If you’re a fan of quick and easy meals, you’ll love this ground beef and brussels sprouts skillet. You’ll only need 4 ingredients (not counting spices) and about 20-25 minutes to have this ground beef skillet on the table.
Every serving is packed with 27 grams of protein, 20 grams of carbs, and just 270 calories. Leaving you with plenty of room for rice, noodles, or dare I say, dessert!
This recipe was inspired by my popular Sticky Sweet Ground Beef and Broccoli recipe. Be sure to check that out if you dig this one!
Sweet Chili Ground Beef and Brussels Sprouts Recipe Walkthrough
I’ll quickly run you through how to make this recipe below. You’ll find a few cooking tips and ingredient modification notes included as well.
How to Cook Ground Beef for Maximum Flavor
We all know how important it is to get a little crust development on your meat before crumbling. The flavor is better, and the added texture goes a long way in simple dishes like this one.
Here’s a handful of tips for cooking ground beef like a pro:
- use oil, even if it’s just a tiny bit on top of the beef before adding to the skillet
- season well and allow the spices to bloom but not burn
- cast iron or stainless steel > nonstick
- put it in the pan and leave it alone for a few minutes
For this ground beef and brussels sprouts skillet, you’ll be seasoning with ground ginger, black pepper, and chili powder. But you can use the same principles with any spice combination. Take my Nashville Hot Chicken Burgers or Hamburger Steak and Gravy recipes, for example.
How to Cook Brussels Sprouts
I used a fresh bag of washed and trimmed brussels sprouts that can be microwaved right in the bag. If you’re using 100% fresh, remove the sprouts from the stalk, wash, and add to a dish with a tablespoon of water. Cover and microwave for a few minutes until tender.
I’m not sure if you can tell from the photos, but the brussels sprouts I used were on the smaller side. If you’re using really large brussels sprouts, you might want to quarter them instead of just halving.
If you’re a fan of the crispy bits of brussels sprouts, check out the shaved sprouts I used for my chili crisp brussels sprouts with ground chicken and honey balsamic ground chicken and brussels sprouts recipes.
Final Ground Beef and Brussels Sprouts Notes
Don’t take my cooking tips above as warnings—it’s virtually impossible to mess up this ground beef and brussels skillet. As long as you cook your beef and have tender brussels sprouts, you’ll be just fine.
Sweet Chili Sauce
I used Trader Joe’s sweet chili sauce, but you can find this sauce in most grocery stores. Look for a Thai-style chili sauce. Or you could make your own using The Flavor Bender’s sweet chili sauce recipe.
You can also use more sweet chili sauce than the recipe calls for if you have picky eaters in the house. And feel free add it after tossing when serving.
Skillet Size
I used a 12″ cast iron skillet. If you use a smaller skillet, you may need to remove the ground beef after cooking to create space for the brussels sprouts to have enough contact with the skillet.
You can find the cast iron skillet I use, along with all my recommended kitchen tools and products, on my Amazon storefront. It’s a great investment and you could make my skillet pizza, loaded ground beef and potatoes, pan fried chicken thighs, and more exactly how they’re meant to be made!
Ground Beef and Brussels Sprouts
You can definitely use other ground meats like chicken or turkey. If you’ve read this far but hate brussels sprouts, other veggies would work fine here. For ideas, check out my honey sesame ground chicken and broccoli and low carb cheeseburger skillet (radishes). And my Greek ground chicken and veggie skillet is a great example of how you could oven roast a bunch of veggies with your cooked sweet chili ground beef.
Green beans, zucchini, bok choy, and peppers all come to mind as other alternatives.
And if you wanted to use chicken breast, check out my air fryer sweet chili chicken and brussels sprouts recipe.
Okay, that’s a wrap! If you have a question about this sweet chili ground beef skillet, leave a comment below or join my Facebook group with more than 15k healthy home cooks that would love to give you some tips!
Sweet Chili Ground Beef and Brussels Sprouts Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Beef, I used 96/4
- 12 oz Brussels Sprouts*, halved
- 1 Tbsp 16g Chili Oil (or your choice of oil)
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 C 120g Sweet Chili Sauce**
Instructions
- Microwave the brussels sprouts for 2 minutes or until tender before transferring to a cutting board. Cut them in half once they've cooled.
- Mix the dry spices together and sprinkle half over the top of the ground beef.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with the chili oil. Once the oil is hot, place the ground beef in the skillet seasoned side down. Sprinkle the remaining half of the spices on top of the beef.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom of the beef has developed a nice crust before flipping. Cook for another 2-3 minutes before using a spatula to break the beef down into crumbles. Cook until no pink remains.
- Push the cooked beef to the side of the pan and add the brussels sprouts to the skillet, cut side down. Cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they've developed a slight char.
- Remove from the heat and mix the brussels sprouts and ground beef together. Drizzle the sweet chili sauce over the top and stir until evenly coated. Serve with rice or cauliflower rice, chopped scallions, toasted sesame seeds, or your choice of fixin's.
It took longer for the rice to cook than it did for me to prepare this dish from start to finish. Super fantastic flavor! That trick with searing the ground beef makes all the difference too! When I told my husband what was for dinner his response was “I don’t like when you say Brussels” but he actually really enjoyed this and took seconds for work today. I served this with the bacon cheddar cornbread and they went together quite well. Husband’s was served over rice and mine without. Doesn’t even need the rice! Because my 12inch cast iron was occupied by cornbread I used my cast iron griddle to cook the beef and did the brussels in two batches in the 7inch cast iron, then combined them both in a bowl to add the sauce.
OMG! This was fabulous. So fabulous i had to make it twice. The second time i couldn’t find frozen brussel sprouts, so i used fresh ones and it was even better than the first. It’s so easy to make. Five Stars!
This recipe could not be any easier and it’s very tasty. will definitely add to my lunch meal prep rotations
This was delish! My picky Iowa husband who will only eat meat and potatoes ate this and went back for seconds. He ate brussel sprouts!! I never thought I’d say that! Five stars
Fantastic recipe Mason! My son who does not like Brussels sprouts liked it enough to have seconds. Thanks for the tip about leaving the ground beef in one piece and allowing it to brown before breaking it up, it gave it some really nice browned bits.
I LOVE LOVE LOVED this dish! I ended up putting the pan in the broiler to get the Brussels sprouts a little crunchier. Thank you!!
This is not only easy, it’s filling and amazing. Super simple and quick to make.
This was such a great weeknight meal!! I also used the Trader Joe’s sweet chili sauce but am hoping to try the Hughes sugar free sauce to make the macros even better. Loved the crispy bits on the beef!
I found this recipe last week and have already made it 3 times. It is delicious and fits my macros perfectly
This recipe was perfect for lunches through the week. The tip to microwave the Brussels sprouts first is THE BEST. I think I’m gonna try with broccoli next as this recipe could be very customizable. I didn’t have a stainless steel or cast iron, but still enjoy it. It’s a recipe I’ve made more than once. Highly recommend.