
- Rinse the dry quinoa thoroughly. Cook with a 2:1 water ratio,
simmering until tender and water is absorbed (around 15 minutes). Fluff with a fork and cool. - Whisk together all the dressing ingredients until well combined. Adjust seasoning and sweetness to taste.
- In a large bowl or trays, combine the cooled quinoa, roasted sprouts, chopped nuts, cranberries, and spring onions. Toss gently with salad leaves and dressing just before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
For more festive inspiration, keep an eye out for the rest of our 12 Days of Christmas blogs arriving throughout December – a dive into every ingredient’s history, sustainability and nutrition, along with a delicious recipe …
Christmas bakes – stirring up tradition
01 December – smoked salmon
02 December – turkey
03 December – Brussels sprouts
04 December – parsnips
08 December – red cabbage
09 December – chestnuts
10 December – cranberries
11 December – dates
15 December – walnuts
16 December – clementines
17 December – cloves
18 December – cinnamon